Reframing foundations : ITE as the nexus of inclusion, agency, and school improvement

Abstract

This epilogue returns to initial teacher education (ITE) as the foundational layer for the themes in the companion volume. ITE is the primary institutional mechanism for cultivating professional agency, sustainable school improvement, ethical discernment, and inclusive practice. Drawing on the three preceding essays (by Borg on inclusion as a struggle over power and voice; Attard Tonna on professional identity and agency amid de-professionalisation; and Calleja on collaboration and school improvement), it argues that robust, context-responsive ITE programmes—emphasising justice, critical reflexivity, subject/pedagogical expertise, self-efficacy, inquiry-based learning, and collaborative dispositions—are essential for teacher quality and successful schools. It warns against threats such as unqualified recruitment due to teacher shortages and the proliferation of low-quality private teacher-education providers that prioritise market demand over rigorous preparation, calling for stronger national accreditation oversight to protect teacher professionalism.