In this UniCollaboration Plenary Session, Rodrigo Ballester, a cabinet member of the Commissioner of Education and Culture in the European Commission, presented on virtual exchanges. Virtual exchanges can serve many different purposes. They can be intercultural dialogues, languages, digital skills, teacher training, and soft skills, etc. He then…

In this paper the authors argue that a confluence of powerful interests has descended upon the work of teacher education from all possible points of entry via the edTPA. The paper uses Actor Network Theory to trace one particular set of complex social associations created and acted upon in the adoption and implementation of a single national…

We examine 100 years of rural education research within the context of the demographic, migratory, economic, and social changes that have affected rural America in the past century. We use systematic review of the literature on rural teacher recruitment, retention, and training as a case study for looking at the constancy and change in the…

Emily Shubitz appreciates the Nido and all of its facets and is well aware of the pioneers--Adele Costa Gnocchi and Silvana Montanaro--as she emphasizes the Nido being a developmental force rather than just a babysitting source. Her list for creating a Nido environment is thoughtful, extensive, and inclusive: home-like wood furniture, soft rugs,…

This paper considers three issues arising from the study of the development and the current state of Comparative Pedagogy in Serbia and Slovenia. First, the development of Comparative Pedagogy as a distinctive discipline in Serbia and Slovenia is discussed. Second, the role and the content of Comparative Pedagogy courses in university programmes…

East Timor has reached independence in 2002, after two periods of colonialism and after severe violence, especially following 1999. As a result, the country was almost destroyed, and lost its qualified workforce in all sectors, including education. To ensure national independence it is necessary to reconstruct and build the basic infrastructures…

In this address, the author engages both with the possibility "and" the impossibility of the educational project--and suggests something of what it means to say this. His presentation is specifically addressed to the theme of the (im)possibility of the educational project. He draws from philosophy, literature, psychoanalysis and history,…

In this paper, the author first cites passages that highlight the key developments and dilemmas of teacher education in Ghana in the 1960s, when the new nation resolved to prepare its largely untrained teaching force in "progressive" methods. Across the decade--and across subject areas--Ghana conducted in-service teacher training to…

What do citizens of the United States and Germany think about their schools and school policies? This paper offers the first broad comparison of public thinking on education in the two countries. We carried out opinion surveys of representative samples of the German and American adult populations in 2014 that included experiments in which we…

In this paper, the Arne Duncan, the United States Secretary of Education, discusses the need for a sea change in America's schools of education, and focuses on the need to improve teacher preparation programs. Many schools of education have provided high-quality preparation programs for aspiring teachers for years. In the last decade, many…

A wide variety of kindergarten teacher training programs existed in America during the 50-year period between 1920 and 1970 after Froebel's system was introduced. The most significant reasons for this variety were the sources of knowledge about the system, the ability of its advocates to read idiomatic German, and the basic personality…

This speech surveys the development of teacher education from the earliest concerns of the pioneers until the establishment of the University of Kentucky College of Education in 1923. In the search for a system of education, three theories influenced Kentucky leaders. They were the Lancasterian plan of organization and instruction (i.e., the…

A brief biography is presented of Henry Barnard, one of the leading educators in America during the first half of the 19th century. An early and forceful advocate of free public education, Barnard promulgated his ideas through public service and teaching as well as through writings in "The American Journal of Education," which he edited…

Reflects briefly on the history of the Montessori movement. Advocates restoring the AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) to its original dimensions. Introduces plans for "Educateurs sans Frontieres" (Educators without Borders), an International Study Centre, and the organization of the AMI archives. (JS)

Educational changes are examined from the perspective of consumer protection--the direct consumers are the teachers being prepared; the indirect consumers are the students and the society that supports the schools. During the colonial and early national periods of American history, there was an absence of formal and separate teacher education.…