The US led the way, upgrading school-teaching to an all-graduate profession by the middle of the 20th century. The normal schools in the country developed in two directions.

Institutions which were upgraded to state universities continued to be dominated by large faculties of education. At these institutions, teacher education is highly valued and central to their work. There is an ethos of direct social responsibility, a strong sense of local community and identity together with a nurturing and morally conscientious environment. Today, a few prominent state universities of this kind, Illinois State University and Central State University in Ohio for instance, still maintain their strong traditions in teacher training.

Other institutions were merged into faculties of education at major national universities, some with an independent identity, such as Teachers’ College Columbia, and others as constituent colleges that maintain their teacher education mission for students and graduates from other disciplines.

The transition to an all-graduate teaching profession in England bears a strong resemblance to the US, except that it took place considerably later, in the 1960s and 1970s.

Some former colleges for teacher training became faculties of education or constituent colleges at major universities with different degrees of autonomy. For example, The Institute of Education became one of the constituent colleges of the federated University of London in 1932, subsequently emerging as one of the most renowned centres of excellence in education research and innovation in the world.

Some institutions developed into colleges of higher education, providing bachelor degree level programmes for pre-service teachers, as well as other undergraduate programmes in various fields such as psychology, management and languages. These colleges of higher education received a Royal Charter in the 2000s, granting them university titles, with two leading examples being the University of Gloucestershire and Canterbury Christ Church University.

The modern normal school system was established in Japan during the Meji Reformation era. Shortly after the end of WWII, the Japanese government established 47 universities and faculties of education in local universities to replace teacher training in the pre-war normal schools. Borrowing from the US system, a new four-year teacher education curriculum was established with a tripartite structure combining general education, pedagogical training, and integrated subject learning.

Today, there are 11 national universities of education in Japan, including three new universities of education established in the late 1970s with the mission to enhance the professional development of teachers through master programmes. They offer both pre-service and in-service teacher education to raise professional teaching standards. Some of these universities have diversified their programme offerings to include teacher training and Liberal Arts education, serving both the needs of schools as well as other organisations and agencies for training, lifelong learning and adult education.

The modern teacher education system in China and Taiwan can be traced back to the late Qing Dynasty and early republic era. With the upgrading of the teaching profession, many normal schools and colleges were amalgamated or upgraded to normal universities at different stages, for example, Beijing Normal University and National Taiwan Normal University.

By the mid-1990s, both the Mainland and Taiwan governments had opened up the provision of teacher education from normal universities to comprehensive universities. Many normal universities thus sought to diversify their disciplines, aiming to make the transformation into comprehensive universities. However, some normal universities, such as Chongqing Normal University, have still maintained teacher education as their core mission. In Taiwan, six universities of education were established in 2004.

Under the strong influence of Confucianism, Korea is a nation which places a distinct emphasis on education with teacher education being provided by both public and private universities. In 1984, Korea upgraded all teachers’ colleges to National Universities of Education and continued their mission in teacher education both for primary and middle schools. Founded in 1985, the Korea National University of Education is dedicated to pre-service and in-service teacher education for kindergarten, primary and secondary school levels, in addition to also pioneering educational research to advance teaching and learning. Today, there are 11 National Universities of Education in different parts of the country, offering a full range of degrees from bachelor to doctorate awards in the various education disciplines.