Conference Agenda

In post-conflict and Europeanising contexts, initial teacher education (ITE) is expected to prepare future teachers for democratic schooling, yet policy ambitions may exceed institutional translation capacity. This study examines how values are realised across ITE in Kosovo and develops a grounded conceptual model of value-based teacher education (VbTE) for democracy. Building on recontextualisation theory (Bernstein, 1990, 1996/2000), a systems perspective on education (Fend, 2006, 2008), and axiological theory (Hartman, 1967), we conceptualise value realisation across three system levels (macro–meso–micro) and three depths (systemic–extrinsic–intrinsic). We further operationalise value travel through a Conceptualised–Interpreted–Positioned (CoIP) lens that distinguishes (i) how values are named/defined, (ii) how they are normatively framed (e.g., legal, moral, professional), and (iii) how they become binding through assessment, practicum, and routine institutional practices. Value content is traced using the Council of Europe’s RFCDC clusters: human dignity and human rights, cultural diversity, and democracy/justice/fairness/equality/rule of law and related EU foundational values (Council of Europe, 2018; European Union, 2012).

The study addresses one main research question: How are democratic and human-rights-related values conceptualised, interpreted, and positioned across macro, meso, and micro levels of ITE in Kosovo, and what model best explains their configuration as VbTE for democracy? Three sub-questions guide the analysis: (1) How are values codified and framed in European and national policy/curriculum architectures for education and teacher education? (2) How are these commitments translated into programme structures, practicum arrangements, and assessment routines within ITE institutions? (3) How do teacher educators and student teachers describe the enactment, opportunities, and constraints of democratic and rights-based practice in everyday ITE pedagogy?

Empirically, we find a stable cross-level pattern. At the macro level, democratic and human-rights-related values are densely codified and positioned as foundational principles, commonly framed as legal obligations and alignment with European normative orders; however, interpretive guidance on prioritising values and working through tensions in practice is comparatively thinner. At the meso level (ITE programmes and institutional regulations), values are visible but selectively embedded: inclusion and cultural diversity are more frequently institutionalised than democracy as participatory practice, and extrinsic realisation is fragmented particularly where practicum and assessment should make values consequential (e.g., limited assessment criteria specifying democratic competences; generic practicum expectations). At the micro level, teacher educators and student teachers report strong intrinsic enactment of democratic norms: respect, fairness, dialogic spaces, and inclusive relations often expressed through locally meaningful professional language rather than policy-derived terminology, producing uneven shared vocabularies across programmes.

The resulting model reframes cross-level divergence from an “implementation gap” to an architecture of value realisation: VbTE for democracy is produced through the interaction of (a) codified commitments, (b) institutional translation capacity, and (c) enacted professional practice. The model positions the meso level as the decisive hinge where values either become durable infrastructures for all student teachers or remain contingent on individual initiative.

The bachelor students in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Norway, comes from and navigates in a multicultural society within and outside of their university´s campus. In their education they are introduced to some decolonial and antiracist theories, mostly through academic texts. The students participating in this study are all bachelor students in ECEC in their final year, but their age, gender and background differ.

A study on shared reading in a group of junior doctors, indicated that there could be positive outcomes of shared reading such as an opportunity to think slower, share thoughts and experience texts as a group (Wistrand et al, 2025). It also indicated a possibility of using shared reading as an approach to seek other perspectives (Wistrand et al, 2025). It is these perspectives this paper attempts to search for. The research question of the paper is “How can literature work as a decolonial approach to teacher education?”.

The framework of this study is critical and decolonial theories (Bruney, 2012; Freire, 2014; Zembylas, 2025), with a core question of how to create a culturally sustaining pedagogy (Alim, Paris & Wong, 2020; Paris & Alim, 2014). Different perspectives that can be provided through literature such as fiction, biography and poetry, might also work as an approach to decolonize the teacher education. The question of who’s voices, perspectives and narratives are given space in teacher education, is also a question of how to create a more sustainable and decolonial education. The selection of literature will focus on a literature reflecting the multicultural Norway with the voices of racialized or marginalized people. In a preliminary work done in the fall of 2025 different forms of literature was introduced to bachelor students in Early Childhood Education and Care. Literature including fiction, biography and poetry, presenting perspectives of Sámi, immigrant, disability, asylum seekers, adoption and LHBTQ+, was introduced to the students in the subject of specialization in diversity in ECEC.

