Initiation and Implementation: Changes to Teacher Education in Ireland

Fullan (1991) described the process of change as having four broad phases: initiation, implementation, continuation and outcome. The education system in Ireland has undergone unprecedented change since the Education Act of 1998 and most particularly with the formation of the Teaching Council in 2006. Since 2011, the Council has produced four policy documents, a revised code of conduct and at least three documents relating to procedures and requirements for admission to ITE and registration upon completion of ITE, all relating to the profession of teaching in Ireland. This has resulted in a period of immense change for University education departments and for colleges of education. Much of the change is still situated in the initiation and early implementation phases. This chapter provides a context for those changes, outlines how they came to pass and considers the implications of so much change within a system in a short period of time. It looks at the effects of these changes on those who aspire to be teachers in Ireland in the second decade of the twenty-first century