Much educational literature is concerned with the implementation ofchange and explores the reasons that change has not happened at the pace set by successive Governments. Many questions are raised about the process ofpolicy change, how schools can effect school improvement, the role of Continuing Professional Development and the effectiveness ofInitial Teacher Training: . However, all these issues impinge on both the personal and professional lives of teachers and without engagement with the experiences, convictions and practices of individual teachers, understanding the change agenda is problematic. Ifwe are to understand educational change then research into these areas ofteachers' lives is essential. That is the purpose ofthis thesis. In this thesis qualitative methods ofresearch were used to inquire into the professional stories of five women teachers whose teaching careers span the last forty years from the Plowden Report in 1967 to the present day. This thesis addresses how their training and experiences as professional teachers have shaped their teaching lives and their ability to manage change. With reference to recent research literature on educational change and narrative inquiry it investigates how a small sample ofwomen teachers are coping with the centrally instigated reform agenda that can appea~ to put in tension deeply held convictions with new ways ofteaching. The story ofthe author is also bound up with those ofthe teachers interviewed and was integrated into the text. The main focus of the thesis is on how new ideas, imposed on schools from 'outside-in', are received, acted upon and put into practice by teachers. The research examines not only the journey of new initiatives in a school setting from introduction to use in the classroom but also the effect this has on the participants who have to implement them. Teachers portrayed the change agenda as taking place despite them rather than inviting them to be part ofthe reform process. They adapted and justified their practice to fit their own ethos. There was evidence that implementation depended greatly on whether the knowledge was new to them or was building on their previous experience. From the findings implications are drawn for the training and professional development of teachers.

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In Ireland, the involvement of schools in initial teacher education (ITE) is most evident in the logistical arrangements which schools make to facilitate the school-based experiences of student teachers. Critically, schools' involvement in ITE is largely unstructured and unsystematic, and has no statutory basis. Whilst the virtues of ITE partnerships with schools are increasingly being extolled by the DES, there is a significant. dearth of research in Ireland on the nature and quality of student teachers' school-based experiences, and on how schools experience and perceive partnership in ITE. Anecdotal evidence suggests variability in mentoring practices and mixed views about formalising relationships and roles in school-ITE college partnerships. Given the aforementioned background, coupled with a professional interest in collaborative learning, this research sets out (1) to examine the constitution and dynamics of partnership in learning to teach, and (2) to examine the learning processes and practices in a design intervention model of partnership with schools in ITE. A small-scale, two-year qualitative design intervention was set up involving primary schools, final year BEd students, and an ITE university college. The research involved the development of a more collaborative role for schools in teaching practice, particularly in sys,tematic mentoring and in evaluation of student teachers. The personal, the political aAd the professional dimensions of the partnership process as experienced by student teachers, class teachers and principal teachers are explored and presented in thi~ thesis. . A constructivist grounded theory approach was used with an action research methodology. Analysis was part-conducted by NViv07, a computer-assisted software research analysis programme. Semi-structured interviews, participant research diaries, and semi-structured questionnaires were used to examine the process of schools, student teachers and the ITE college working closely together in teaching practice. A focus on the learner teacher in a community of practice context is central throughout the process. Findings, presented as principles, are set against three key questions: (1) Did the design intervention contribute to a more collaborative milieu in teaching practice? (2) Did the design intervention enhance students teachers' learning, and if so, what kind of learning? (3) Are roles and responsibilities in a model of schools-college partnership beginning to emerge more clearly as a result of the design intervention, and does this lead to the redefining of the nature of partnerships in ITE in Ireland? Findings indicate that schools desire a systematic role in the professional development of student teachers during teaching practice. .However, schools do not wish to have sole responsibility for the summative evaluation of student teachers. The ITE college is perceived by schools to be expert in all matters relating to teacher professional development including evaluation. Curriculum coverage, classroom management, and pupils' progress are uppermost in classroom mentoring processes. Developing student teachers' reflective dispositions are less obvious in classroom mentoring. Opportunities to observe teaching and to be observed were valued most by student teachers in helping them learn how to teach. The partnership project heightened awareness in schools of student teachers and helped to build relationships and relational agency. Less able and less resilient students did not benefit from mentoring where the emphasis was on imitation and on 'getting by'. Learning to teach and responses to mentoring were influenced by student teachers' previous experiences of teaching practice. Issues of surveillance and power emerged in some mentoring experiences. Perceptions of support and of relationships strongly influenced the nature and quality of student teachers' learning. Structures helped to create the conditions for partnership with schools. A significant conclusion in this study is the need for a national set of standards for qualified teacher status in the Republic of Ireland within a continuum approach to partnership with schools in teacher professional development. Further research is required on the development of structures, processes, and attitudes which help sustain partnerships. The manner in which this stUdy has focused attention on the affective in learning to teach, on teacher fea(s surrounding partnership in ITE, and on the democratisation of teacher professional development, makes a worthy contribution to scholarly research and to improving the current ITE situation,in Ireland.

