The International Handbooks of Teacher Education cover major issues in the field through chapters that offer detailed literature reviews designed to help readers to understand the history, issues and research developments across those topics most relevant to the field of teacher education from an international perspective. This volume is divided into two sections: The organisation and structure of teacher education; and, knowledge and practice of teacher education. The first section explores the complexities of teacher education, including the critical components of preparing teachers for teaching, and various aspects of teaching and teacher education that create tensions and strains. The second examines the knowledge and practice of teacher education, including the critical components of teachers' professional knowledge, the pedagogy of teacher education, and their interrelationships, and delves into what we know and why it matters in teacher education.

John Loughran is the Foundation Chair in Curriculum & Pedagogy and Dean of the Faculty of Education, Monash University. John was a science teacher for ten years before moving into teacher education. His research has spanned both science education and the related fields of professional knowledge, reflective practice and teacher research. John was the co-founding editor of Studying Teacher Education and an Executive Editor for Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice. He was awarded the AERA, Division K Excellence in Research in Teaching and Teacher Education for his book Developing a Pedagogy of Teacher Education (Routledge Press). Mary Lynn Hamilton, Professor in Curriculum & Teaching, University of Kansas, combines research interests in teachers' professional knowledge, issues of social justice, and the self-study of teaching and teacher education practices. Recent publications include (co-authored with Stefinee Pinnegar): Self-Study of practice as a genre of qualitative research: Theory, methodology, and practice (2009) and Knowing, Doing, Becoming as Teacher Educators: Identity, Intimate Scholarship, Inquiry. Additionally, she is the former co-editor of Teaching and Teacher Education, an international journal.