The 16th SCoTENs annual conference, Education as a Common Good: the Role of Teacher Education, took place on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 October in the Canal Court Hotel, Newry #SCoTENS2018

In recent times the principle of education as a public good has been challenged theoretically and certainly in practice (e.g. Daviet, 2016). The 2018 SCOTENS Annual Conference invited debate on how ‘the common good’ – an alternative conception to ‘the public good’ – can help us think about our approaches to teacher education. Common goods are those that contribute to the general interest, enabling society as a whole to function better.  Common goods must benefit all.  How can teacher education as a common good be envisaged and enacted? As a common good can it mitigate divisions in society? How can we ensure that teacher education fosters equity, citizenship and neighbourliness? Can teacher education be seen as a common good in the first place? As a humanistic project can teacher education challenge, for instance, the commodification of education? What are the implications of education as a common good for approaches to curriculum, assessment and pupil wellbeing?

This year’s annual conference  debated these kinds of questions and many related and practical ones stemming from the experiences and perspectives of delegates. Keynote addresses, panel discussion, and invited workshops ran various ways considering, clarifying and extending our thinking around this important theme.

SCoTENS Conference Newry

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The Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South (SCoTENS) invited proposals for participation and working papers at the 3rd SCoTENS Doctoral Studies Roundtable.  The Roundtable provided a mix of short presentations by participants on their work in progress and also featured participation by SCoTENS colleagues who are leaders in the field of Teacher Education and related research in Ireland and beyond.

It was held in conjunction with the 16th Annual SCoTENS Conference, which ran on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 October 2018 in the Canal Court Hotel, Newry. The conference theme this year was Education as a Common Good: the Role of Teacher Education. The roundtable took place on the Thursday morning.

This roundtable brought together doctoral researchers working on topics relating to teachers, teaching, and teacher education in its broadest readings on the island of Ireland. We explored the changing landscape of teacher formation, the emergence of new voices and perspectives, and the evolving debates around teacher professionalism as a primary concern, both as a focus for our community and a methodology for constructing knowledge. We invited doctoral students interested in these and related issues to apply for a place at the roundtable to discuss their work with like-minded peers and SCoTENS network colleagues. 

Accepted contributions addressed issues in the general field of teacher education, teaching, teachers’ lives, and teacher professionalism – ideally in light of the concerns of the conference theme. The roundtable provided a space for doctoral researchers who are university-based and/or from the wider professional arena to meet and discuss their interests, to showcase their work, and to participate in the conference more broadly.