New practices of comparison, quantification and expertise in education: Conducting empirically based research

Abstract

of the affiliate programmes. While the examples of Bangladesh (Wiseman Adhikary and Lingard) and Spain (Saura) reconstruct the regional entrepreneurial and philanthropic networks that allowed the introduction of affiliate programmes to local public education systems and their influence on local policy-making, the chapters concerned with Australia (Moss et al.) and Wales (Southern) investigate the influence of TfA offsprings on (re)constructing and reframing policies and concepts of teacher education and professionalisation. The fourth chapter draws attention to different dimensions of teaching and leadership framed by different TF associates. The first subchapter in this section by Yin and Dooley reconstructs how Chinese participants of the TfAll-similar model locally known as the Exceptional Graduates as Rural Teachers programme, imagine and realise ‘quality education’. The comparative study by Schneider and Abs points to the differences between the Austrian and Bulgarian models in terms of understanding the professional duties and support systems for TfAll Fellows and their respective school principals. Lastly, the analysis by Straubhaar examines the theoretical underpinnings of TfAll’s versatile leadership discourse that invites morphing and adaptation across diverse socio-cultural and corporate contexts. Finally, the editors of the book draw a summarising conclusion and point to possible future perspectives on the TfAll phenomenon. Within all the interesting and informative insights provided by the diverse authors and approaches, it would have been interesting to also explore the view of traditionally trained teachers and their experiences with the programme and its associates in the context of educational and pedagogical framings. Also, the perspectives of students and parents on their experience with TfAll might also be of interest as well as other “alternative-route” teachers as the outcomes and differences between traditional and alternative teaching routes in relation to students’ success and the (personal) concept of the teaching profession remain still rather unclear. This volume presents a broad range of empirical research on the emergence and expansion of the TfAll programmes across the globe. It opens up various possibilities and foundations for future research, especially for more in-depth exploration on the (re)framing of key-dimensions in education like the construction of the teaching profession, meaning and purpose of education and social justice within the context of modern age and also possible (positive) inspirations and implications to adapt the status-quo to future models of teaching and learning. This book will be of great value to scholars, students and people interested in the connection and complexity of political, social and educational dimensions of justice, profession and the construction of a “future for everyone”.