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The first part of this chapter addresses the history and development of the International Study Association of Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) and its engagement with the global educational community. We provide an account of the context and background against which ISATT developed as well as information about the founders’ orientations and the actions that led to ISATT’s birth. The second part of the chapter uses patterns of topic focus as graphic indicators of the evolution of ISATT’s research interests expressed through publication titles.

This chapter presents a personal account of ISATT from the perspective of the first elected chair of the organization. In this work, the 1980s backdrop against which ISATT came into being is instantiated. Further to this, a panoramic view of the literature is offered and an “oral history” approach is used. To end, an archival document – a selection read at the 1988 biennial conference held near Sherwood Forest in Nottingham, England – pays tribute to Rob Halkes, the person who, with the assistance of key others, birthed the international study association which is now globally known as ISATT.

In this chapter, the story of professional development of Barica Marentič Požarnik (Professor Emerita, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) is shared in an interview conducted by Barbara Šteh. Central to the story is the impact of her participation in ISATT together with other influences (organisations, projects, conferences, individual contacts) on her professional activities and beliefs. Through the telling, the Slovenian context, particularly in the areas of initial teacher education, continuous professional development, curricular reform and research practice, becomes visible. At the end, some remaining issues are revealed.

This chapter explores the idea of paradigm shifts and the changes that have taken place in the field of teaching and teacher education over the past four decades. The work unpacks how teachers, their practices, their professional development, and their education are conceived in the positivist and interpretive paradigms. The study of teaching and teacher education is likewise shaped by the ontological and epistemological underpinnings associated with different research methods and the paradigms with which they are associated. To demonstrate the influence of paradigms, this chapter concludes with a rich example of how the interpretive tradition has shaped a teacher education program in northern Finland.

This volume, From Teacher Thinking to Teachers and Teaching: The Evolution of a Research Community, captures advances that have occurred in the thirty years that the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) organization has been in existence (1983–2013). ISATT occupies an important place in educational history. It is the international birthplace of the paradigm shift that occurred in the field of education in the 1980s as well as the organization that helped transition the study of teacher thinking to the study of teachers and teaching in all of its complexities. ISATT, which began with a handful of members, now has a membership that hails from 45 countries. ISATT’s near-global representation shows how the organization’s reach has expanded over three decades.

This chapter presents the multimodal-pedagogical model and initial teacher training organization aimed at preparing primary school teachers at the University of Bari “Aldo Moro.” The work centers on how the components of curriculum are balanced and how theory meets practice in school and university classrooms. We specifically focus on the epistemic function of didactic-disciplinary laboratories as experiences promoting and advancing multimodal learning essential to teacher preparation.

The Chinese system of education is shifting from an examination orientation to a more creative approach in order to increase educational quality. The New Curriculum in China requires not only changes in content and form, but also sets higher expectations for teachers’ instructional strategies and quality course design. Against this policy backdrop, China developed and implemented the School-Based Instructional Research (SBIR) model to improve teachers’ professional knowledge and development. In this ISATT anniversary chapter, our discussion revolves around the theme of SBIR, including its origin, progression, process, elements, and methods. To end, we summarize the expectations and prospects for SBIR in the Chinese educational context.

Over time, the orientation of educational leadership has changed as new paradigms have been introduced. These new paradigms have afforded increased insights into school milieus and actions and nonactions of teachers. The view of leadership that is currently in vogue connects acts of leading with acts of learning. According to this worldview, transformation occurs when students, teachers, and systems of education learn from experience in mutually beneficial ways. Strictly speaking, teachers are the true leaders of learning. As for school leaders, they facilitate student and teacher growth and take a reflective stance to issues at hand. In this scenario, school leaders as agents of change extend the reach of leading into the realm of leadership and learning.