Abstract

This publication discusses the challenges of teacher education in the coming era. Particularly it is concerned with the nature and quality of teacher education in the international, multicultural and technological world. The articles presented in this publication are derived from the 10^th annual European Teacher Education Network (ETEN) conference “In search of powerful learning environments for teacher education in the 21^stcentury” organised by the University of Oulu, Department of Teacher Education in May 28–30 1999. In following the thematic structure of the conference, the articles are organised under three specific themes, namely Teaching and teacher education including teacher education, early childhood education, continuing professional development, life long learning, special needs education, Multicultural teacher education including perspectives such as ethics, cultural diversity, social justice, democracy, inequality, communities and their schools, and Technology and teacher education including technology-based learning and instruction, open and distance education, multimedia education. In summary, the publication provides a unique opportunity to examine current challenges and developments in teacher education from national and international perspectives.