Afterword
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Published:2023
2023. "Afterword", Studying Teaching and Teacher Education: ISATT 40th Anniversary Yearbook, Cheryl J. Craig, Juanjo Mena, Ruth G. Kane
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A few years ago, we imagined that this 40th Anniversary ISATT Yearbook would be a volume featuring incremental change in ISATT members' research agendas since our last celebratory volume published 10 years earlier (Craig et al., 2013). How wrong we were! In between our 30th and 40th Yearbook editions, a cataclysmic pandemic rocked the world. Our regional conference in Bordeaux, France, was canceled for two years. The same thing happened to our international conference scheduled for Bari, Italy. And what would be the purpose of undertaking a mammoth 40th Anniversary Yearbook project, if there was no international conference at which to celebrate ISATT's illustrious past, pandemic-riddled present, and bright future? Then, things lightened up (a bit) and both our regional and international conferences were reinstated. At that point, our backburner 40th Anniversary ISATT Yearbook Project took on warp speed because we no longer had the luxury of time. Our book prospectus was accepted by Emerald Publishing without revision. However, what we imagined would be one volume patterning the 30th Anniversary Yearbook, became four books, each with its own title:
Volume 1: Teaching and Teacher Education in the Wake of Covid-19
Volume 2: Teaching and Teacher Education in International Contexts
Volume 3: Approaches to Teaching and Teacher Education
Volume 4: Studying Teaching and Teacher Education (this volume)
In this four-book series, themes emerged that never previously headlined ISATT's work. For example, readers found themselves introduced to sections on 1) preparing teacher educators (InFo-TED), 2) excessive entitlement, 3) technology, and 4) accountability. Also, we included tributes to past members which were threaded throughout the four-volume set. These tributes showcased the plurality of career paths that ISATT members have taken and the collaborative relationships and friendships they developed. We additionally addressed vulnerable populations throughout the globe due to the current focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (phrased differently depending on countries and organizations). We also added a whole section on Covid-19, which launched the first book. It opened up collaborative partnership research conducted globally by 29 ISATT regional representatives, which was a first of its kind. way never previously imagined. Also, the Covid and technology themes naturally spilled over to other chapters in the other three volumes because, like the pandemic itself, they leaked into other topics of inquiry.
Finally, without the hard work of many individuals working quietly behind the scenes, this ISATT four-book project would have never made its submission deadlines. As projected, ISATT's four volumes of the 40th Anniversary Yearbook will be officially launched in Bari, Italy, at our study association's 20th Biennial International Conference, which is expected to be the largest to date. Our dream of landing our four-volume print and electronic chapters/yearbook in the world's libraries – as the most representative global publication to date – has been realized. ISATT's future is on solid ground.
