We encourage submissions which explore themes that are aligned with the legacy of interests of our previous conferences. Such themes are listed in the following sections.
1. Teacher education for a future of uncertainties
Preparing teachers for the uncertain post-pandemic future and meeting the challenges of change is the most important endeavor for teacher education. Possible topics of exploration for the summit include: fostering teacher resilience, adaptability, and inquisitiveness; multidisciplinary teacher education; changing knowledge base and professional roles of teacher educators; navigating the new environment of teaching and serving diverse learning needs; inclusivity and equitable pursuits in teacher education; innovative curriculum practices and pedagogical approaches; leadership and accountability in the changing context of schools and teacher education.
2. Teacher learning and development in the Digital Age
In the Digital Age, teacher education has to guide the learning and development of teachers in a new environment of teaching and learning where novel technologies and generative AI will assert stronger influence on teachers and schools. Teacher education will have to anticipate such changes in the life and work of teachers and tailor its curriculum to prepare or strengthen the increasingly diverse roles of teachers as instructors, mentors, guides, coaches, and assessors, to name just a few. Possible topics: paradigm shifts in teacher and student learning; cultivating digital literacy and capabilities; individualized teaching and learning approaches; educational reform through technologies; technological innovations for teacher and school improvement; and issues in evaluation and measurement of student competence and achievement.
3. Changes in subject-based teacher education
Teacher education has been traditionally organized around specific school subject areas. School subjects are rooted in academic disciplines in universities. With the rapid changes in academic disciplines, growing interaction and collaboration among different academic disciplines, and the international call for cultivating core competencies in our children, it is imperative to examine, imagine, and reform subject-based teacher education in diverse educational settings. Possible topics: innovative models for interdisciplinary teacher education; curriculum (re)design for evolving academic disciplines in teacher education; integrating core competency into subject-based teacher education; professional identity, learning, and development of subject-based teacher educators; international perspectives on reforming subject-based teacher education; conceptualization and theorization of subject-based teacher education practices.
4. Evidence-based curriculum, teaching, and teacher education practices
The alignment of curriculum design and teaching strategies with teacher education will be more effective if they are based on empirical insights. Likewise, the quality of policies and administrative practices will be enhanced if they are informed by factual evidence. A dialogue on the efficacy of evidence-based curriculum and pedagogy, as well as their interaction with teacher education, should provide valuable opportunities for reflections on an area of inquiry that is becoming increasingly important in teaching and teacher education. But such inquiries are also in need of continuous refinement. Possible topics: issues in reliability of evidence; contextual influences on selection of evidences; evidence as tools for value-added teacher education; issues in the methodologies of evidence-based curriculum and instructional designs; implementation of evidence-based policies in schooling.
5. Crossing boundaries for teacher education
In the new reality of education, educators are crossing national, institutional, and academic boundaries to raise the quality of education. Through partnership, association, and networking with colleagues from other schools, universities, and research institutions, educators engage in collaborative work that can transform the school pedagogy and the teacher education system. Possible topics: boundary-crossing as change strategy for teacher education; identifying common interests in teacher education; leadership in boundary-crossing endeavors; matching cultures of teaching in cross-boundary teacher education; transnational professional development programs for teachers; cross-subject integration in multidisciplinary approach to teacher education.
