A rising tide meets a perfect storm: new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education in Ireland

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the emergence of new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education in Ireland in the 15 years period 1997–2012. Framing accountability in terms of the three main approaches to it globally in education systems, that is, compliance with regulations, adherence to professional norms and attainment of results/outcomes, we identify significant changes, particularly, in compliance- and results-driven accountability. A 'rising tide' of accountability, due to the interrelated influences of the European higher education space, education legislation and professional self-regulation policies (i.e. Teaching Council), is evident since the late 1990s. This was punctuated by a 'perfect storm' in 2010 comprising 'bad news' from PISA 2009, the economic bailout and strategic leadership at a system level. The cumulative impact of the 'rising tide' and 'perfect storm' is evident in how they reframed both 'to whom' and 'for what' accountability in teacher education relates. Significantly, the new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education reflect a move towards the dominant global education reform movement (Sahlberg 2007) with its emphasis on standardisation, narrow focus on literacy and numeracy and higher stakes accountability. Keywords: accountabilityteachingteacher educationglobal education reform movementassessmentpolicy analysisIreland Acknowledgements We would like to thank the reviewers and special issue editors for their feedback an earlier draft. In addition, we would like to thank Stephen O'Brien and Dan O'Sullivan for their detailed comments on the paper. Work on this article was supported by funding from the 'Re-imagining Initial Teacher Identity and Learning Study' (RiiTILS) through an Advanced Collaborative Research Award (2012–2013) to the first author from the Irish Research Council: www.irchss.ie.