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This paper provides an account of the processes leading to the report "Transforming teacher education. Redefined professionals for 21st century schools" undertaken by the International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes. The report is a unique document, neither a series of country studies nor one based on an extensive review of the literature. Rather, it attempted to strongly reflect widely varying contexts and responses in teacher education in Asia, Europe, Brazil, Canada and the USA given key global imperatives. This paper traces the rationale, origin and development of the International Alliance, institutional members, and its objectives. The paper also articulates the distinctive collegial process and key decisions involved in the identification of themes, the different contributions of scholars, and the unique challenges of consolidating the vast amount of information across different contexts, languages and cultures. Finally, four key assertions and a summary of implications for teacher preparation and development will be presented based on the Alliance report. (Contains 1 table.)

The nature, quality and preparation of school leaders are once more at the centre of policy and practice decisions about education. But it is important to understand that school leadership, as both a historical and cultural construction, is intimately related to changing socio-political realities. In the case of Singapore, the historical evolution from British colony to modern post-industrial nation offered radically different contexts for education practice and leadership roles. This article argues that that educational policy and practice in Singapore can be divided into three major periods: the colonial phase during which educational policy was decentralised, fragmented and shaped by the numerical predominance of independent Chinese medium schools; the postindependence phase which was characterised by the enforcement of a highly centralised, standardised and rigidly managed system designed to ensure economic survival; and the third contemporary phase which calls for greater decentralisation, freedom and autonomy in order to produce greater flexibility and creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]