Against a backdrop of increasing pressure globally to enhance the quality of teacher preparation, and a corresponding push to 'measure' this performatively, we present a context-specific framework for identifying the quality of initial teacher education (ITE). The framework derives from a project involving all Scottish ITE providers. It adopts a vernacular globalisation perspective, drawing on international literature and local knowledge to create a mutually agreeable framework. In sharing the process, as well as the product, we offer a unique perspective on how one jurisdiction has reconciled global neoliberal pressures with a national educational ideology which values democratic approaches to schooling.