Publications

The UNESCO Chair in Teacher Education for Development and Diversity connects a global network of scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in teacher education. Dialogue opportunities and knowledge dissemination are crucial to this community as a way for teacher education to promote just and sustainable educational futures. Our scholarly work through publications aim to contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 4, ‘inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. Publications are grouped into five broad themes.

1. Social and environmental justice in and through education

This theme explores the interconnectedness of teacher education and the crucial challenges affecting communities and the environment.  Publications explore the proximities and paradoxes between education, environmental concerns, and socioeconomic disparities in African contexts and beyond. These papers seek to advance social and ecological justice in diverse contexts through the education of teachers themselves and that of their learners.

2. Pre-service teacher education and lifelong professional learning

This theme focuses on the multiple aspects of becoming and being a teacher, including the cognitive, professional, physical, and ethical dimensions.  It considers the challenges of learning to teach and opportunities for teachers to develop their professional knowledge and identity as they navigate life and their careers. Teacher learning is explored in various settings: formal university coursework, interactions with other educators, and learning through classroom life.

3. Teaching and learning for diverse learners and diverse educational contexts

This theme explores access, quality, and continuity of education so everyone can flourish in and through education. In diverse educational contexts, providing equitable opportunities for all children needs serious attention to resource disparities, school leadership, school ethos, teacher education, community involvement, and commitments to inclusion. Papers on this theme consider how to dismantle exclusion and what teachers can do to respond to the different learning needs of their students.

4. Comparative and international perspectives in teacher education.

Contributions to this theme engage with global education policy agendas, including governance, planning, finance, and accountability of education systems. Understanding the commonalities and divergences between quality education in different schooling contexts is crucial in an increasingly globalised world. The theme seeks to understand teaching within the context of the different theoretical and praxis perspectives of teaching across different world regions.

5. Transformation, innovation, digital technologies, and decolonial futures in teacher education

This theme explores education in societies striving to shake off their colonial legacies and chart a new post-colonial landscape. Papers grapple with a just educational future for historically marginalised groups and link with calls to decolonise education. Papers on this theme also grapple with the many challenges that teachers and learners face in dynamic and fast-changing physical and digital landscapes.