INTRODUCTION TO THIS SPECIAL ISSUE

Abstract

Preparing and educating high-quality mathematics and science teachers is a crucial challenge internationally in the twenty-first century as these subjects can be regarded as decisive for the future of our societies. However, the structure and the content of teacher education depend on a deeper rationale, which is often a result of cultural boundaries. From a national point of view, such cultural givens are at risk to remain invisible but they emerge through the lens of international comparisons (Blomeke & Paine, 2008). Many components or factors in mathematics and science teacher education cannot be understood without an international perspective, such as what counts as responsive and effective teacher education, what counts as appropriate teaching, or what are country-specific strengths and weaknesses. A clearer and deeper understanding of these issues through comparative studies is necessary for policy makers to establish appropriate educational policies and practices and for scholars to generate twenty-first century research and practice of mathematics and science teacher education. At the same time, cross-country variations in teacher education can increase the difficulty in understanding the specifics of teacher growth during teacher education. Confounding cultural influences or differences in institutional and program settings between countries may bias the results about development of mathematics and science teachers during teacher education including the effects of opportunities to learn (OTL). In such cases, differences in teacher knowledge or teacher beliefs may well be the function of a mix of broader influences and the future teachers’ OTL. Therefore, if we are interested in examining development, it may be wise to restrict ourselves to one context. This Special Issue of IJSME attempts to combine these two perspectives by examining the practice and the results of mathematics and science teacher education from an international point of view on the one hand and by examining the development of future mathematics and science teachers during teacher education from a longitudinal point of view on the other hand. The two parts of the Special Issue comprise one that includes cross-sectional comparative studies on the achievement of future mathematics and science teachers from different countries and another that includes (quasi-)longitudinal studies in one country.