This book presents recent international research on how teacher educators, institutions and policy makers perceive, act on and experience the dual responsibility that teacher educators are required to develop. Teacher educators are both teachers and researchers, a hybrid position which might be challenging to fulfil.

Teacher education has attracted much research over the years. It has also been subject to national and international debates about its goals and core features as well as issues of quality and effectiveness. More recently, attention has been given to the work, identity and professional development of teacher educators. The various chapters in the book address the topic of teacher educators as teachers and researchers in diverse countries and contexts, namely Australia, Belgium, England, Ireland, Israel, Portugal, Norway and the USA. Collectively, the authors examine the work of teacher educators considering their core mission, their professional development opportunities and the demands and needs of their working contexts.

The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of the European Journal of Teacher Education.

Kari Smith is a Professor (PhD) of Education in the Department of Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway. Her main research interests are teacher education, professional development, mentoring novice teachers and assessment for and of learning. She has acted as the Head of Teacher Education programmes abroad as well as at the University of Bergen, Norway. She was also project leader of the International Forum for Teacher Educator Development (InFo- TED) from 2013 to 2019. Currently, she is Head of the Norwegian National Research School in Teacher Education (NAFOL).

Maria Assunção Flores is an Associate Professor (PhD) of Education at the University of Minho, Portugal. She has published extensively in international and national journals, books and book chapters. Her research interests include teacher education and professional development, teacher evaluation, curriculum, assessment, teacher identity and higher education. She was Chair of the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) from 2013 to 2019. She is currently President of the Board of Estreiadiálogos (The International Collaborative Action Research Network for Portuguese-speaking countries).