Preface

This fourth edition in the series ‘Work and life of teacher educators’ is edited by Elizabeth White. We thank her for taking this initiative and the inspiring text she has made in cooperation with eight colleagues from diverse countries. The shared experience and professional development of all colleagues in the four brochures is striking, notwithstanding different educational systems, cultures and circumstances.

Teacher educators work in a triangle: professional practice (schools), HE educator, researcher. These three perspectives are interdependent: questions can be raised from each perspective and reflecting on the consequences from one may provoke starting a cycle of development and innovation. By doing this within their team, together with their students and their colleagues in schools, teacher educators create learning communities and lifelong learning. This may sound as a platitude, but many platitudes are based on reality.

The initiative in 2015 to start this series of brochures was supported by Dick de Wolff. From February 2017 onwards Wichert Duyvendak will promote the series and look for opportunities for new brochures. We are enthusiastic about how Peter Lorist and Anja Swennen built up in such a short time the series and gave voice to many colleagues from all over the world. Both of us would like to thank Peter Lorist and Anja Swennen for the work they have done and for the inspiring conversations we had.

Dick de Wolff Dean Faculty of Education, HU University of Applied Sciences

Wichert Duyvendak Director of the Institutes for Primary Teacher Education and Educational Needs Education, HU University of Applied Sciences 3

'The motivation for becoming research active was as diverse as the contributors'

'Doing a research degree has been a significant part of their pathway'