Teacher Preparation in Taiwan

Teacher Preparation in Taiwan offers an analytically rich account of how teacher education has been shaped through the transnational circulation of ideas, institutions, and modes of governance.

Taiwan represents both a geographically understudied and a national context in which to examine the historical origins and contemporary dynamics of teacher preparation and education policy. The book demonstrates that Taiwan’s teacher education system has been constituted through sustained engagements with imperial, national, and global forces rather than developing in isolation.

Drawing on archival and policy analysis, the chapters trace the evolution of teacher preparation from early missionary schooling and Japanese colonial normal education, through Kuomintang authoritarian rule and post-democratisation reform, to contemporary developments shaped by globally circulating agendas such as social-emotional learning and alternative pathways into teaching. Across these periods, teacher education emerges as a critical site through which political authority, professional norms, and educational purposes are negotiated and reconfigured.

Addressing the gap in English-language literature on the topic, this comprehensive study contributes valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and researchers in the field of teacher education, both within Taiwan and internationally.

Ren-Hao Xu is a Lecturer at the Graduate School of Education, the University of Western Australia. He is a policy sociologist with research interests in education policies, higher education, and international and comparative education. His work has received several early-career researcher awards, including from the UWA Graduate School of Education, the Western Australian Institute for Educational Research, and Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council.

Chia-Hui Lin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at the National Taichung University of Education. Her expertise includes curriculum studies and teacher education, with a focus on self-regulated learning and social-emotional learning. She has undertaken several research projects supported by competitive funding from Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council and the Ministry of Education.