Characteristics, scholarship and research of teacher educators

This article begins with a description of the diverse backgrounds and working circumstances of teacher educators and their broad scope of tasks and responsibilities. One important priority among others in the induction of novice teacher educators is enhancing scholarship and becoming research-active. The increasing emphasis on research in education (academization), together with changing ideas about teaching and teacher education, as well as the need to counterbalance the pressure for standardization have proven to be stimulating for teacher educators' research. This article goes on to mention the topics teacher educators study, such as student and teacher learning, the relationship between theory and practice, subject-related themes, diversity and ethics, and the pedagogy of teacher education. Finally, this article discusses some challenges for the future. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.