Rose Dolan

The process of becoming a teacher involves changing one’s perspective. This module facilitates that transition using the lenses of Philosophy of Education, Sociology of Education and Psychology of Education to provide the necessary conceptual tools. The philosophical writings in the area of reflective teaching and diversity in educational settings will be explored.

This module aims to support the writing and design of students’ theses and projects. It will enhance students’ communicative and collaborative capacities by focusing on academic writing and the research process, broadly conceived. The seminars will offer students a group-based approach to undertaking their research and will provide opportunities to present and discuss research concerns within a supportive, collaborative atmosphere. Students will identify their research topics and problems, contextualise them within relevant educational research traditions and develop a coherent framework in which to explore them.

Education has many contested discourses in relation to its values, practices and influences. Murray (2008) has drawn attention to the necessity for teacher educators to have a knowledge base beyond the limited local knowledge of teacher education. Professional development of those who work in the field of teacher education should include a focus on the policies that inform and influence the field and on discourses that underpin the ways in which the purpose of education is understood.
This module examines the development of policy in relation to teacher education and teacher educators at national and international levels. It considers issues such as equality and gender and their influences on the development of the teacher educator. National and international considerations of current issues such as school culture and organisation, the evolving role of teachers, the changing nature of learning and learners and factors that influence on schools as learning environments for pupils and teachers, facilitate a broader and deeper understanding of the first order setting i.e. the school.

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, without engagement with appropriate pedagogical strategies for teaching adults and with no formally supervised practice of teaching. 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, 2008). Two key European Commission policy documents, The Green Paper on Teacher Education in Europe (Buchberger, Campos, Kallos & Stevenson, 2000) and Supporting Teacher Educators for Better Learning Outcomes (European Commission, 2012) have highlighted concern about the lack of training for and induction into the teacher education profession, including appropriate methodologies for working with adult learners. This module focuses on the cognitive and practical processes of transitioning from first-order to second-order practitioner, with specific emphasis on the knowledge and capabilities required.

The introductory module to the Doctorate in Education focuses on knowledge and policy in educational practice. The first section of the module will critically explore the nature and forms of knowledge and the ways in which different kinds of knowledge are developed and communicated. There will be a particular focus on knowledge-of and -for practice. The module then considers the development and implementation of educational policy. Participants will examine the different kinds of policy, the ways in which policy is developed and will use critical policy sociology to analyse how policies may advantage and disadvantage different groups within education.

Education has many contested discourses in relation to its values, practices and influences. How we conceive the purpose of education has a deep effect on what we view as good teaching and learning, thereby impacting on our resultant definition of quality educational practices. Murray (2008) has drawn attention to the necessity for teacher educators to have a knowledge base beyond the limited local knowledge of teacher education. Professional development of those who work in the field of teacher education should include a focus on the policies that inform and influence the field and on discourses that underpin the ways in which the purpose of education is understood. This module examines the development of policy in relation to teacher education and teacher educators at national and international levels. Using historical, philosophical and sociological lenses, this module will examine issues such as equality and gender and their influences on the development of the teacher and teacher educator. National and international considerations of current issues such as school culture and organisation, the evolving role of teachers, the changing nature of learning and learners and factors that influence on schools as learning environments for pupils and teachers, facilitate a broader and deeper understanding of the first order setting i.e. the school. 

Drawing inspiration from Stenhouse’s (1975) definition of research as “systematic enquiry made public”, this module seeks to develop doctoral students’ understanding of and capacity to engage in educational research. Throughout the module, students will engage with the underlying philosophies of different forms of educational research and the practices employed to design and implement a piece of education research. The ethics that underpin the conduct of research will also be considered. 

This module provides participants with the opportunity to engage in writing and to be part of a writing group. It will focus on supporting participants in developing their academic writing, including the use of referencing software. It will also assist participants in effectively communicating their ideas in both written and oral forms.

The process of analysing qualitative data involves moving from the data to understanding, explaining and interpreting the phenomena in question (Taylor and Gibbs, 2010, p.1.). There is no single or correct way to do this as fitness for purpose is a guiding principle in qualitative data analysis. In this module, students will learn to analyse qualitative data by engaging in analysis of their own data.  Note: In order to participate in this module, students must have gathered qualitative data and be ready to engaged in data analysis. The module is not appropriate for doctoral students who are developing their research question or designing their data gathering instruments.