Maureen Killeavy

Induction: A Collective Endeavor of Learning, Teaching, and Leading

Unlike other professions, such as medicine and law, newly qualified teachers (NQTs) are required to assume full professional responsibilities from the 1st day they enter a classroom. A lack of support for beginning teachers has been linked with widespread attrition from the profession in the United Kingdom and the United States. This article presents a rationale for induction programs as a bridge between initial teacher education and continuing professional development, followed by a synthesis of the needs of NQTs and a brief summary of mandated induction programs in England, Wales, and Scotland. The article advocates induction as a collective professional issue and emphasizes a whole school approach to professional development. It also explores the possibility for an induction process for principals. The article concludes with the suggestion that a 3-step process of collaborative learning could be applied to induction for NQTs and novice principals.

The genesis of mentors’ professional and personal knowledge about teaching: perspectives from the Republic of Ireland

This study investigates the sources of mentors’ knowledge about teaching. A mixed-method research design combining quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was used to examine this area. The findings of the study suggest that: mentors’ knowledge about teaching is practice orientated and emerges from their professional experiences, their teaching skills, their pre-service teacher education and, to a considerable extent, from their own personal experiences. The authors argue that mentors require support to reflect on their early socialisation experiences and their attachment to practice-based experience as a source of professional knowledge, in this way they can better understand and carry out their role as mentors.

Charting teacher education policy in the Republic of Ireland with particular reference to the impact of economic recession

Background: Teacher education is an area of concern both in the policy and practice domains in both international and national contexts. Internationally, there are a wide range teacher education programmes and there is also considerable diversity with reference to policy approaches that operationalise such provision. Purpose: This paper focuses on teacher education policy in Ireland and explores the relationships that exist between policy and teacher education as a sub-system of the education system. Sources of evidence: Data from Governmental legislation, discussion papers, professional bodies commentaries, institutional practice and research. Main argument: The paper provides a critical analysis of existing policy and practice in the area and it reflects on recent policy approaches in the context of the difficult economic circumstances, which Ireland has been experiencing since 2010. Conclusions: The process of policy formation has been historically slow and rarely rational. It is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future given the current fiscal crisis and the need to further reduce public spending, with teacher education viewed primarily in terms of promoting economic objectives.

Factors influencing the take-up of physics within second-level education in Ireland—the teachers’ perspective

There has been a disturbing decline in the take-up of physics within second-level education in Ireland since the early nineties. Here, an analysis is presented of the main factors influencing the take-up of physics from the perspective of secondary school teachers. The database underpinning the analysis is based on a comprehensive survey of teacher opinion in Irish schools conducted in December 2004. The sample included all such schools in Ireland and was directed at school principals, senior cycle physics teachers, and junior cycle science teachers. The data reveal that most senior cycle physics teachers in Ireland do not possess a ‘physics-dominated’ primary degree, are dissatisfied with the technical back-up available to them and their students, consider that many of their students lack the basic mathematical skills needed for physics, believe their students are not adequately informed about career opportunities in physics, and feel students are disadvantaged in regard to grade points in the leaving certificate examination compared with most other subjects. These findings echo those of a previous report by the Government Task Force on the Physical Sciences and lend renewed urgency to the necessity of implementing a comprehensive action programme to reverse the decline in physics take-up before it impacts negatively on the Irish economy.

Mentor teachers as leaders and followers in school-based contexts in the Republic of Ireland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to exploratory small-scale study is to examine the intertwined leadership and followership aspects of the roles performed by school-based mentors in the Republic of Ireland. Design/methodology/approach – In order to investigate mentor teachers’ perceptions of their role with reference to leadership and followership in their school contexts, a questionnaire was distributed to the full cohort of 56 mentor teachers who participated in the National Programme for Teacher Induction. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with four mentor teacher facilitators from different regions across Ireland who were also mentors in their respective schools. Findings – The findings from this exploratory small-scale study suggest that the hierarchical nature of the school context influenced mentor teachers’ perceptions of their leadership and followership roles. They regarded themselves as leaders in a general sense and considered that all members of staff had something to contr...

Making curriculum relevant to the lives of second level students: Teachers’ classroom practice

Abstract This paper examines the professional practices of exemplary, post‐primary teachers in Ireland, England and the USA and identifies the ways in which these teachers make classroom experiences relevant to the lives of their students. In making the curriculum relevant, the teachers plan rich experiences and overtly discuss career requirements while focusing on the development of students’ personal and societal values together with their intellectual development and academic attainment. The main strategies used by these teachers to convey the relevance of the curriculum comprised self‐disclosure, the purposeful selection of curriculum content and instructional strategies, and the use of unanticipated opportunities which arise in the course of instruction.

The post-primary computing experiences of institute of technology computing students

This is the first report on the findings of a survey carried out on 578 students entering computing courses at seven institutes of technology in Ireland in 2001. The progress of this cohort of students is charted through the four years of their course using questionnaires and interviews. It is envisioned that the study will highlight the different relationships and patterns of association between these students’ progression at college and their entry characteristics. The findings presented in this article are from a section of the questionnaire administered to students in year one of their studies. It was designed to explore students’ experiences of computing prior to their entry to college. The students’ exposure to computing and their enjoyment of computing at second level was documented. Relationships between students’ experiences of computing at second level and their success/failure to progress in their course in third level are investigated.