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For a number of years and in several policy programs, entrepreneurship education has been considered a core part of the educational system in every European country. However, teachers in general education seem ill-equipped to incorporate entrepreneurship in their daily practices. The present study examines how universities can support teachers’ professional development in creating learning environments in general education related to working life and entrepreneurship, highlighting design-based research (DBR) as one model of continuing education. The continuing education process in question was a university-school collaborative partnership in a regional project coordinated by the university and involving teachers (N = 8) in comprehensive schools and upper secondary schools. Each teacher was observed and supported by a university lecturer (one of the authors) in their natural learning environments while developing their practices. The university lecturer working as project leader is a researcher in entrepreneurship education and has previously worked as a teacher at the educational levels in question. Despite some challenges, the findings encourage further development of the model, especially for scheduling of the supporting research.

The chapters in this volume focus on how university partnerships for pre-service and teacher development apply novel ideas to improve teacher quality in global communities. The purpose of these programs is to improve education systems for all participants. Case studies in this volume present a broad and in-depth review of partnerships that apply novel ideas to transform organizations. This chapter provides an overview to this volume by discussing important elements of teacher quality by defining teacher quality characteristics, shared collaboration, and providing ideas for professional development agendas.