Teacher Education in CALL
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Chapter 12. Training for
Trainers: Challenges,
Outcomes, and Principles of In-Service Training across the Irish Education
System
Angela Rickard, National University of Ireland, Ireland, and Françoise Blin and Christine Appel, Dublin City University, Ireland
Abstract
In the
Republic of Ireland, the Department of Education and Science oversees the
management and evaluation of in-service training for teachers from the primary
and post-primary levels. A top-down model of delivery of courses is normally
adopted and designed to facilitate the introduction of educational policy or
curricular change, and, since the mid-nineties, the use of educational
technology in all subjects.
In response to an overwhelming demand for in-service support in the area of CALL
by language teachers from the primary, secondary and further education sectors,
a new model of in-service teacher training programme was created for and with
language teachers in Ireland. Aiming to model and to promote good practice in
professional development as well as the successful integration of technology
into the curriculum of six languages taught in Irish schools, the two-phase
programme consisted of training 'trainers' who then delivered in-service courses
to their peers according to the principles of learner autonomy, learner-centredness,
constructivism and situated learning. Following an overview of the context of
in-service teacher training provision in Ireland and of the design and
implementation of the programme, this chapter discusses the issues that emerged
from its formative evaluation and proposes principles for the organisation of
CALL in-service training programmes.
References available online
National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE). Available at http://www.ncte.ie.
OILTE. Available at http://www.oilte.ie.
Schools IT 2000 1997. Department of Education and Science. Available at www.oasis.gov.ie.
Updated September 12, 2006