Thomas O'Donoghue’s scientific contributions

When cogitating developments in education, it is important from time-to-time to stand back from the main-stream of developments and try to re-capture ‘the big picture’. Such a time now exists in relation to teacher education. This paper is a response to this situation. It makes the case for three principles which, it is held, should guide the design and development of programmes on how classroom practitioners at the pre-service and on-going teacher-development levels, should be prepared for, and guided in, their work. These are as follows: teachers should have a very good command of the subject matter of their teaching areas; teachers should know how to teach; teachers, along with students of education studies and policy makers, should engage in reflection not only on work at the classroom level, but also on education more broadly.

When cogitating developments in education, it is important from time-to-time to stand back from the main-stream of developments and try to re-capture ‘the big picture’. Such a time now exists in relation to teacher education. This paper is a response to this situation. It makes the case for three principles which, it is held, should guide the design and development of programmes on how classroom practitioners at the pre-service and on-going teacher-development levels, should be prepared for, and guided in, their work. These are as follows: teachers should have a very good command of the subject matter of their teaching areas; teachers should know how to teach; teachers, along with students of education studies and policy makers, should engage in reflection not only on work at the classroom level, but also on education more broadly.