Maintaining quality in teacher education: a contemporary global challenge?

The purpose of this paper is to scrutinise what the term quality means in the context of teaching and teacher education and to discuss how we maintain those aspects of quality that do appear to be important in the contemporary development of policy and practice in teacher education. The paper draws on some comparative studies in teacher education that have been undertaken in recent years. Initial consideration is given to the macro and meso levels of policy and practice, through looking at state institutions and at the roles of educational institutions. The focus then turns to the micro level, considering the quality of the participants in the provision and experience of teacher education. The paper identifies the anthropological significance of teacher education and the wider social insights that may be gained from such study in the twenty-first century and in conclusion some contemporary global challenges to the maintenance of quality in teacher education are considered.