This development is indicative of both of the drive for quality, and the perceived
need to promote the professionalisation of teaching (Harford 2010 ).
Teacher education programmes in top-performing countries emphasise the sig-
nificance of preparing teachers in structured, appropriate and supportive clinical
settings. A robust clinical component and a research base are core elements of the
Finnish teacher education system, which has been a key influence in driving the
teacher education reform agenda in Ireland as elsewhere (OECD 2011 ). Reflecting
international trends, the centrality of the school as a key learning site for student
teachers is embedded in teacher education provision in Ireland.
Further reflecting international best practice, there is universal agreement sur-
rounding the fundamental need for student teachers to be adequately supported at
this critical formative phase and thus for the need to ensure meaningful relation-
ships between universities and schools in the achievement of this objective.
Nonetheless, there is concern at EU level that ITE in a number of European
countries needs to be upgraded and that the school-university transition requires
attention and support via effective mentoring, induction and school leadership
(Sahlberg et al. 2012 , p. 14). The recent policy agenda in Ireland reflects concerns
over the quality of teacher professional development and over the informal nature
of the relationship between schools and teacher education institutions.
11.2 A Vision for the Future: Policy Honoured More
in the Breach Than in the Observance?
Recent reform of teacher induction in Ireland has resulted in a more formal
approach to the mentoring of newly qualified teachers requiring a more structured
partnership between schools and teacher education providers. The need to ensure
that such a partnership begins in initial teacher education, running smoothly
through to induction and CPD phases has thus not been lost to policy makers. The
Teaching Council has, through its recent policy agenda, highlighted the issue of
fragmentation across the continuum of teacher education, with insufficient linkages
being made between the stages of the continuum. It is also cognisant of the per-
sistence of a model of teacher education which relies too heavily on initial teacher
education.
In its efforts to bring greater coherence to provision across all stages of the
continuum, the Council has observed that‘the time is now right for a fresh and
thorough look at teacher education to ensure that tomorrow’s teachers are com-
petent to meet the challenges that they face and are lifelong learners, continually
adapting over the course of their careers to enable them to support their students’
learning’(Teaching Council2011a, p. 6). Regarding the ITE phase as‘the foun-
dation of the teacher’s career’, the Council also recognises that historically, ITE has
relied on informal, ad hoc relationships between HEIs and schools often as a result
of‘good will’(Teaching Council2011a, p. 11) with school-university partnerships
11 Initial Teacher Education in Ireland—A Case Study 169