http://hdl.handle.net/10468/308 2013-06-20T02:38:56Z 2013-06-20T02:38:56Z Conway, Paul F. Murphy, Rosaleen Delargey, Michael Hall, Kathy Kitching, Karl Long, Fiachra McKeon, Jacinta Murphy, Brian O'Brien, Stephen O'Sullivan, Dan http://hdl.handle.net/10468/880 2013-01-15T03:00:17Z 2011-03-01T00:00:00Z

Learning to teach (LETS): developing curricular and cross curricular competences in becoming a 'good' secondary teacher: executive summary Conway, Paul F.; Murphy, Rosaleen; Delargey, Michael; Hall, Kathy; Kitching, Karl; Long, Fiachra; McKeon, Jacinta; Murphy, Brian; O'Brien, Stephen; O'Sullivan, Dan The aim of this research, the Learning to Teach Study (LETS), the first of its kind on the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in Ireland, funded by the Department of Education and Skills (DES), was to develop and implement a study of initial teacher education in the PGDE in post-primary education, in the School of Education, University College Cork. Its aim was to identify the individual and contextual dynamics of how student teachers develop curricular and cross-curricular competences during initial teacher education (ITE). Within an overall framework that explores how student teachers develop their skills, competences and identity as teachers, it focuses on curricular competences in mathematics, science and language teaching, and on the cross-curricular competences of reading and digital literacy and the development of inclusive teaching practices. LETS is the first programme level research on the PGDE, familiarly known to generations of student teachers and teachers as ‘the Dip’ or ‘the HDip’. Drawing on research on teacher education both in Ireland and internationally, the LETS report is divided into six sections encompassing thirteen chapters. Section 1 includes the review of literature and study aims in Chapter 1 and the research methodology in Chapter 2. Adopting an interpretive approach, LETS involved the collaborative development of three interviews protocols and a survey by the research team. Seventeen (n=17) students were interviewed three times over the course of PGDE programme, and one hundred and thirty three students completed a detailed survey on their learning to teach experience (n=133, i.e. response rate of 62.7% of the 212 students in the PGDE 2008/09 cohort). The four chapters in Section 2 focus on professional identity as a central dimension of learning to teach. Among the dimensions of learning to teach addressed in this section are the role of observation and cultural scripts in becoming a teacher, the visibility/invisibility of PGDE students as learners and the relationships between emotions, resilience and commitment to teaching. The three chapters in Section 3 focus on mathematics, modern languages and science respectively in the context of conventional and reform-oriented visions of good teaching. A number of common as well as subject-specific themes emerged in this section in relation to subject matter teaching. Section 4 focuses on PGDE students’ experience of inclusion (chapter 10) and reading literacy (chapter 11) while learning to teach. Section 5 focuses on a key aspect of initial teacher education, namely, the school-university partnership. The final section provides a summary of the findings, identifies seven key issues emerging from these findings, makes Learning to Teach Study (LETS) recommendations under four headings (system, teacher education institutions, partnerships in ITE and further research) and discusses some implications for research, policy and practice in initial teacher education. Among the main findings emerging from the study are: (i) schools provide valuable support for PGDE students but this typically does not focus on classroom pedagogy, (ii) PGDE students typically felt that they had to be ‘invisible’ as learners in schools to gain and maintain authority and status, (iii) inherited cultural scripts about what it means to be a ‘good’ subject teacher shaped teacher identity and classroom practice, and (iv) as PGDE students begin to feel competent as teachers of maths, modern languages and science, this feeling of competence typically does not include their capacity to teach for inclusion and reading literacy within their subject teaching. In the context of research on teacher education, many of the findings are not unique to the PGDE or to UCC but reflect perennial dilemmas and emerging challenges in initial teacher education. This fact is important in setting a context for the wider dissemination2 of the Learning to Teach Study.

2011-03-01T00:00:00Z Conway, Paul F. Murphy, Rosaleen Rath, Anne Hall, Kathy http://hdl.handle.net/10468/303 2013-02-27T15:41:53Z 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Learning to Teach and its Implications for the Continuum of Teacher Education: A Nine Country Cross-national Study. Conway, Paul F.; Murphy, Rosaleen; Rath, Anne; Hall, Kathy The purpose of this Report is to inform discussions, policy formulation, and strategic planning on teacher education in Ireland. The research gives priority to initial teacher education (ITE) and induction, their interface, and implications for the continuum of teacher education, including continuing professional development (CPD). The study involved a two-pronged approach: a narrative review of recent and relevant literature and a cross-national review of teacher education policies in nine countries, namely, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Finland, USA, Poland, Singapore and New Zealand. Adopting a broad, balanced and comprehensive understanding of the role of the contemporary teacher, it provides a framework for developing quality teacher education in Ireland. The Report incorporates exemplars of good practice and notes their implementation challenges for the Irish context.  Chapter One provides a framework for conceptualising quality teacher education and the continuum. Key features that emerge from the literature are discussed: teachers¿ practice, quality teaching, the professional life-cycle, teacher learning and relationships. With more specific reference to the continuum, Chapter Two overviews initial teacher education, induction, learning outcomes and accreditation in the selected countries, including Ireland. Key features of policy in the various countries are summarised. Individual country profiles, incorporating descriptions of socio-political, teaching and teacher education contexts, are further detailed in Appendix A. Chapter Three analyses relevant literature on initial teacher education, induction, learning outcomes/professional standards and accreditation. Along with previous chapters it provides the basis for recommendations for teacher education that are presented in Chapter Four. Chapter Four draws together the findings emerging from the cross-national review in terms of the contemporary context of teacher education in Ireland and identifies key challenges and possible lines of policy development as well as recommendations for the Teaching Council and other teacher education stakeholders. Each generation has an opportunity to provide the vision and resources for renewing teacher education in light of ambitious social, economic and educational aspirations to meet perceived societal and education challenges (as occurred in the 1970s). Despite the publication of two key reviews of initial teacher education a number of years ago, there is considerable scope for further reform of teacher education. However, significant changes have occurred to teacher education course provision and content over the last 100 years. In this report, we have stressed the need for, and called for investment in, greater system and programme coherence, mentoring to support assisted practice, knowledge integration, critical reflective practice, inquiry and the development of vibrant partnerships between higher education institutions and schools as the basis for teacher education reform across the continuum. This Executive Summary presents the Report¿s context, key findings and recommendations emerging from the analysis.  

