Foreword

This Research Report synthesises the findings from a four-year programme of research on Teacher Education supported by DFID. It is focused on insights from Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, and Trinidad and Tobago. The research in South Africa is presented in a separate book.

The research was co-ordinated from the Centre for International Education at the University of Sussex. Participative workshops were used at different times in the project to develop the framework for the research, design data collection and analysis methods, and consolidate research findings into a range of publications. Principal Researchers were identified in each country who convened country research teams to undertake the research. This created ownership, grounded research activity in national contexts, and contributed to building future research capacity.

The dissemination of research insights from MUSTER is taking many forms. Thirty Discussion Papers have now been produced and are available from the MUSTER Website (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/usie/muster). These include country baseline studies, along with many analytic sub-studies by research team members. A special double issue of the International Journal of Educational and Development containing 13 articles has been published (May 2002). Contributions have also been made to a special edition of the International Journal of Educational Research on Teacher Education. Other outputs include a book on Changing Patterns of Teacher Education in South Africa: Policy, Practice and Prospects; a collection of Teacher Educators' Resource Materials developed from MUSTER research; various locally published research reports, and individually published articles in different academic journals. Five national workshops have been organised for policy makers and practitioners to disseminate findings directly to communities of stakeholders in each country. MUSTER research has also been presented at various international conferences including the Oxford Conference and the U.S. Comparative and International Education Society. Four country reports (Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi and Trinidad and Tobago) are being published as DFID Research Reports. A CD-ROM will be made available of the major MUSTER publications.