Reframing teacher education around inclusion, equity, and social justice: towards an authentically value-centred approach to teacher education in Europe

Abstract

Set against a context of a changing world and a polarised debate around contested understandings of the role and purpose of teacher education, this paper argues that the current performativity dominated approach to teacher education in Europe–focused primarily on classroom-based pedagogical competencies–is insufficient to fulfil the agentic potential of the teaching profession to promote inclusion, equity, and social justice. It is argued that the conceptualisation of teacher education and teachers’ professional practice found within recent European Commission policy is too narrow and must move beyond competency-framed standards and accountability-focused monitoring systems towards the realisation of a more expansive, ambitious, value-driven, contextualised and ‘messier’ approach to teacher education and development. Such a transformative reframing must seek to develop teachers’ criticality, autonomy and agency, helping them to find their voice and to work as agents of change to create a more inclusive, equitable, and fair society for all.