Learning to Teach and its Implications for the Continuum of Teacher Education: A Nine Country Cross-national Study.

The purpose of this Report is to inform discussions, policy formulation, and strategic planning on teacher education in Ireland. The research gives priority to initial teacher education (ITE) and induction, their interface, and implications for the continuum of teacher education, including continuing professional development (CPD). The study involved a two-pronged approach: a narrative review of recent and relevant literature and a cross-national review of teacher education policies in nine countries, namely, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Finland, USA, Poland, Singapore and New Zealand. Adopting a broad, balanced and comprehensive understanding of the role of the contemporary teacher, it provides a framework for developing quality teacher education in Ireland. The Report incorporates exemplars of good practice and notes their implementation challenges for the Irish context.  Chapter One provides a framework for conceptualising quality teacher education and the continuum. Key features that emerge from the literature are discussed: teachers¿ practice, quality teaching, the professional life-cycle, teacher learning and relationships. With more specific reference to the continuum, Chapter Two overviews initial teacher education, induction, learning outcomes and accreditation in the selected countries, including Ireland. Key features of policy in the various countries are summarised. Individual country profiles, incorporating descriptions of socio-political, teaching and teacher education contexts, are further detailed in Appendix A. Chapter Three analyses relevant literature on initial teacher education, induction, learning outcomes/professional standards and accreditation. Along with previous chapters it provides the basis for recommendations for teacher education that are presented in Chapter Four. Chapter Four draws together the findings emerging from the cross-national review in terms of the contemporary context of teacher education in Ireland and identifies key challenges and possible lines of policy development as well as recommendations for the Teaching Council and other teacher education stakeholders. Each generation has an opportunity to provide the vision and resources for renewing teacher education in light of ambitious social, economic and educational aspirations to meet perceived societal and education challenges (as occurred in the 1970s). Despite the publication of two key reviews of initial teacher education a number of years ago, there is considerable scope for further reform of teacher education. However, significant changes have occurred to teacher education course provision and content over the last 100 years. In this report, we have stressed the need for, and called for investment in, greater system and programme coherence, mentoring to support assisted practice, knowledge integration, critical reflective practice, inquiry and the development of vibrant partnerships between higher education institutions and schools as the basis for teacher education reform across the continuum. This Executive Summary presents the Report¿s context, key findings and recommendations emerging from the analysis.  

Summary of a study of county Cork souterrains

There are several thousand souterrains in Ireland, and in Co. Cork to date we have records of the existence of approximately 500. The scientific name souterrain is an antiquarian's term for these monuments. Other names used in the past were Dane's Hole and Rath Cave. Folknames for souterrains range from the nondescript Cave or Poll Talaimh to, in specific cases, Tigh-faoi-thalamh and Carraig-an-tseomra. Dr Anthony Lucas states in a recent paper (2) that probably, during the period in which they were used, one of the common names for a souterrain was Uam (Uaimh in modern Irish).

The role of the community service order and the suspended sentence in Ireland: a judicial perspective

Imprisonment is the most severe penalty utilised by the criminal courts in Ireland. In recent decades the prison population has grown significantly despite expressions both official and public to reduce the use of the sanction. Two other sanctions are available to the Irish sentencer which may be used as a direct and comparable sentence in lieu of a term of imprisonment namely, the community service order and the suspended sentence. The community service order remains under-utilised as an alternative to the custodial sentence. The suspended sentence is used quite liberally but its function may be more closely related to the aim of deterrence rather than avoiding the use of the custodial sentence. Thus the aim of decarceration may not be optimal in practice when either sanction is utilised. The decarcerative effect of either sanction is largely dependent upon the specific purpose which judges invest in the sanction. Judges may also be inhibited in the use of either sanction if they lack confidence that the sentence will be appropriately monitored and executed. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of the community service order and the suspended sentence in Irish sentencing practice. Although community service and the suspended sentence present primarily as alternatives to the custodial sentence, the manner in which the judges utilise or fail to utilise the sanctions may differ significantly from this primary manifestation. Therefore the study proceeds to examine the judges' cognitions and expectations of both sanctions to explore their underlying purposes and to reveal the manner in which the judges use the sanctions in practice. To access this previously undisclosed information a number of methodologies were deployed. An extensive literature review was conducted to delineate the purpose and functionality of both sanctions. Quantitative data was gathered by way of sampling for the suspended sentence and the part-suspended sentence where deficiencies were apparent to show the actual frequency in use of that sanction. Qualitative methodologies were used by way of focus groups and semi-structured interviews of judges at all jurisdictional levels to elucidate the purposes of both sanctions. These methods allowed a deeper investigation of the factors which may promote or inhibit such usage. The relative under-utilisation of the community service order as an alternative to the custodial sentence may in part be explained by a reluctance by some judges to equate it with a real custodial sentence. For most judges who use the sanction, particularly at summary level, community service serves a decarcerative function. The suspended sentence continues to be used extensively. It operates partly as a decarcerative penalty but the purpose of deterrence may in practice overtake its theoretical purpose namely the avoidance of custody. Despite ongoing criticism of executive agencies such as the Probation Service and the Prosecution in the supervision of such penalties both sanctions continue to be used. Engagement between the Criminal Justice actors may facilitate better outcomes in the use of either sanction. The purposes for which both sanctions are deployed find their meaning essentially in the practices of the judges themselves as opposed to any statutory or theoretical claims upon their use or purpose.

Developing executive capability — banking and beyond

The transition to becoming a leader is perhaps the least understood and most difficult in business. This Portfolio of Exploration examines the development of conscious awareness and meaning complexity as key transformational requirements to operate competently at leadership level and to succeed in a work environment characterised by change and complexity. It recognises that developing executive leadership capability is not just an issue of personality increasing what we know or expertise. It requires development of complexity in terms of how we know ourselves, relate to others, construe leadership and organisation, problem solve in business and understand the world as a whole. The exploration is grounded in the theory of adult mental development as outlined by Robert Kegan (1982, 1994) and in his collaborations with Lisa Laskow Lahey (2001, 2009). The theory points to levels of consciousness which impact on how we make meaning of and experience the world around us and respond to it. Critically it also points to transformational processes which enable us to evolve how we make meaning of our world as a means to close the mismatch between the demands of this world and our ability to cope. The exploration is laid out in three stages. Using Kegan’s (1982, 1994) theory as a framework it begins with a reflection of my career to surface how I made meaning of banking, management and subsequently leadership. In stage two I engage with a range of source thinkers in the areas of leadership, decision making, business, organisation, growth and complexity in a transformational process of developing greater conscious and complex understanding of organisational leadership (also recognising ever increasing complexity in the world). Finally, in stage three, I explore how qualitative changes as a result of this transformational effort have benefitted my professional, leadership and organisational capabilities.