Judith Harford is Head of Research and Director of the Professional Diploma in Education at the School of Education, University College Dublin.Brian Hudson is Professor of Education and Associate Dean for Research in the School of Education, Social Work and Community Education at the University of Dundee.Hannele Niemi is Professor of Education at the University of Helsinki.

This is an outstanding collection of contemporary scholarship on one of the most challenging issues in school improvement today. The contributions are based on a comprehensive command of the available empirical literature and reflect a tenaciously honest and analytically nuanced interpretation of its implications for teachers and schools. It is must-reading for all educators and policy makers who want real and sustainable improvement of our schools for many years to come. (Dennis Shirley, Boston College, USA)This unique book offers a deep international look at the ideas and models of improving and maintaining the quality of teacher education. An invaluable book written by leading international teacher education scholars, it is compulsory reading for teacher educators and policymakers. (Pasi Sahlberg, Director General, Centre for International Mobility, Finland)This book helps to establish a shared understanding of what quality culture might actually mean. It does this through considering conceptual issues as well as a range of particular approaches from around the globe. It is to be hoped that policymakers, as well as researchers and teacher educators, will read the book carefully for the insights it provides about processes of reform. (Ian Menter, University of Oxford, UK)

• Contents: Hannele Niemi/Judith Harford/Brian Hudson: Introduction: From Quality Assurance to Quality Culture – Sheelagh Drudy: Professionalism, Performativity and Care: Whither Teacher Education for a Gendered Profession in Europe? – Kay Livingston: Quality in Teachers’ Professional Career-Long Development – Hannele Niemi/Stephen Kemmis: Communicative Evaluation for Improvement in Education – Bjorn Åstrand: Contemporary Challenges for Quality Assurance in Teacher Education: The Swedish Example - Do Central Inspections Impede Local Quality Cultures? – Sylvia Chong/Pauline Ho: A Systems Approach to Teacher Quality in Singapore – Linda Darling-Hammond: Quality Assurance in Teacher Education: An American Perspective – Hannele Niemi/Jari Lavonen: Evaluation for Improvements in Finnish Teacher Education – Janja Komljenovič/Pavel Zgaga: Quality Assurance in Slovenian Teacher Education: Between National Regulation and Internationalization – John Coolahan: Quality Assurance in Teacher Education in Ireland within an International Context – Judith Harford/Gerry MacRuairc: Shifting Models of School Evaluation in the Republic of Ireland – Brian Hudson/Teresa Moran: Quality Assurance Systems and Teacher Education Reform for the Twenty-First Century in Scotland.