In this brief presentation, Prof. Viv Ellis will draw on research explored in two recent books – The New Political Economy of Teacher Education (Policy Press 2024; written with Lauren Gatti and Warwick Mansell) and Teacher Education in Crisis (Bloomsbury, 2023; an open access edited collection of research papers by leading researchers), to highlight faculties and schools of education’s historical role in reshaping societies and national identities on new political economic and cultural foundations. Prof. Viv Ellis will also draw on two examples from current research and development in the Middle East to illustrate how the institutional practices of teacher education continue to fulfil these functions as nation-states evolve. He will argue that it is crucial that faculties of Education acknowledge and reflect on their role in serving political-economic and societal-cultural ends that go beyond educational concerns and ideals alone.
Teacher Education in Crisis can be download free from Bloomsbury Collections at: https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350399693&st=Viv+Ellis Chapter 1 provides some useful background to this presentation.