A Vision for the Continuum of Teacher Education

Thursday 10 and Friday 11 November 2011
Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork

As the professional body for teaching in Ireland, the Teaching Council has a range of functions relating to teacher education. These functions span the entire teaching career including entry to initial teacher education programmes, accreditation of such programmes, induction of newly qualified teachers into the profession and the continuing professional development of teachers.

In 2011, the Council has published its Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education, which provides the framework within which the Council will implement its functions relating to teacher education.

To coincide with the publication of the Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education, the Council held its second national conference in Cork in November 2011. The conference attracted nearly 300 delegates of whom more than 100 were practising teachers, with the remainder drawn from Higher Education Institutions, parents’ associations, school management bodies and other partners in education.

The theme of the conference was A Vision for the Continuum of Teacher Education and the programme included an impressive line-up of speakers from Ireland, the UK, the European Commission, Finland, Malta, Spain and the U.S. The conference provided an Irish and international perspective on current thinking and practice in teacher education including initial teacher education, induction into the profession and continuing professional development.

Feedback from delegates was very positive with many referring to it as inspirational and encouraging. Many teachers who attended reported that it provided them with a forum in which they felt more engaged with teaching as a professional endeavour and with the Teaching Council as a provider of professional support. Feedback also confirms that teachers left the conference with a renewed sense of the importance of continued professional development, reflective practice and the provision of a supportive mentoring system for newly qualified teachers.

Click here for a summary of feedback received from attendees.

Click here for the conference brochure.

Several presentations from the conference are available below.