During their secondments, the ESRs encountered the challenge of European professionalism by experiencing different relations between teachers, students, parents, researchers and practitioners across different research cultures. Internationally, there has been very little scientific knowledge about what makes researchers working in Europe “European” in the sense of European professionalism. Under the assumption that European educators should have a distinctive European self-understanding influenced by specifically European academic traditions and disciplines the mutual experiences at the partner universities, including other transnational activities, have contributed to a new understanding of European professionalism. This has also served as a lever for fostering Europeanisation in almost all partner universities and beyond (schools, professional development institutes, national agencies etc.).
An important element of the social impact was achieved through the partner institutions – many of which were schools – that came to see doctoral education as producing knowledge relevant for practice. The researchers’ projects provided a critical perspective on issues key to teacher education for the emerging European future. Among other examples, research on teacher education policy was shared with national and international decision-makers in teacher education. School-based research results illuminated such important challenges to European TE as educational inclusion, citizenship education, school leaderships, pedagogical supervision and professional development. With this experience, the ESRs started to build their transnational networks that should facilitate a continuing dialogue after the end of the project. Furthermore, partner organizations were influenced by the multicultural perspectives of the EDiTE research fellows during their cooperation and some will continue to cooperate on the international level after the present project comes to a close.
Through the manifold exchanges of the EDiTE project leaders and supervisors, transnational research activities with a European approach have increased. The EDiTE program has also encouraged practitioners to express their needs towards research and researcher training enhancing the practical use of research outcome. The EDiTE program may act as a generative model for the development of other European joint doctoral programs through the promotion of standards and procedures in teacher education. Through ongoing promotion and dissemination of the project, EDiTE is already visible on the landscape of European higher education and new institutions are interested in becoming part of the future and emerging network.
