The logic of convergence and uniformity in teacher production

Abstract

This paper discusses teacher education, institutional growth and the economy of information. It compares the sector of teacher education with global markets, described by Thomas Friedman in his book The world is flat, as emerging and “flattening” in light of rapid technological and communication advances. The institutional framework of teacher production has tightly aligned with a hierarchy of controls and norms used widely by both private and public universities. Authors argue that the economy of universal information cannot provide an educational system with the tools it needs to train teachers and develop students as valuable contributors to the emerging world economy. Although it may be financially costly in the short‐term, the higher‐cost variables of particular information will prove vital to giving teacher training programs and independent universities the freedom to innovate, meeting the challenges afforded by a changing world.