Recent policy in Ireland enhanced the position of school placement in Initial Teacher Education programmes. This paper considers how care ethics has a vital role in sustaining the goodwill of the cooperation and guidance from professionals who mediate the school placement setting, noting values of reciprocal caring in placement mentor-mentee roles…

This small-scale design-based study describes a cyclical model of professional learning between three stakeholders in initial teacher education (ITE) namely: university-based educators (UEs), student teachers (STs) and co-operating teachers (CTs). This model promotes the development of digital learning leaders through an innovative mentoring…

Pre-service teachers (PSTs) are often placed in a vulnerable position during their school placement. Recognising the presence of power dynamics between PSTs, university-based tutors, and cooperating teachers as well as exploring how PSTs navigate these power relations is the focus of this paper. Data from interviews with final-year PSTs were…

Current international policy documents on teacher education are peppered with the word partnership and there seems to be an assumption that there is a common agreement regarding understandings of 'partnership'. Traditionally the university has been the decisive voice in educational partnerships which has often led to a power differential as well…

Mentoring is widely believed to be beneficial to mentors and mentees in the teacher education context. However, mentoring as a tool for strengthening professional knowledge is not without barriers hindering its effectiveness. This paper explores common barriers in mentoring, drawing on studies conducted in Croatia, Ireland, and Scotland which have…

Set against a particular policy context in the Republic of Ireland, this study explores the stories of seven pre-service teachers' experiences of being mentored during their final School Placement practicum. Their stories were prompted by videos of their School Placement practice and collected using narrative interview methods. Findings suggest…

In Ireland, at present, the roles and responsibilities of the educational partners regarding initial teacher education (ITE) are in transition. ITE routes have been extended allowing for additional focus to be placed on the central component of school placement. This material change, as well as policies promoting collaborative practice, teachers…

The aim of this paper is to analyse Irish school placement cooperating teachers' supervisory experiences when involved in various structures of communities and explore factors which enabled or challenged them in cultivating relationships with school placement stakeholders where there is no formal system of supervision established in schools in the…

The status of school placement in the Republic of Ireland has recently been elevated in importance within a reconceptualisation of initial teacher education (ITE). This paper shares the findings from one case study of a school--university partnership enacted in this regard. The partnership involved a researcher-in-residence at the school…

Research has shown that teachers can derive substantial benefits from the role of cooperating teacher (CT) and many experienced teachers have made positive changes to their teaching as a result, often engaging as co-learners. The aim of this paper is to examine the intricacies of the trajectory of CTs in terms of the development of their…

How preservice teachers (PSTs) learn and deliver Sport Education ("SE") (Siedentop, 1994) is an area researchers believe warrants further investigation (Stran & Curtner-Smith, 2009a). This study explores one PST's experiences delivering SE during a school teaching placement after undertaking a practical "SE" module in his…

Teaching practice is a decisive event in a student teacher's training and shapes the beginnings of their life in the teaching profession. It is widely recognized that student teachers' learning opportunities can be maximized during teaching practice by cooperating teacher contribution (Hardy, 1999; O'Sullivan, 2003; Rikard and Veal, 1996;…

Surveys of Australian, English, Irish, and Scottish classroom teachers who hosted U.S. student teachers examined factors contributing to program success. Most believed the experience benefitted their schools and students. Though they reported some adjustment difficulties, most were not insurmountable. They believed U.S. students advanced in many…