Innovative practice in initial teacher education

This is the second special issue to be developed from the international conference ‘At the Crossroads: New Directions in Teacher Education’, held at Canterbury Christ Church University in July 2012, which brought together over 200 scholars from 16 countries. As well as a range of methodological approaches to research in teacher education, represented in the studies published in the previous special issue (Vol. 6 issue 1, March 2014), many of the conference papers focussed on the development of innovative practice in initial teacher education. The five papers presented here, which have been updated for this special issue, illustrate some of these exciting initiatives, which are flourishing despite the growing challenges to teacher education in parts of the UK, particularly England (Beauchamp et al., 2013). It is perhaps not surprising that two of the studies are based in Scotland (Aderbigbe et al.; Ferguson), where creative teaching and research-based practice in teacher education are strongly encouraged (Donaldson, 2011; Scottish Executive, 2004). The articles will be of particular interest to university and school-based teacher educators: one is co-authored by lecturers and teachers (Kazim et al.); and all the articles focus in different ways on the need to sustain and develop new models of pedagogy, collaboration and enquiry between universities and schools.