Abstract

This paper develops a novel theoretical stance for reimagining initial teacher education (ITE) through genuine North-South dialogue that challenges dominant Global North paradigms in teacher education. Drawing on collaborative inquiry between researchers from England and Chile, we synthesise material-dialogic space theory (derived from Global North traditions) with critical pedagogy (from Global South philosophies) to propose that transformative agency emerges relationally through encounters with otherness across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Our approach moves beyond typical North-South knowledge transfer models to demonstrate how theoretical co-construction across different epistemological traditions can generate new insights for addressing climate challenges in teacher education. Using post-qualitative inquiry, we engaged in collaborative dialogue over 9 months, working with two illustrative vignettes from Chilean lithium extraction and English ocean education contexts. This process exemplified the material-dialogic approach we propose, generating new theoretical insights through genuine North-South dialogue. Our theoretical synthesis in dialogue with 'real world' vignettes reveals four core insights: how relationality challenges neoliberal compartmentalisation, how material-dialogic spaces operate across multiple scales, how teacher education must prepare educators for emergent global challenges and the role of North-South dialogues in teacher education. We argue that conceptualising initial teacher education as material-dialogic space oriented to critical imagination enables movement from fixed disciplinary identities toward relational professional identities, preparing teachers to work with climate challenges that exceed traditional disciplinary boundaries. This theoretical contribution offers conceptual foundations for transdisciplinary curriculum design, and global partnerships in teacher education that challenge dominant knowledge hierarchies while fostering transformative agency for climate justice.