Covid-19 as a catalyst for sustainable change: the rise of democratic pedagogical partnership in initial teacher education in Ireland

Abstract

While challenges faced by school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic have been extensively discussed, this article explores ways in which student teachers have demonstrated ‘adaptive expertise’ in response to a changing educational landscape that have enabled them to support schools during this public health emergency. Discerning school leaders have over the past twelve months looked to student teachers on school placement to demonstrate teacher leadership in supporting schools during the COVID-19 education crisis. This qualitative research draws on in-depth interviews with school leaders [10], co-operating teachers [10] and student teachers [10] across ten case study schools on a teacher education programme in Ireland. It highlights the way in which the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an impetus for the development of democratic pedagogical partnerships in ITE triggered by a need for collaborative engagement underpinned by responsive pedagogy and digital enhanced learning. The data also supports the view that the expertise that student teachers can offer schools in relation to their digital competence can significantly assist in fostering collaborative and reflective practice and bridge the perennial theory/practice divide.

KeyWords:

• School leader
• student teacher
• co-operating teacher
• initial teacher education
• pedagogical partnerships
• digital competence
• COVID-19

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachel Farrell

Rachel Farrell is the Director of the Professional Master of Education (PME) programme and a research fellow in the area of school-university partnerships in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in the School of Education in University College Dublin. With a keen interest in partnerships in education, Rachel has led many collaborative initiatives involving a range of education and industry stakeholders including: An Evaluation of digital portfolios in ITE with MS Education Ireland and Girls in DEIS Schools: Changing Attitudes /Impacting Futures in STEM funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and supported by the Professional Development Service (PDST) for Teachers. Research interests also include global citizenship education and sustainable pedagogy.