Search results for: National policies

In Ireland, the past ten years have seen the emergence of new policies and practices in initial teacher education (ITE) in response to national priorities and the professed aim of progressing standards. A key mechanism of this process was to universally extend the duration of postgraduate ITE programs from twelve to twenty-four months to broaden student teachers' professional development. While this has been a positive move in many aspects, it has also been rendered problematic due to the inability of policymakers to reconstruct financial mechanisms to support student teacher enrolment, retention and progression. This paper examines second-level student teachers' experiences (N = 391) regarding the costs, both financial and emotional, of becoming a teacher in Ireland. The results show that while enrolled on their ITE course, there is a mean deficit of €151 per week in student teacher spending. Over 40% of student teachers rely on their family and/or partner to fund their participation. The qualitative data reveals that this has a huge impact on their personal and family finances and leads to high levels of financial stress. Suggestions on how this financial pressure could be alleviated include paid teaching while on school placement and lowering the cost of the course.

This paper reports on the background, context, design, and findings of a collaborative research project designed to develop a future roadmap for strengthening an Australian research-rich and self-improving education system. Building on the BERA-RSA Inquiry into the role of research in the teaching profession in the UK (Furlong, 2013), the Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA), Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) and Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE) initiated a national study across education systems and jurisdictions to identify ideas, issues, challenges and opportunities to strengthen teacher education and education policy development through research. The mixed-method study, inclusive of focus groups and an on-line survey collected data from pre-service teachers, teachers, academics and leaders across schools, universities and education departments. A set of recommendations highlight the need for research literacies to be embedded at all stages of a teachers’ career and that the profession would benefit from professional learning strategies where teachers are positioned as both critical and discerning consumers and active producers of research. The importance of teachers being able to respond to data within their own set of contextual factors was a key message.

This article considers the impact of recent political decisions on the provision of teacher education and the continuing development of teachers in England. The author tracks how successive governments have changed the requirements necessary to become a teacher as circumstances have changed in the country. The author also considers the impact of these changes on higher education institutions.

This longitudinal study considers beginning teachers’ perspectives relating to the challenges of finding and holding employment and of succeeding in their careers and classrooms. The participants were a group of student teachers who completed one-year Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in geography at the same Scottish university in 2005–2006. Three issues shaping new teacher identities within the current Scottish context have been identified: employment uncertainty, New Teacher Induction Scheme ethos and expectations, and ensuring continuous and secure EPL.