The idea of a normal university in the 21st century

The establishment of normal colleges and universities is an important component of building a modern country, which possesses different value ethos with the universities. The emergence of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and the local normal schools has set a new model for teacher education around the world and promoted values and knowledge patterns promoted by them quite distinctive from those of the traditional European university. In order to improve the quality of teacher education, the models of teacher education in the U.S., Japan, U.K., etc., are being continually innovated. China has created the teacher education model different with the U.S., Japan, U.K. and France, which is a contribution to the development of international teacher education. Copyright © 2010 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag.