Educating future teachers: Insights, conclusions and challenges

— Innovative (adjective): having new ideas about how something can be done — When we speak of being innovative, we refer to changing processes, products and ideas or creating better ones. Taking the notion of innovation seriously, this volume provides research findings of new practices in professional experience in Australian initial teacher education programs and offers alternative ways of conceiving and enacting professional experience. This volume’s genesis lies in the questions that we posed when we began this project: 1. What are the promising innovations in thinking about, rethinking and enacting professional experience to better prepare prospective teachers to effectively enter the workforce? 2. What can new research contribute in strengthening teacher preparation in schools and early learning centres? 3. What might these promising innovations mean for the range of stakeholders responsible for designing and implementing teacher education including teacher educators, supervising teachers, policymakers, employers and regulatory authorities?