A Global Call for Scholarship on the Policy and Practice of Teacher Education

Abstract

We are excited to assume leadership of the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE). Our team at Michigan State University (MSU) is committed to carrying on the outstanding stewardship of the previous editors at Pennsylvania State University (PSU). We recognize that American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)--and by extension, JTE--represents a diverse group of professionals invested in the preparation and continued support of educators; these are the same professionals who can have a significant voice in discussions and decision making around issues of teacher preparation, teacher quality, and continued professional support for educators. In recent years, for example, the journal has served as a scholarly platform for the dissemination of rigorous investigations of issues related to teacher education program design and evaluation, and the preparation of teachers who can effectively address the needs of marginalized youth, their families, and communities. Our current vision for the journal's direction over the next 3 years focuses on four areas that we believe will further solidify JTE's position as the leading voice on teacher education and teacher preparation in the 21st century. These areas include the journal's reach, diversity of contributors and perspectives, the relevance of the scholarship represented in the journal, and nurturing of junior scholars in the area of scholarly work and publication. Below we briefly describe our intentions and the work that we have begun in each of these areas. Reach The MSU Editorial Team plans to situate JTE as an even more significant voice in teacher education, on both the national and international stages. To this end, we actively seek a geographically broader pool of authors in relevant fields to submit papers that are research based or are conceptual/theoretical in their orientation. One planned mechanism for doing so is to reach out via JTE Special Issues, Chats With JTE Editors conference sessions, communication with scholars and practitioners who are actively contributing in identified fields, and through mechanisms and resources that SAGE and AACTE already have in place. The MSU College of Education has created a JTE Blog which will serve as an additional venue for recruiting national and international scholars in fields that can inform teacher education. We are also in the process of making abstracts of all published articles available online in widely spoken languages, a reflection of our commitment to reach more scholars and practitioners worldwide. Diversity It is our conviction that addressing issues of diversity calls for consideration of a variety of genres and scholarly perspectives. To this end, our intent is to use several strategies. First, we will bring to JTE a wide array of articles--in terms of focus, context, and methodology--that examine the issues and challenges associated with teacher education nationally and globally. Second, we have identified a diverse group of scholars for the editorial review board who bring varied and overlapping areas of expertise. The new composition of the editorial review board allows for multiplicity of methodological approaches, and professional, domestic, and international experiences for examining issues in teacher education and development. Third, we will target challenges related to equity and access with respect to learning to teach within specific subject matter disciplines. Increased attention to these issues will inform the research community, practitioners, and policy makers. Examples include how well future teachers are prepared to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects to children whose native language is not English or who come from significant poverty; what countries might learn from the specific strategies of other nations with respect to improving teacher preparation for student success; and the impact of new learning standards on teacher preparation and professional development. …