Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal

Editorial: Teacher Education in the Nexus Between Digital Transformation and Internationalisation

Vasileios Symeonidis — 2025-03-25

Supporting Pre-service Teachers’ Civic Competence as a Strategy for Internationalisation in the Digital Era

Aspasia Dania — 2025-03-25

Higher education institutions worldwide show an interest in enhancing their internationalisation initiatives by integrating innovative teaching approaches into formal curricula. A main concern is to ensure that pre-service teachers enter future classrooms with a high level of civic competence. The aim of this study was to investigate the challenges and opportunities confronted within a professional development programme designed to promote pre-service teachers’ competencies for democratic culture. The professional development programme was a three-year Erasmus+ KA2 programme involving the development of teacher training modules inspired by and aimed at developing competencies from the Reference Framework of Competencies for Democratic Culture. Its objective was to integrate digital resources within practicum-based learning modules based on democratic citizenship values. Following the implementation of the programme, a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) was conducted to gather data on the programme’s potential to support pre-service teachers’ civic competencies. The SWOT analysis was completed by ten teacher educators from five different university departments located in two metropolitan cities in central and northern Greece. Thematic analyses were used at a case and group level. The results showed that the online affordances of the programme, combined with each department’s practicum-based learning modules, could effectively support the development of pre-service teachers’ civic competencies, provided that resources were adapted with a human-centred sensitivity to the specificities of each context. In alignment with worldwide teacher education trends, we advocate for the implementation of similar programmes in the future as a participatory internationalisation at home strategy for supporting teacher online collaboration and peer learning.

Learning About Sustainability in a Global Context of Digital Transformation in Teacher Education: Exemplary Vignettes of Experience in Webinars

Ann-Kathrin Dittrich — 2025-03-25

Webinars are a powerful digital tool for learning about sustainability in a global context. The implementation of different technologies in teacher education, such as webinars, is becoming indispensable due to digital transformation and internationalisation processes. In this context, digital competences are described as key to quality education and a sustainable future. In teacher education, there is little evidence on how digital tools can be used for learning about sustainability. Based on the Teach4Reach project, a two-year international study on the Sustainable Development Goals in teacher education describes learning experiences in webinars by presenting selected vignettes. The question is how digitisation can support learning on sustainability in a global context of quality education. We conclude that webinars are a digital tool that supports knowledge building and collaborative learning in an international context but that their specific properties need to be recognised. The vignettes exemplify various challenges and opportunities presented by webinars, such as the fundamental role of facilitators, ease of access to the online environment, different behaviours of participants and unknowns about the learning outcomes.

The Multifaceted Field of Virtual Exchanges in Teacher Education: A Literature Review

Claudia Ingrisch-Rupp — 2025-03-25

Virtual exchanges can be seen as a powerful tool in fostering digital- pedagogical, intercultural, and foreign language competences in teacher education. Since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, virtual exchanges in teacher education have gained increasing attention both in research and practice. Despite a growing number of publications and various fields and themes covered by research and reports, few publications are concerned with connecting and systematising the discourse on virtual exchanges between 2020-2023. This paper, thus, aims to offer a comprehensive overview of how virtual exchanges are employed in teacher education by adopting a scoping study approach and examining research papers published in this period of time. Our findings cover the planning, implementation, and evaluation of virtual exchanges, as well as some overarching recommendations for improving the delivery of virtual exchanges in teacher education as they are provided in the research papers. Virtual exchanges in teacher education are a multifaceted field since it has multiple aims, usages, and impacts, which largely depend on the (mostly voluntary) work of teacher educators, the institutional framework within which the exchanges take place, and student teachers’ motivation to participate. The future of virtual exchanges in teacher education would benefit by opening up beyond foreign language teacher education and combining small-scale with large-scale studies to better inform research and practice.

