The Faculty of Education, University of Malta, in collaboration with the Teacher Education Policy in Europe Network (TEPE) recently held the TEPE 2016 Conference at the Valletta Campus.
The conference, ‘Teacher Education from a Global Perspective’, attracted over 160 scholars, researchers and educators from around the globe. The three keynote speakers, Prof. Kenneth Wain (Malta), Prof. Linda Darling-Hammond (Stanford, US) and Prof. Maria Assunção Flores (Minho, Portugal), highlighted the importance of quality teaching in schools, whilst underlining the increasing challenges the profession is facing.
Issues related to theory and practice in teacher education, as well as the relevance of practice-based models in teacher formation were evident in a number of conference presentations. Other themes discussed included teacher education at Master level, school-based teacher mentoring, continuing professional development, teacher identity and professionalism, educational policies and e-learning. The various parallel sessions gave participants the opportunity to provide feedback and discuss how the research presented could be applied in different contexts worldwide.
Issues related to theory and practice in teacher education, as well as the relevance of practice-based models in teacher formation were evident in a number of conference presentations. Other themes discussed included teacher education at Master level, school-based teacher mentoring, continuing professional development, teacher identity and professionalism, educational policies and e-learning. The various parallel sessions gave participants the opportunity to provide feedback and discuss how the research presented could be applied in different contexts worldwide.
This conference was organised thanks to the support of Ministry for Education and Employment and the US Embassy. The latter was responsible for the participation of one of the keynote speakers, Prof. Linda Darling-Hammond, a highly renowned scholar in the field of Education, who also served as the leader of President Barack Obama’s education policy transition team in 2008.