Developing as a Teacher Educator

It is commonly understood that teacher educators help develop teachers. It is less commonly understood how teacher educators come to develop as teacher educators themselves. Who and what develops the teacher educator? We know that teacher education does not exist apart from the teacher educator, yet too often teacher educator development becomes an afterthought in our teacher education discourse. This book examines this key group’s development through historical and contemporary contexts using conceptual, theoretical, and pedagogical considerations.

Understanding the complex work associated with the roles and responsibilities of being a teacher educator, the contributors to this text include experts in varying teacher educator development experiences and settings. We use the term guide in the title to connote that there is no prescription for learning how to be a teacher educator. Rather, we hope this text offers a survey for teacher educators as they journey down the path of teacher educator development as a teacher of and with teachers. The text addresses such areas as the history and politics of teacher education, evolving technologies affecting teacher education, teacher educator pedagogies, teacher educator identity re/formation, program design and partnerships, and teacher education leadership. The chapters straddle research and practice by being firmly grounded in the extant literature while also incorporating the authors’ experiences in teacher educator development.

Stephanie Dodman is an associate professor and assistant dean in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. She teaches doctoral courses in teacher education and critical perspectives of education for emerging teacher educators. Her scholarship focuses on teacher leadership, learning, and development for equitable schooling practices and systems.

Jennifer Jacobs is an associate professor, chair, and director of clinical education in the College of Education at the University of South Florida. Her research is situated within the context of teacher education. A central aspect of her work involves designing high-quality teacher education programs through school-university partnerships. Specific areas of investigation include teacher leadership, practitioner inquiry, and job-embedded professional learning.

Brandon Butler is a professor in the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies at Old Dominion University. His scholarship focuses on teacher educator preparation and the teaching and learning of self-study research. He is co-editor of Studying Teacher Education and the Springer Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices book series.

Jessica Hiltabidel (she/her) is a K-12 school administrator with over 20 years of experience teaching and leading in public schools. A recent graduate of George Mason University’s doctoral program, her work promotes social justice and equity through scholarship, teacher/leader development, and culturally sustaining practices. A first-generation, Latina scholar herself, Jessica uses her work to empower and advocate for others who are marginalized by an education system that was not built for them.