Impressions, messages and recommendations

Over the past year and a half, the pandemic has posed serious challenges to many professions, including education in general and teacher education in particular. COVID-19 created an unprecedented and unimagined disruption without preparation. As in schools, in teacher education, daily routines were challenged and we needed to rethink both our understanding of what teaching in schools looks like and what teachers need and our understanding of TE pedagogy which is traditionally based on close interpersonal interaction and classroom teaching practice. In this turbulent period and given the circumstances and the need for ‘emergency distance learning’, many teacher educators did their very best with full dedication to their responsibilities towards students, schools and society. At the same time, the question can be raised whether we can do better next time. The answer to that question depends on the extent to which we are able to learn from our past experiences. Research and exchange of our experiences can support this learning process. The Teacher Education Policy in Europe (TEPE) network has been actively involved in efforts to learn from our past experiences and to strengthen knowledge to meet new challenges. In doing so, we are aware of the importance of bringing together experts from different fields in a broad international forum. Among others, on 15 April 2021, with the help of colleagues from Tallinn University, we organised a webinar on the dilemmas and challenges teachers and schools face during the pandemic to ensure quality education for all, and how teacher education can support this. A month later, on 20-22 May, we held our fifteenth annual conference entitled Challenges of distance teaching in teacher education and education, organised by colleagues from the University of Ljubljana. It was attended by over 200 participants from 34 countries. In this document, we summarise the main findings and recommendations that emerged from the presentations and discussions at both events.