Our purpose was to explore the role of photocue reflection in the professional learning of physical education teacher educators. Five physical education teacher educators participated in a six-month professional learning experience focused on communication. Individual diaries including both photos and writing prompts, photocue reflective diaries,…

Scaffolding pre-service teachers to critically reflect on their practice remains a challenging goal. Exploring the extent to which peer discussion facilitates this critical reflection is the focus of this paper. Using a series of three linked tasks, pre-service teachers 1) reflected on a classroom incident from a vignette of practice, 2) shared…

Background: Concerns that current forms of physical education teacher education (PETE) are not adequately providing teachers with the tools necessary for working with the realities and challenges of teaching physical education in contemporary schools has led some scholars to advocate for an approach that prioritises meaningfulness in physical…

The merits of action learning as a change tool and enabler of deep learning are well recognised. However, there is a gap in the literature of participants' stories regarding their experiences on accredited postgraduate executive programmes underpinned by an action learning philosophy. The following account of practice addresses this gap and…

A better understanding of the relationship between beginning teachers' beliefs and the pedagogies of teacher education (TE) programmes that support their learning across time can enhance TE programme effectiveness. This 6-year longitudinal study examined the development and change of beginning primary classroom teachers' (n = 6) beliefs about…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a 10-week adapted physical activity programme on the attitudes and perceptions of 64 Irish pre-service teachers (aged 19-25) towards teaching children and young people with physical, intellectual, and learning disabilities. Data were collected through written pre-programme expectations, weekly…

The incorporation of self- and peer-assessment and feedback has significant potential as a pedagogical strategy to promote deep learning in project based coursework. This study examined the impact of a deeper approach to learning on pre-service teachers' critical thinking and metacognitive skills. It also examined the impact on student learning…

Four librarians from Irish university libraries completed the U.K. Future Leaders Programme (FLP) in 2010. In this article they recount their experience and assess the effect of the programme on their professional practice and the value for their institutions. The programme is explored in the context of the Irish higher education environment,…

The project described created a stimulating and professionally relevant way for preservice teacher education to build student teachers' skills in critical reflection, collaboration and communication. Using a constructivist approach throughout, the project's key objectives were: to help students overcome resistance to using technology; to bridge…

The third annual conference of the National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) was held at Trinity College Dublin on 11-12 November 2009, and was attended by over 300 delegates. The theme--"Research-Teaching Linkages: Practice and Policy"--was timely and generated some fascinating papers, workshops and…