How Teacher Educators Do Policy: Intellectual Work, Values, and Principles

How Teacher Educators Do Policy offers an accessible and compelling account of how university‑based teacher educators in England navigated one of the most far‑reaching reforms to their profession in decades.

Drawing on in‑depth interview‑conversations with leaders of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in research‑intensive universities, the book traces how the 2021–2024 ITT Market Review reshaped the landscape of teacher preparation in England. It provides a clear explanation of the policy reforms, the rationale behind them, and their consequences for curriculum design, partnership working, mentoring, and professional learning. Through detailed case studies, the book illustrates how programme leaders negotiated requirements and new accreditation demands while striving to preserve the values that underpin high‑quality teacher education. The analysis is anchored in Shulman’s concept of signature pedagogies, exploring the surface, deep, and implicit structures that shape how teachers learn. International responses from renowned academics Maria Teresa Tatto, Lee Rusznyak, and Sinikka Neuhaus situate the English experience within transnational debates about the purpose and politics of teacher education. This timely book offers a rich and comprehensive account of a sector undergoing profound transformation.

Offering a rare insider perspective on how policy is enacted in practice, the book provides researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and international readers with fresh insights into leadership, professional agency, and the possibilities for a more critical, justice‑oriented teacher education. It is also a call-to-action, proposing a set of principles that should underpin initial teacher education in university settings.

Clare Brooks is Professor of Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK.

Joanna McIntyre is Professor of Education at the School of Education, University of Nottingham, UK.

Katharine Burn is Associate Professor of Education at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, UK.

Lindsay Hetherington is Professor of Education at the School of Education, University of Exeter, UK.

Trevor Mutton is Professor of Teacher Education (Emeritus) at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, UK.