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This research was undertaken in the light of the issue of Ofsted inspections and failing schools and the resulting emotional turmoil for staff working in these schools. It also reflects a developing research interest in coaching in schools as a means of professional development and school improvement though there is little evidence of practice in education despite much writing on the topic. Specifically there is scant research on coaching as a means of facilitating organisational change in schools despite evidence suggesting that organisational change is one particular area in which coaching can make a valuable contribution from the individual, to the team, to the organisation as a whole. The study aims to explore coaching as an intervention to support the professional development of staff in schools and links to the school improvement agenda in a failing school. It seeks to explore whether coaching can be used to support staff to implement change in their practice at a time when staff morale would be potentially low and to gain some picture of the participant’s experience. A case study was carried out in a ‘failing’ primary school. It involved two teachers, two teaching assistants and one learning support assistant who together represented the Key Stage 1 team. Weekly coaching sessions were given to each participant on an individual basis over a period of sixteen weeks. Coaching focused on individual goals initially and extended to team goals. Feedback was given to the head teacher midway through the intervention and at the end of the intervention. Data transcripts from coaching sessions and interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. From this analysis master themes emerged from the data, those of theatrical, war and the coaching journey. It seemed that the coaching sessions motivated the participants to improve their practice and to achieve their goals. Participants appeared to alter their thinking about how they viewed change. The coaching seemed to build effective teams with improved communication and a sense of purpose and direction. The findings indicate that a model of coaching that begins at the individual level with an individual focus and extends to support the development of team goals is effective for coaching in schools. It seems to be a model that supports change in challenging circumstances and the development of effective teams.

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This research focused on the professional development of the Former Soviet Union immigrant teachers of English as a foreign language in Israel. The purpose of the study was to gain deeper understanding of what these teachers perceive as their professional development and what factors they identify as facilitating in their professional development. The research was positioned in the qualitative research paradigm which enabled the in-depth investigation ofthe research participant personal attitudes and individual perceptions. The unstructured interview was utilised as the research method which allowed obtaining authentic and idiosyncratic data. Five immigrant teachers of English as a foreign language were interviewed in the framework ofthis research. The inductive approach to data analysis was employed. The findings are not intended to be extrapolated to general population, but rather suggest a theory prospect. The research findings exhibited that the immigrant teachers encountered difficulties during their school induction in Israel. The difficulties were culturally bound and emanated mainly from the incongruity between the school milieus in the country of origin and the host country in general and in the context of teaching English as a foreign language in particular. The teachers perceived the difficulties as initial instigators oftheir professional development. A number of factors were found facilitating the teachers' professional development. Their beliefs regarding teaching, the subject matter, professionalism, malleability ofskills and self efficacy were found promoting their professional development. In addition, the significance of professional self-image, predisposition to lesson reflection and learning goal orientation were found facilitating the teachers' professional development. Colleagues were identified as particularly important in the teachers' professional development. Learning frames were identified as contributing to these teachers professional development. The research participants' professional development was identified as a complex, ongoing process affected by numerous factors and encompassing mainly the subject matter knowledge, students knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.

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