The view of teachers as learners or as change agents dominates education discourse and reform.

Many reform strategies emphasize teacher accountability to ensure that all students receive a quality education. To this end, researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders focus on teacher preparation and performance. 

Teachers are either blamed or praised for student achievement levels, which constitute the strongest indicator of quality learning and teaching—along with other indicators identified through a hectic process of testing and measuring teacher performance against defined standards.   

Teachers as Learners recognizes the importance and relevancy of measuring the quality of learning and teaching.

However, it moves beyond measurement to explore how quality has been or may be created and achieved. The editor and authors provide thoughtful insights that invite  readers to critically examine the experiences of both teachers and student teachers.

Contributors developed their research with teachers, from teachers, and for teachers to successfully uncover the process of professionally constructing and reconstructing teachers’  perceptions, which shape and direct their experiences within different curricular reforms in different countries and at different educational levels.   

The book’s strength comes from adopting the notion of a “learning community,” which promotes teacher inquiry into their own experiences and practices, and allows for reflection, dialogue, and action.

This in turn empowers teachers and enables them to better understand the complexity of their roles as learners, professionals and researchers while becoming agents of change for social justice.

The book succeeds in putting together a collection of chapters selected and derived from research papers presented at the World Assembly of the International Council on Education of Teaching, held in Hong Kong. These chapters portray various types of teacher inquiry.

In their examination of teacher experiences as learners, researchers, and members in learning communities, the chapters address several challenges and opportunities imbedded in the  journey of becoming a good teacher.

The examples range from the initial teacher education program through the process of on going professional development to the policy concerns for the teaching profession.   

Taking a research stance is proven to be a useful and practical approach to enhance a professional, life-long learning in teaching and teacher education. The book further explores the notion of research as stance and teacher inquiry.

Teachers as Learners also focuses on enriching the learning experiences of student teachers and  addresses continuing professional development by focusing on mentoring and mentors.