Digital-Inclusive Transformation and Teacher Preparedness for Foreign Language Education – A Bilateral German-Norwegian Perspective

Solveig Chilla — 2025-03-25

Digitalisation and inclusion can be understood as transversal topics in pre- and in-service teachers’ professional development. Both topics have attracted considerable research activity. However, questions of digital-inclusive transformation have only rarely been discussed within the field of foreign language teaching. Researchers in the field state a pressing need to increase digital-inclusive transformation uptake in foreign language teacher education programmes to develop a transformation ‘mindset’ in (educational) stakeholders and (future) teachers. Transformation processes in education, however, interact with preparedness for digitalisation and inclusion among pre- and in-service teachers, since the attitude and the willingness of teachers to adapt to digital reality play a decisive role in improving the quality of (digitally enhanced) teaching and learning. Currently, little is known about the interrelationship between the preparedness to use digital technology for foreign language teaching and learning and the preparedness to include foreign language learners with diverse learning needs (DLN) in the digital-inclusive classroom. To this end, this bilateral cross-country study investigates factors that constitute an attitudinal component of foreign language teachers’ perceived preparedness for using digital technology with learners with diverse learning needs in Germany and Norway. The Teacher of English Preparedness to Diverse Learning Needs in the digital inclusive classroom questionnaire was administered to 221 participants. The results show a fresh perspective on preparedness for digitally enhanced inclusive teaching linked to educational system requirements for foreign language teaching. Importantly, confidence when using digital technology in the inclusive classroom is decisive. For teacher education, it is vital that the attitudinal component of teacher preparedness receives more attention throughout teacher training. It should be related to previous experience of teachers with DT in digital-inclusive environments and be part of a heuristic conceptualisation of teacher preparedness for digitalinclusive contexts.

Greek Primary School Teachers’ Narratives About Their Role Negotiation During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Menelaos Tzifopoulos — 2025-03-25

No one can dispute the fact that the teaching profession seemed to be tested during the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers were called upon to perform a difficult and multifaced role, without help and support from the state. The issues that teachers had to respond to and solve are related to their autonomy, their digital literacy competences and their relationships/cooperation with students. The new working conditions terrified teachers, who had to manage their digital classroom through a violent readjustment. Under these circumstances, Greek primary school teachers’ narratives offer us their phenomenological perspective on how they coped with their teaching duties during this period of health and educational emergency. An initial attempt is made to empathetically approach the ‘world’ of four teachers, while the subsequent interpretive and critical analysis serves as a means to illuminate ‘hidden’ beliefs of their professional role, the reshaping of their identity, and their adaptation to the online teaching context. Through their narratives, the teachers reflect on the issue of the lack of support from the state. They also note that they found it difficult to manage their e-classes in such a short time. Finally, there is a need for more effective preparation of teachers in times of uncertainty and crisis.

The Italian Way to the Europeanisation of Teacher Education: An Analysis of Reforms and the Ongoing Experience of Digital Transformation

Loredana Perla — 2025-03-25

The Covid-19 emergency compelled teachers to reshape their teaching approach. Teachers were able to better recognise technologies as a means of interaction and digital transformation as a driver for professional growth. The present paper addresses the Europeanisation of teacher education and professionalisation. This process, which recognises the specific histories and political cultures of national training systems while offering common categories of analysis, nowadays welcomes the challenge of the general digital transition. The aim of the paper is to focus on how the process of Europeanisation of teacher education in Italy is taking place. Two paths are proposed. The first is the presentation of a documentary review study of the latest ministerial reforms that interpret the European recommendations. The second is a description of the DidaSco continuous professional development programme at the University of Bari, which implements European recommendations and national directives through appropriate technological innovations, which have been made even more available since the pandemic. What emerges is the representation of a possible ‘Italian way’ to the Europeanisation of teacher training, as is being achieved through the opportunities of digital transformation.

