The Interplay Between Technology and Teaching and Learning: Meeting Local Needs and Global Challenges

The School–University Nexus and Degrees of Partnership in Initial Teacher Education

“…(SLS9) I think it has been proven by the response to COVID-19 that technology can be used more effectively to create shared learning spaces where the university can provide information sessions to all involved in school placement and free online CPD and the teachers can provide some feedback on how new ideas being proposed by the college work out on the site of practice. (SLS5) Increased use of technology during COVID-19 also demonstrated how some student teachers acted as technology mentors to their co-operating teachers (Farrell and Marshall 2020). Furthermore, student teachers evidenced a strong recognition of the learning across the school-university nexus during the completion of their school-based research projects:…”

Sustainable Teaching in an Uncertain World: Pedagogical Continuities, Un-Precedented Challenges

“…Consequently, both authors are in agreement that the ideal teacher would be openminded and confident-confident in their competence while also open-minded to sharing and learning from his or her students [47]. A recent study by Farrell and Marshall [26] in the context of initial teacher education (ITE) found that some student teachers' use of digital pedagogy toppled the typical co-operating teacher/ student teacher hierarchy, placing the student teacher as mentor to the co-operating teacher. This was particularly true of the recent move to remote learning as a result of Covid 19.…”

“…OECD reports on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) have also become increasingly influential in education on a global scale [9]. For the purposes of this chapter, we draw on qualitative research that involved a content analysis of the education policies of the OECD and UNESCO since 2014, the year that marked a decade of education for sustainable development [19], while also drawing on international literature and other related empirical work of the authors [13,26]. This provided a backdrop to the evidence-based recommendations on the future of education by such think tanks as the World Economic Forum [27], the World Bank [28] and the Economists Intelligence Unit, [29].…”

Covid-19 as a catalyst for sustainable change: the rise of democratic pedagogical partnership in initial teacher education in Ireland

“…While there is an expectation that teachers are proficient in the use of digital technology, in teaching, learning and assessment, the reality is that this is not always the case (Tondeur et al 2017). However, a recent study by Farrell and Marshall (2020) in the context of initial teacher education (ITE) found that some student teachers' use of technology enhanced learning upended the classic co-operating teacher/student teacher hierarchy, positioning the student teacher as mentor to the co-operating teacher in this regard. In recognition of this, discerning school leaders have looked to student teachers on school placement to demonstrate mentor type leadership (Murphy 2019) in supporting schools managing the swift transition to at-distance learning provoked by the COVID-19 education crisis.…”

“…Therefore, student teachers' acquisition of 'professional competence' (Ramin, Lalor and Lorenzi 2015) requires fine-tuning in collaboration with university lecturers and co-operating teachers to apply meaningfully learned knowledge and skills malleably and creatively across the school-university nexus. The expertise that student teachers can offer schools in relation to their digital competence along with the expertise that co-operating teachers can offer student teachers regarding PCK (Shulman 2013) can be a catalyst for fostering collaborative and reflective practice at a whole school level (Farrell and Marshall 2020) and help bridge the perennial theory/practice divide (Heinz and Fleming 2019;McGarr, O'Grady, and Guilfoyle 2017).…”