Teacher Education Policy in Europe Network (TEPE) 2014 conference

Welcome to Zagreb!

Teacher Education Policy in Europe Network (TEPE) 2014 conference

15 - 17 May 2014, Zagreb, Croatia

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Conference Theme

‘Overcoming Fragmentation in Teacher Education Policy and Practice’

The Teacher Education Policy in Europe (TEPE) is an academic network that builds on the previous European collaborative projects in the field of teacher education policy TNTEE and EUDORA. The annual conference brings together educational researchers, policy makers, teachers and practitioners from Europe and beyond. The conference programme will include keynote speeches, plenary sessions and parallel thematic sessions.

The theme of the 2014 TEPE conference is “Overcoming Fragmentation in Teacher Education Policy and Practice”. In the debate regarding teacher quality and teacher professionalism, the need for greater coherence of the different aspects of teacher professional development has been long emphasised. Since the integration of T.E. within the university, one of the most challenging issues which has presented concerns the apparent tension between a ‘subject’ and ‘pedagogy’. The universitation of initial teacher education is sometimes also perceived as a process which has widened the gap between the theoretical basis of the educational sciences and school-based teacher practice. Furthermore, it has been observed that in the majority of countries there is no firm alignment between initial teacher education, induction and continuous professional development. The issue of what constitutes a ‘European teacher’ has been also raised at a broader European policy level. The following sub-themes have been established to explore this general theme.

• Theme 1. Overcoming fragmentation by linking the educational sciences with subject methodologies
• Theme 2. Overcoming fragmentation between university faculty and school-based teacher educators
• Theme 3. Overcoming fragmentation by bridging the gap between initial teacher education, induction and continuous professional development
• Theme 4. Overcoming fragmentation by embedding the European dimension within national contexts

The conference aims to explore the issue of fragmentation within teacher education policy and practice in its broadest sense. In addition to these four sub-themes, scholars are invited to interrogate other relevant aspects of fragmentation in teacher education.

Teacher Education Policy in Europe (TEPE) Network

The TEPE Network was formally established at its inaugural meeting at Tallinn University in February 2007 with an overarching aim to develop Teacher Education (TE) policy recommendations at institutional, national and European level.

The central goals of the Teacher Education Policy in Europe (TEPE) Network are to:

• Advance research within and on teacher education
• Increase mobility and extend the European Dimension within teacher education
• Enhance quality through the renewal of evaluation cultures in teacher education.

For further information on the network, previous conferences and publications please visit the TEPE Website: http://tepe.wordpress.com/.

Conference Organization

Organizing Institutions

The conference is co-organized by the Faculty of Teacher Education and the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb / Centre for Educational Research and Development.

Programme Committee

• Prof. Brian Hudson, University of Sussex, UK (Chair of TEPE Board)
• Dr. Judith Harford, University College Dublin, Ireland (TEPE Network Coordinator)
• Dr. Björn Åstrand, Umeå University, Sweden
• Dr. Francesca Caena, University of Venice, Italy
• Dr. Eve Eisenschmidt, Haapsalu College, Tallinn University, Estonia
• Dr. Erika Löfström, University of Helsinki, Finland
• Prof. Joanna Madalińska-Michalak, University of Lodz, Poland
• Prof. Hannele Niemi, University of Helsinki, Finland; European Commission Working Group on Teacher Professional Development
• Prof. Jens Rasmussen, Danish Pedagogical University, Denmark
• Dr. Marina Vasylenko, CREF, University Paris X Nanterre, France
• Dr. Vlasta Vizek Vidović, Institute for Social Research, Zagreb, Croatia
• Prof. Pavel Zgaga, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Organising Committee

• Dr. Vlasta Vizek Vidović, Institute for Social Research, Zagreb (Chair of Organising Committee)
• Dr. Vlatka Domović, The Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
• Dr. Tamara Gazdić-Alerić, The Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
• Dr. Dejana Bouillet, The Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
• Antonija Balić Šimrak, The Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
• Željka Knežević, The Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
• Jelena Matić, Institute for Social Research, Zagreb
• Iva Košutić, Institute for Social Research, Zagreb