Innovative teachers from the perspective of teacher educators

Abstract

This chapter seeks to augment the ideas and perspectives provided in previous chapters by exploring the characteristics and conditions that support the innovative teacher from the perspective of teacher educators. The chapter focuses on Initial Teacher Education (!TE) in nurturing innovation. It also recognises the role of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in maintaining innovation and avoiding complacency in relation to knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. In keeping with the conceptual framework presented in Chapter 1, along with the overall theme of transformation that permeates this book, this chapter will look at innovation in the context of meeting "the challenges of the fast-changing and unpredictable globalised world" (Serdyukov, 2017, p. 4). Critical pedagogy is presented as a means of addressing the dynamic complexity (Fullan, 1993) inherent in 21st-century society and education. Readers are challenged to reflect on their own use of the term 'innovation' and to move it beyond being "a 'buzzword', perhaps the buzzword of our times" (Mozorov, 2014, cited by Ellis et al., 2019, p. 2).