Irish Further Education and Training (FET) is presently undergoing a period of transformation after years of experiencing issues related to identity and precarious employment, among others. This paper explores the experiences and motivations of 16 student teachers who, despite the sectoral challenges, have chosen to teach in FET as a second…

The aim of this article is to offer an approach that can be used to develop Decolonial Critical Awareness (CDA) and Decolonial Critical Reflection (CDR) in student language teachers at post-Primary level as part of their Initial Teacher Education (ITE). The article contextualises the rationale for such provision in ITE programmes in the wider…

When the World Health Organisation declared the novel Coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, a change occurred across all levels of the educational landscape. It posed specific challenges in the context of initial teacher education (ITE) and inhibited teacher educators from physically observing pre-service teachers' lessons on school placement.…

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…

Framed from a socio-cognitive perspective, and the contemporary increased salience of digital learning readiness and competence, the purpose of this study was two-fold: to validate Online Learner Readiness Scale in a new context and to explore potential variances in online readiness within a student-teacher population between less (pre-COVID) and…

This paper presents findings from a research project that investigated the aspects of inquiry-based learning (IBL), specifically experiences of teacher inquiry, within initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. The participants in the project were four teacher educators and 127 student teachers with the teacher educators being the research team.…

This paper is about social class and the teaching profession. While class has long been a core focus in the Sociology of Education, little attention has been paid to how it is conceived and enacted in the context of the professions, including teaching. While research in the area is increasing, we know relatively little about "the daily class…

Purpose: Mentoring processes and relationships can prove crucial to teachers in the initial phases of the teacher education continuum. Limited research exists regarding mentoring in further education and training (FET) in Ireland. This paper attempts to address this gap, illuminating and unpacking the "mentoring stories" of five teachers…

This article puts forward the case for the inclusion of sustainability as an element of teachers' professional digital competence. Following this, the article explores student teachers' reaction to a course on digital technologies and sustainability. An online survey was used to record the student teachers' reactions to the course and how they…

The closure of schools across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic had the potential to have a catastrophic impact on a fundamental pillar of initial teacher education: school placement. This paper maps a new "site" of professional practice for "school placement" called "Teacher Online Programme" (TOP) using Xu and…

In this study, we explore the following: a) How do secondary student teachers, engaged in collaborative action research, function as critical friends? b) What challenges do they encounter? How do they mitigate these challenges? and c) In what ways did meeting as critical friends influence the student teachers' learning to conduct collaborative…

Given the radical reduction in carbon emissions required from developed countries, a robust and justice-orientated educational response is necessary to support the collective actions needed to mitigate climate change. This exploratory study uses thematic analysis of interview and focus group data to investigate the understandings of educators,…

In Ireland, as around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) adopt innovative approaches to ensure the continuity of placement-related components of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes. One post-primary concurrent ITE programme conceptualised and developed the Teaching Online Programme (TOP),…

Enquiry-based learning (EBL) in primary schools is a constructivist approach which has a strong focus on children asking questions, working together, selecting and interpreting sources, on collecting information, and on interpreting and analysing what is found. This paper reports the results of questionnaire surveys and focus group interviews…

Education in Ireland presents an idiosyncratic context. Study of this lends depth and insight to any international consideration of education, complex as this must be. This paper considers student teachers' perspectives and interpretations of leadership in primary (national) schools in Ireland. It focuses on the findings of research undertaken…