ABSTRACT
Dale (2014) contends that neo-liberal education has had a notable direct effect on teacher preparation across the world. He highlights the prevalence of 'the notion that the effectiveness of the forms of education is due in considerable degree to the effectiveness of teachers'. The state, as the main employer of graduates, tends to have a strong influence on the structure and content of teacher preparation, and the related requirements generally to lower the flexibility of provision in this field. There is no consensus on what school education is about, on the priorities for curriculum, on the skills and qualities required to be a teacher or the responsibilities to be taken. Teachers are likely to experience a similar tension in terms of trust, as governments see the need to allow an enhanced autonomy and creativity, yet feel unwilling or unable to abandon policies which result in low-trust cultures of targets, performativity and compliance.
