Ministers launch review of teacher education

Education Minster, Caitríona Ruane and Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey have launched a joint consultation on the review of teacher education.

The Policy Framework document: ‘Teacher Education in a Climate of Change – The Way Forward’ outlines proposals on how the system will deal with the challenges facing teacher education and sets out the respective roles of the various key stakeholders.

In opening the consultation the Education Minister, Caitríona Ruane, said: “I want to ensure that every learner fulfils her or his full potential. Excellent leadership in schools and excellent quality teaching are the most important factors in raising education standards and are key to securing improvements in educational outcomes. Teachers should have available a range of opportunities, activities and experiences which can help equip them to meet the changing demands throughout their careers and prepare them for leadership roles in due course.

“The vision for teacher education is to sustain a high quality teaching workforce with the knowledge, skills, attributes and values necessary to enable young people to develop to their full potential. This is an important consultation and all interested parties should ensure their voice is heard.”

The Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, said: “I welcome the formal launch of this consultation. I believe it is important to emphasise the fundamental role that teachers play in helping to educate our future workforce. A high quality teaching workforce equipped with the necessary skills not only enables young people to develop their full potential but also plays a key part in helping to strengthen the economy. My Department also has a key role to play in funding the education of our future teachers in our local universities and university colleges.”

The key aim for all teacher education providers will be to support schools and teachers effectively as they seek to make a real and sustained contribution to school improvement and to raise achievement and tackle underachievement, through the provision of high quality, coherent, relevant and collaborative teacher education during all phases of a teacher’s career.

Notes to editors:

1. The Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) and the Department of Education (DE) have undertaken a joint review of teacher education. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the profession is best placed to cope with the changes facing the education sector in the coming years.
2. Throughout the review the Department engaged with a wide range of key stakeholders and held three conferences and a workshop. The two Departments also established a Teacher Education Stakeholders’ Group, representative of providers, to assist in the formulation of their policies on teacher education. The Stakeholders’ Group comprised representatives from the two Departments, the Education and Training Inspectorate , the five Education and Library Boards , the Regional Training Unit (RTU), Queen’s University Belfast , University of Ulster , the Open University (OU), St Mary’s University College (St Mary’s), Stranmillis University College (Stranmillis), and the professional interests of teachers through the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI).
3. The public consultation process will run until 8 November 2010.
4. Copies of the consultation and response documents are available on the Department of Education's website.
5. On-line responses can be forwarded to: teacheredreview@deni.gov.uk.
6. Paper responses can also be posted direct to the Review of Teacher Education Team, Room G18, Department of Education, Rathgael House, Balloo Road, Rathgill, Bangor, BT19 7PR.
7. Media enquiries to the Department of Education Press Office Tel: 02891279207. Out of office hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699715440 and your call will be returned.