ITELab: bringing innovation into Initial Teacher Education

Support for teachers’ early careers and giving them confidence in their own skills should start from the time they are based in teacher education institutions, often universities. Collaboration among different stakeholders is crucial in creating a coherent approach. A number of projects explore these possibilities including the current ITELab (Initial Teachers Education Lab).

The ITELab project, an EU-funded Knowledge Alliance between higher education institutions and industry, is looking to foster innovation and knowledge exchange in initial/pre-service teacher education (ITE) in order to give these careers a boost.

The recent and upcoming activities of the project include:

• Five case studies of university-school collaboration, featuring examples from Norway, Ireland, UK, Italy and Portugal. The case studies include examples such as school and university personnel co-designing study programmes featuring innovative methods and supporting the development of digital pedagogical skills, jointly designing active learning spaces, and student teachers 'taking over' schools.
• University teacher-educator survey to learn more about the digital competences of teacher educators in Initial Teacher Education. The survey is open until 30 November and targeted at university lecturers and tutors who teach primary and/or secondary student teachers to become the next generation of future teachers.
• ITELab Spring Pilots 2019: Another important feature to enable teachers to build their own professional profile and explore different career options is to help them be more connected and mobile, even if just virtually. Online environments are important tools, especially when encouraging teachers to engage in dialogue across regional or national borders. Any university teaching future primary and/or secondary teachers is welcome to join the ITELab partners in the spring 2019 pilots of teacher-led modules and a separate student-teacher MOOC called The Networked Teacher (start date: 25 February 2019). 

Discover more at the ITELab website and find out how to join the ITELab for free as an Associate Partner.

The ITELab project is funded under the Erasmus+ Programme and will run for 36 months until the end of 2019.