Resumen de The changing face of teacher education in Ireland: A major overhaul or a cosmetic review?
Carmel Mulcahy, Majella McSharry
Irish education has undergone major changes in the recent past. These changes came about as a result of a White Paper on policy, Charity Our Education Future, (1995), the subsequent establishment of the Education Act (2000) which formally gave legal status to key aspects of education and the Teaching Council Act which was charged with the maintenance and improvement of the quality of teaching and teacher education. The professionalization of teaching and teachers was identified as key to the proposed changes. Change processes in any profession are challenging and demand collaboration and agreement from a number of stakeholders. In teacher education such changes involve existing practitioners, the training providers, the government and the unions, which represent parents, teachers and teacher education providers. In order to bring about change, there should also be evidence that the proposed changes are properly cost, are capable of improving current practice and that change management teams are available to support and evaluate the impact of the changes. This paper addresses the challenges that exist in bringing about successful change in a difficult economic and social situation, where the quality, impact and success of Irish education processes are being closely scrutinized. The paper places a strong emphasis on the role of teacher educators.