In a society of acceleration (Rosa, 2024) the need of pedagogies that goes slower are increasing (Clark, 2022). This paper attempt to search for teaching methods contributing to reflexion and slower thinking. It is a question of what we are educating for (Biesta, 2015), and this paper calls for a decolonial and cultural sustainable teacher education. For the students to read together, listen to each other and to discuss other perspectives of the society they are a part of, might contribute to a teacher education which can provide spaces for these reflective practices. The perspectives presented in the literature might challenge the values and beliefs of the students and affect the way they see their profession and education.

This study’s intervention to teaching in higher education aspires to be critically reflexive and materially engaged (Zembylas, 2025). There is also some racialized students in the program, who’s voices need to be heard, and knowledge need to be included in the education. The shared reading groups might be a space for listening to and develop different kinds of knowledges, also those knowledges that challenge a Eurosentric epistemology (Mabvira, 2024; Zembylas, 2025).

Initial teacher education in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (PASS) is currently experiencing significant tensions and transformations, driven by processes of digitalisation, the globalisation of knowledge, and the growing influence of informal learning environments. Within the European context, these transformations have been acknowledged in the frameworks of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), as well as in policy documents issued by the European Commission and the OECD, which emphasise the need to educate teachers capable of autonomous learning, critical thinking, and evidence-informed professional decision-making in complex educational contexts (European Commission, 2018; OECD, 2019).

In the specific field of PASS teacher education, international research has highlighted that university students often reproduce learning models characterised by dependence on the content provided by lecturers. This tendency limits the development of key professional competencies such as autonomy, critical reflection, and the capacity for continuous professional updating (Casey & MacPhail, 2018). This issue is particularly relevant in Physical Education, where professional knowledge is constructed at the intersection of scientific evidence, embodied experiences, sociocultural discourses, and professional practices.

From a European perspective, professional autonomy is regarded as a central component of teacher quality. European frameworks for teacher competence stress the importance of preparing teachers who are able to manage their own learning processes, critically engage with educational research, and adapt their practices to diverse contexts (European Commission, 2013). In this regard, theories of self-regulated learning provide a conceptual basis for understanding how future teachers in PASS develop the ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning processes (Zimmerman, 2002). These competencies align closely with the principle of lifelong learning underpinning European education policy.

Critical thinking represents another fundamental pillar of professional knowledge in PASS teacher education. Beyond technical or methodological proficiency, educating critically minded teachers involves fostering the ability to question dominant discourses related to the body, health, performance, and physical activity, as well as to assess the validity and relevance of the information informing pedagogical decision-making (Kirk, 2010; Biesta, 2015). From this standpoint, teacher education cannot be reduced to content transmission but should instead promote processes of analysis, comparison, and reflection on the sources of knowledge shaping future teachers’ professional beliefs.

The expansion of digital environments, and social media platforms in particular, poses a specific challenge for PASS teacher education. Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok have become common sources of information related to training, health, the body, and movement, exerting a considerable influence on university students’ understandings and beliefs (Lupton, 2020). Recent European research indicates that these informal environments play a significant role in shaping professional conceptions, often without sufficient critical evaluation of scientific evidence or commercial intentions underlying such content (Goodyear et al., 2019).

From a research perspective in teacher education, this phenomenon cannot be addressed solely as a didactic issue but rather points to broader dimensions related to teacher education and the theoretical foundations of professional knowledge. Critical digital literacy and the ability to evaluate information from both formal and informal learning environments therefore emerge as essential professional competencies for Physical Education teachers in Europe (Redecker, 2017). Integrating these dimensions into initial teacher education requires acknowledging that professional knowledge is constructed across multiple spaces and that future teachers must develop frameworks to negotiate, select, and legitimise diverse sources of information.

The aim of this study is to examine the development of autonomy and critical thinking in initial teacher education in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, contributing to a European research agenda focused on strengthening reflective, evidence-informed, and socially responsible teacher education in digitally mediated contexts.