Who Prepares the Teachers? The Irish Experience

Those who become teacher educators in the Republic of Ireland do so without any requirement to register with a professional body, without any formal period of study of the foundation disciplines of teacher education or the appropriate pedagogical strategies for teaching adults, and with no formally supervised teaching practice. This is not unique to Ireland: In almost all European countries, one becomes a teacher educator without any formal qualification, preparation or induction into the role (Kosnik & Beck, 2008). In 2000, The Green Paper on Teacher Education in Europe (Buchberger et al, 2000) highlighted concern about the lack of training for and induction into the teacher education profession including appropriate methodologies for working with adult learners. This paper adopts a socio-historical perspective on the evolution of the role of teacher educator in Ireland and highlights ways in which teacher educators have managed their own professional development