Becoming a Teacher

Launch of Becoming a Teacher: Primary Student Teachers as Learners and Teachers of History, Geography and Science: An All-Ireland Study

The SCoTENS research report Becoming a Teacher: Primary Student Teachers as Learners and Teachers of History, Geography and Science: An All-Ireland Study was launched on 15 October at the SCoTENS Annual Conference.  This report, carried out by the Irish Association for Social, Scientific and Environmental Education (IASSEE) is the culmination of a four year longitudinal study of undergraduate primary student teachers in the seven colleges of education on the island of Ireland.  The study examined student teachers’ attitudes towards and perceptions of the three subject areas of history, geography and science on entry to and exit from initial teacher education.  It explored the prior learning experiences of student teachers and their engagement with school placements and curriculum studies over the course of their ITE.  The study drew on the concepts of good teachers held by the students on entry to and exit from their BEd programmes to examine their emergent identities as teachers.

This benchmark study surveyed all students who entered BEd programmes in Ireland in 2004 in the following colleges: St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Church of Ireland College of Education, Dublin, Froebel College, Dublin, Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin, Stranmillis University College, Belfast and St Mary’s University College, Belfast.  In the second stage of the project, focus group interviews were held with a sample of students in each college.  Finally, an exit survey was distributed to all students towards the end of their final year.  The study is rich in findings and gives rise to a range of recommendations.  There is evidence, for example, that undergraduate primary student teachers in Ireland enter initial teacher education with a predisposition towards active and participatory approaches to teaching and learning.  There is also evidence that the different educational experiences of students in both jurisdictions (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) give rise to some interesting differences in perspective across the two cohorts.

The authors of this report are Dr Fionnuala Waldron (St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra), Dr Susan Pike (St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra), Mr Richard Greenwood (Stranmillis University College), Dr Cliona M. Murphy (St Patrick’s College), Ms Geraldine O’Connor (Church of Ireland College of Education), Dr Anne Dolan (Mary Immaculate College) and Dr Karen Kerr (Queen’s University Belfast).  The research was funded by SCoTENS, St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.

 

 

 

Last Updated: Friday October 23 2009