Re-imagining Initial Teacher Identity and Learning

Funder: Irish Research Council Collaborative Projects Scheme

Research Team: Dr. Paul Conway (PI), Vanessa Rutherford, Rosaleen Murphy

Duration: 1 Oct 2012 to 30 Sept 2013

This study utilises and extends three findings from the large scale Department of Education and Skills (DES)-funded (2008-10) Learning to Teach Study (LETS): post-primary teachers struggled to enact the meaning of ‘real world’ experiences in maths, had limited understanding of how reading literacy impacted their subject and while they felt ready to teach did not feel able to promote inclusion. Using LETS (Conway, et al 2011) as a unique data set, and extending it based on the three key findings above by focusing on  student teacher development (interview, survey and artefacts)  to examine how mathematics student teachers, in particular, engage with the ‘real world’,  reading literacy and inclusion. LETS involved a team of ten researchers from the School of Education, UCC.

Conway, PF; Murphy, R; Delargey, M; Hall, K; Kitching, K; Long, F; Mc Keon, J; Murphy,B. (2011) Learning to Teach (LETS): Developing Curricular and Cross-curricular Competences in Becoming a Secondary Teacher: Executive Summary. Cork: School of Education, UCC.

Conway, PF., Murphy, R., Delargey, M., Hall, K; Kitching, K., Long, F.,McKeon, J., Murphy, B., O'Brien, S., & O'Sullivan, D. (2012) 'Developing ‘good’ post-primary teachers and teaching in a reform era: cultural dynamics in a programme level study of the ‘Dip’' In: F. Waldron, T. Dooley, & J. Smith (eds). Re-imagining Initial Teacher Education (ITE): Perspectives on Transformation. Dublin: Liffey Press.