A reflexive exploration of transposing comparative paradigms into scholarly and practical approaches in teacher education

Abstract

This article examines the place of comparative and international education (CIE) scholarship and practice in teacher education (T.Ed.). In this regard, CIE scholarship is instrumental in revealing the functioning, organization, importance and interconnectedness of teaching, as a profession, and teacher education, as the conduit to that profession, across national and cultural settings. As teacher education programs and teacher educators continue their work in imparting robust and sound pedagogical knowledge, they also need to acknowledge the enriching nature of a comparative perspective in the scholarship and practice on teacher education. Thus, including comparative methods in examining teacher education both within and across a program’s national borders offers teachers-to-be a window into an array of teaching practices in a global setting. Developing an awareness, interest and inclination toward a comparative perspective-taking in teacher education is paramount in forming the new generations of teachers and researchers on teacher education. At the same time, teacher education programs benefit from research collaborations across national and cultural settings, allowing them the possibility to co-learn what approaches may work in meaningfully adjusting their curricular organization to prepare teachers for an interconnected world in which their students truly become global citizens.