Beyond Learning by Videoconference: Findings From a Capacity-Building Study of Kosovan Teachers in the Post-Covid-19 Era

Antigona Uka — 2025-03-25

During the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers were exposed to technology-enhanced learning as an emergency measure, yet despite decades of advancement in educational technology, the online learning experiences lacked deliberate design. Recent research highlights a gap concerning the design elements of online professional development and teachers’ needs for professional development in online education. Through this Design-Based Research, we therefore sought to offer an intervention in the form of a professional development programme built on the specific needs of teachers. In the present study, we report on the findings from this two-cycle, five-phase online professional development, taken by 90 practising high school teachers across Kosova. The study sheds light on teachers’ experiences and attitudes, as well as their readiness to take hands-on approaches to integrate, when available, complex technologies while leveraging the power of instructional design concepts in the post-Covid-19 era. The evidence indicates that, in order to develop effective teaching capacity in this environment, online professional development programmes must go beyond simple off-the-shelf technology (i.e., videoconferencing) applications. Similarly, our data shows that the inclusion of prior needs assessment in online and blended teacher development instruction positively impacts the development of teachers’ attitudes towards online education. The present paper provides specific recommendations for any innovative education system leader, teacher or scholar hoping to leverage new online learning knowledge to strengthen teacher practice.

Intercultural Competence, A Necessity in 21st Century Classrooms: Are Teacher Educators in Tanzania Interculturally Competent?

Patrick Severine Kavenuke — 2025-03-25

Recently, teacher educators have been required to possess strong academic credentials and intercultural competencies to teach successfully. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the extent to which teacher educators possess the skills of intercultural competence. Also, the study examines the factors that influence the intercultural competence of teacher educators. A sample of 300 teacher educators selected from two Tanzanian university colleges is used. The results indicate that teacher educators had higher mean scores in the dimensions of attitude, external outcomes, internal outcomes, and skills but significantly lower mean scores in the dimension of knowledge. Furthermore, factors such as living abroad, duration of staying abroad, level of education, academics' teaching experience, and the faculty from where the academics come are significantly related to at least one dimension of intercultural competence. For instance, academics' level of education is significantly related to the attitude, knowledge, and skills dimensions of intercultural competence. Therefore, the results have far-reaching implications for policy and future research.

The Real and the Virtual in the Spatial Perception of Education Students

Bea Tomšič Amon — 2025-03-25

The article presents an investigation conducted with education students at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana. The aim was to determine whether the perception and image of urban space have changed over the years, as the same questionnaire was used in 2001 and 2019. The students had to choose which of the eleven questions contained in the questionnaire they wanted to answer in order to describe their favourite place in the city. Questions that were not significant to them were left unanswered. Here we present a comparison between the results from 2001 and 2019, analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Despite the fact that spatial perception involves all of the senses, it was the sense of touch, as opposed to vision, that was mentioned the least in both cases. Our original assumption was that with the advance of digital media, perception of real space would be more concise. However, there were a number of students in 2019 who expressed themselves more accurately than those in 2001, suggesting that students have developed a greater sensitivity towards space. The general findings suggest that we should rethink the pedagogical process and some suggestions are presented in the conclusion.

Learning to Teach in Out-of-University and Out-of-School Environments in Primary Teacher Education in Estonia, Finland, and Sweden

Helene Uppin — 2025-03-25

Learning in diverse settings during pre-service teacher training equips future primary teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach in authentic learning environments later in their work lives. This experience helps to meet the varying needs of their future students who have increasingly diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds with varying levels of access to learning and knowledge. During their university studies, pre-service teachers need to recognise the value of out-of-school environments, reinforce awareness in practice, and reflect on experiences to deepen pedagogical thinking about learning environments. This multiple case study describes the common practices in the pre-service training of primary teachers at Tallinn University, University of Helsinki and Uppsala University concerning teaching in out-of-classroom learning environments. Our aim was to explore the ways that the three universities support pre-service primary teachers in using out-ofschool learning environments in their future practice. We intended to identify practices regarding our respective national curricula and university courses for pre-service primary teachers. We have three main suggestions for teacher educators regarding learning to teach in diverse environments: enable meaningful and reflective practical tasks in out of university learning environments for pre-service teachers; ensure the sustainability of external partnerships by stating collaborative practices in course programmes while leaving flexibility in the details; and reflect on professional networking across the boundaries of institutions.

Maria Impedovo, Karen Ferreira-Meyers, and Noriyuki Inoue, Creating a Teacher Collective: Professional Development Within the Group, the Community, and the Network, Rowman & Littlefield, 2023; 184 pp.: ISBN: 978-1-4758-6936-1

Maria Impedovo — 2025-03-25