Teacher educators’ professional learning: perceptions of Dutch and Chinese teacher educators

Abstract

ABSTRACT This survey study explores how teacher educators perceive relevant aspects of professional learning in their practice. These aspects were considered as important by teacher educators in a previous review study. A total of 583 Dutch and Chinese teacher educators completed a digital questionnaire regarding the content of teacher educators’ learning, their learning activities, and reasons for learning. Most teacher educators perceived all professional learning aspects as relevant for their practice. The professional learning scales showed correlations with several background variables, such as educational degree and how teacher educators perceive their identity in the teacher education institutes. When comparing Dutch and Chinese teacher educators, significant differences were only found in their perceptions of research-related scales and the scale “getting input from others”. It can be concluded that all aspects are essential for learning and functioning. The differences between Dutch and Chinese teacher educators were related to the contexts in which they work.