Call for Papers: J-SAPS’ Special Issue on Teachers and Teacher Education
From the Journal of Social and Policy Sciences: Teachers are central to education systems across the world. While good teaching has been a focus of scholarly reflection for a long time, the universalization of education has also turned it into a public policy issue. Introduction of free universal primary education (UPE), as set out in the first Education for All (EFA) framework in 1990, has increased the demand for trained teachers in response to huge and rapid increases in the student enrollment. The gaps between teacher demand and supply have resulted in severe shortages of qualified teachers in developing countries. Teacher shortages plague many education systems often undermine the effectiveness of interventions aiming to improve student access to quality education. These problems call for a scholarly effort to develop insights about teaching and teacher education in different contexts.
To critically understand the role of teachers in the modern educational systems, many questions are worthy of exploration by the researchers and educationists. Who are the individuals who predominantly make up the teaching cadre? Who are the individuals engaged in preparing teachers, namely the teacher educators, and what qualifies them to do such work? What influences the practices of teachers? What shapes the practices of teacher educators? How do organisational contexts matter in the ways teachers learn and develop? That is to say, are there any differences in the ways teachers develop over time in public and private schools and/or at different levels of schooling? How do organisational contexts matter in the ways teachers educators learn and develop?
Looking specifically at teacher education, what practices characterize the work of teacher educators in Pakistan? How do teacher educators learn to do their work? What forms of knowledge do teacher educators’ use that differ from those used by teachers in general, and how do these forms of knowledge develop? And what might high-quality preparation of teacher educators entail?
How might accountability policies influence the work of teachers and teacher educators? What are relationships between research and practice related to the development of teacher educators? What Policy Interventions may contribute positively to the improvement in Teachers Education/Performance?
For the upcoming issue of Journal of Social and Policy Sciences, we invite research and/or conceptual articles and case studies that will address some of the questions mentioned above, particularly in Pakistan/South Asia.
Submission of Full Papers: November 15, 2013