2009-01-01T00:00:00Z Conway, Paul F. http://hdl.handle.net/10468/307 2011-05-19T16:00:55Z 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

Laptops initiative for students with dyslexia or other reading and writing difficulties: Evaluation report of early implementation, 2002-2003 Conway, Paul F. This evaluation report presents findings from the early implementation of the Laptops Initiative for students with dyslexia and other reading and writing difficulties during the period December 2000 to September 2003. The report situates the Laptop Initiative in the context of the national and international focus on how best to integrate ICTs into the daily fabric of teaching and learning with a concurrent policy move toward providing support for students with learning difficulties in mainstream settings. These three themes - early implementation, ICT/technology integration, and provision of learning support for students in mainstream settings - are the central themes in the report. The overarching project goal was to identify how laptops and other portable ICT equipment can best be used to support students with dyslexia or other reading and writing difficulties in a manner that facilitates learning, and access to learning, in an inclusive environment.The first phase of the evaluation work on the early implementation involved orientation to the personnel, scope and developments to date in the project (January- March 2003). This phase involved meeting with relevant NCTE and DES personnel (the Director of the NCTE, the Project Coordinator, NCTE's National Coordinator for Special Needs, NCTE's Project Officer for Special Needs, and the DES Inspector providing advice to the project coordination team), meeting teachers in two focus group meetings in March 2003, review of some relevant literature on laptop and ICT initiatives and planning the case study phase of the evaluation. The second phase (April-July 2003) of the evaluation focused on gathering case study data in four selected schools, preparing an initial draft of sections of the report summarising data gathered during the March Focus Group meetings and outlining a framework for the school case studies. The third phase (August-November 2003) of the evaluation involved revisiting the case study schools and the development, administration and analysis of a school survey which was sent to principals. The subsequent report on the early implementation of the Laptops Initiative documents the development of the project from its inception in December 2000 to various strands of development at national, school and classroom levels until end of September 2003. The various interview protocols, survey instruments and other data collection guidelines are contained in the report as appendices.This evaluation of the Laptop Initiative reflects the early development of the project. In many respects the Laptop Initiative could be seen as the SIP of SIPs, (SIP being the acronym for the School Integration Project, one of the three strands in the Schools IT 2000 initiative). That is, the Laptop Initiative provides an opportunity to examine a large-scale school integration pilot project across thirty-one post-primary schools, with a number of supporting conditions such as: the freedom given to each school to design and craft the project according to its locally identified needs and strengths, funding for substitute teacher cover to support participating teachers, an experienced seconded project coordinator supporting the schools, with additional support provided by local ICT advisors, NCTE personnel overseeing and providing further expertise to the project, involvement of principals in national project meetings, in-service days and further training for teachers and principals, and a Laptop Initiative newsletter designed to support teachers in sharing their Laptops Initiative-related teaching practices. There are a number of very positive developments and overarching observations worth reiterating at this point: Teachers, principals, and students alike are generally very positive about the project and see it as having made a worthwhile contribution to literacy learning. They identified significant successes to date, real obstacles to its fuller implementation, as well as areas for future development. Over a thousand students have been using the laptops across the thirty-one schools. Students were positive about their laptop-related learning experiences. The 2002-03 year marked a turning point during which many teachers and principals moved from being somewhat skeptical about the initiative to being strongly committed to its actual benefits and further potential. The Laptops Initiative is well rooted in almost all participating schools. Schools made very significant progress during 2002-03 in purchasing, organising, planning, developing awareness of the project in other schools and distributing the laptops for use across different class and year groups. The dominant approach to provision of support for students with learning difficulties in literacy is withdrawal. Consequently, to date, the laptops have fitted into rather than transformed provision for students with dyslexia and other reading and writing difficulties. As such, dominant organisational and cultural patterns tend to exert a significant and powerful assimilationist pressure on innovations such as the Laptops Initiative. Significantly more boys than girls are involved in the project. The fixed model of laptop deployment (allocating laptops to one location) has been the dominant model for laptop management to date. However, many schools have also used the floating model (allowing students to bring laptops around the school) and a small number have allowed students to occasionally bring a laptop home, that is, use of the fostered model.

2005-01-01T00:00:00Z