Teacher educator roles and identities: articulating values in uncertain times

The roles and identities of teacher educators are shaped by what an era of permacrisis, when complex and intersecting events, conditions and uncertainties are significantly impacting higher education as a whole, including teacher education. Drawing on interviews with teacher educators from Australian and New Zealand universities, this paper explores how academics made sense of their roles and identities during the moment of crisis and disruption represented by the COVID-19 pandemic. It reveals that these teacher educators affiliated with three metaphorical identities – the ‘intercultural educator’, the ‘civic educator’ and the ‘professional educator’ – that also informed their pedagogical practices. These identities provided a heuristic around which metaphors converged to highlight teacher educators’ assumptions, values and everyday conceptual systems. Knowing more about these gives insights into the roles and values of teachers more generally and could help to inform the current teacher workforce, future graduates and those supporting their career development.