Quality in focus at teacher education conference

The European TEPE (Teacher Education Policy in Europe) Network is holding its annual conference and the Umeå School of Education is hosting the conference this year.

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

“There was a distinct need for researchers and teacher educators to create a formal forum for discussion, development of perspectives, and strategic planning,” says Björn Åstrand, rector of Umeå School of Education (USE) and chairperson of TEPE.

Representatives from over 20 countries are expected to attend the conference. The theme for the 2009 conference is quality in teacher in education and the keynote speakers are Professor Hannele Niemi, University of Helsinki, Finland, Professor Bártolo Campos, University of Porto, Portugal, Professor Michael Totterdell, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom, and Professor Ingrid Gogolin from Hamburg University, Germany.

Parallel working groups will meet during the conference to discuss issues regarding: "Quality, mentoring and induction", "Forms of knowledge and teachers’ theories", and "Addressing contemporary challenges in teacher education". These themes will summarised in reports and a panel discussion will be take place on Wednesday 20 May.

”The previous conferences have significantly helped to raise questions on the agenda about such topics as the status of the teaching profession at the national as well as at European level , says Brian Hudson, co-ordinator of the TEPE network and professor at the Department of Interactive Media and Learning (IML), Umeå University.

Conference agenda

Contacts:
Björn Åstrand, Rector of Umeå School of Education+46 (0)70-642 42 12
Prof. Brian Hudson, Dept. of Interactive Media and Learning (IML)
+46 (0)90-786 60 37