Journal Articles – Id Est UCC

The following article, published in Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, is based on research carried out as part of the Id Est Project.

O’Brien, S and Cotter, G (2018) ‘Critical Researchers ‘Of and For Our Times’: Exploring Student Teachers’ Use of Critical Multicultural and Development Education Frameworks in their Professional Research Papers (PRPs)’, Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, Vol. 26, Spring, pp. 74-104

Abstract: This article examines some of the complex, transformative features of student teachers’ learning as they grapple with key critical multicultural and Development Education (DE) concepts. Through a series of scaffolded workshops – designed to support research with a strong social and cultural inclusion purpose – the article investigates how six post-primary student teachers initially experience new critical research practices and identities. The article begins with a brief description of Ireland’s ‘new’ multicultural context and details the overarching theoretical perspective of this study. It outlines some key insights and challenges from extant research studies in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Ireland and briefly details the research methodology employed in this small-scale research project. Drawing on student teachers’ workshop debates, informal and focus group conversations, Professional Research Papers (PRPs) and later online survey comments, we analyse key moments in their ‘becoming’ critical researchers of and for our times. We conclude that this journey significantly matters for both the student teacher and her/his young learners; but that it remains a journey – one still in the making and far from certain. The foundational work of ‘overcoming’ challenges for critical research in ITE is likewise shown to be far from certain. Yet we hope to demonstrate how critical research conducted on the critical work of student teachers can cultivate more understanding of, and improvements in, the nature of teacher education provision.