If we want to prepare young people so that they can thrive into the future, we need to have a robust understanding of what sorts of skills and knowledges they might need. And these questions matter because the world of 2050 will not just be a faster and shinier version of today, but is likely to be different in kind. To what extent then will our education systems of today need to adapt?
The UCET Intellectual Base of Teacher Education (UCET, 2020) states that high-quality teacher education ‘encourages a lifelong commitment to the education profession and pays careful attention to the factors that promote a healthy learning environment for teachers and learners’ (p.2). Currently, data suggests that many of our student teachers are not living in healthy environments.
In this blog post based on our 2025 UCET workshop, we explore how professional networks provide communities of practice where we can continue to develop as inquiring professionals, arguing that, as teacher educators, we have a responsibility to introduce our trainees to these communities too.
The generative AI revolution is reshaping teacher education. Moving beyond speculative debate, AI is now increasingly present within classrooms, lesson planning, staffroom conversations, and the everyday practices of schools and universities.
The UCET Equalities Group emerged at a moment when long standing inequalities could no longer be ignored. Although the Covid-19 pandemic did not create these inequalities it did expose the uneven impact of socio-economic, educational and health inequalities with painful clarity, especially for those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
When we think about storytelling in education, we often picture early years classrooms but storytelling isn’t just for children. Our recent research with trainee teachers in the Further Education (FE) sector suggests it may be one of the most powerful tools for professional development. We began with a simple question: What happens when trainee teachers are invited to tell the story of becoming a teacher? The answer was powerful.
Our UCET conference keynote called for a renewed, profession-led vision of high-quality Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in England. After years of policy reform the sector has shown remarkable resilience, yet policy changes have too often reduced teacher education to questions of content, sequencing, and compliance, sidelining the sector’s expertise and, in effect, allowing others to define quality for us.
Education in Northern Ireland (NI) has been experiencing significant change following the publication of ‘TransformED NI: Transforming Teaching and Learning: A Strategy for Educational Excellence in Northern Ireland’ (DENI, 2025). This comprehensive reform programme focuses on a range of key school-based issues, all underpinned by substantial investment in teacher professional development from Initial Teacher Education (ITE) (via bursary schemes), through to an enhanced Induction programme and a
Teacher education has long attracted those seeking a second career. Among them are former service personnel, blue-light professionals, engineers, youth workers, carers, business leaders and others whose prior roles were demanding, value-driven and identity-forming. While the motivations for retraining vary, a common thread runs through these journeys: becoming a teacher is not simply about acquiring new skills but about re-forming professional identity (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009).
In light of recent developments, it is easy to see the position of the university-based teacher educator (UBTE) as assailed from all sides: navigating centralisation and prescription at policy level, competition from school-led ITE routes on the ground and a precarious higher education landscape.
In a recent article in the British Education Research Journal, Dr Louisa Dawes, Dr Elizabeth Gregory and Dr Mark Innes of the University of Manchester argue that UCET should be given a say in the ongoing reform of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for school leaders in England. Here, they explain why.
Over the past year I have had the pleasure of being part of a PGCE student-tutor collaborative research project, aiming to have a better understanding of how student teachers engage in reflective practice. Interestingly, as an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) practitioner, the project has also helped me reflect on how I support student teachers’ reflective practices.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is more than a buzzword: it's the foundational process through which young people develop the crucial skills needed for healthy identities, goal achievement, empathy, and responsible decision-making. Recognised globally as a key determinant of pupil success and lifelong socioeconomic outcomes, the importance of SEL has never been clearer.
When teachers seek their own Continuing Professional Development (CPD), they are increasingly required to justify its immediate impact on classroom practice and alignment with school improvement priorities. This performative framing of CPD raises important questions about what professional learning is for—and who it serves.
Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and Initial Teacher Training (ITT) – titles that are often used interchangeably and synonymously when referring to the preparation of teachers in England. Yet each term is ladened with meaning and interpretation – there is a deep significance inherent in the terms which reflect alternative discourses around the knowledge, understanding and skills that are considered essential to become a teacher.
The latest UCET Teacher Education blog from Elizabeth Gregory, Louisa Dawes and Rosa Archer (University of Manchester). Special thanks to Lisa Murtagh and Andy Howes for their support and guidance in writing this blog and for helping to develop the concept that underpins the blog.
The first blog from Professor Stefanie Sullivan (Nottingham and Chair of UCET) and Professor Trevor Mutton (Oxford) for the new UCET Teacher Education blog.