The professional development of teacher educators

Two years ago, at the annual conference of the International Professional Development Association in Belfast, a claim was made by one of us, with a great deal of justification, that there had been very few papers published in the International Professional Development Association journal Professional Development in Education that had focused upon the role, development and professional identity of teacher educators (see: http://www.ipda.org.uk/paper/SwennenKeynote07.ppt). Following some initial inves- tigation, it became evident that this was indeed a relatively neglected area. The profes- sional development focus of the Journal had clearly been upon the teacher, either novice, beginner or more experienced, whilst the teachers of teachers had received comparatively little attention. Therefore, in response to the challenge made at the conference, the Editorial Board of the Journal agreed that we should seek to publish a special issue on the theme of The Professional Development of Teacher Educators.