Teacher educator as researcher: striving towards a greater visibility for teacher education

If teacher education is to be taken seriously, it must be research-based with teacher educators as active researchers and perceived as ‘public intellectuals’ (Cochran-Smith 2005; European Commission 2015). This re-positioning of the teacher educator results in associated teacher education programmes being expected to be ‘research driven’, developing a research disposition among teacher educators as well as preparing consumers and producers of research (Tack and Vanderlinde 2014). Such a focus is accompanied by pressure from university leadership for teacher educators to focus on securing research funding and increase publication output (Stern 2016). This chapter will begin by sharing some of the main points related to ‘teacher educator as researcher’ before noting the Irish teacher educator context and the role of teacher education and research in Ireland. The chapter will then present three considerations related to the author’s personal role as a teacher educator as researcher striving towards a greater visibility for teacher education. This will be informed specifically by, and related to, the Irish context in which the author has resided for 16 years. The first consideration will share the teacher educator’s experiences on researching their own practices with pre-service teachers as well as their engagement in self-study that captures their ongoing journey as a teacher educator. The second consideration will focus on increasing exposure in the higher institute of credible teacher educators who can connect with the University’s strategic positioning. The third consideration will focus on opportunities to contribute to interdisciplinary / multidisciplinary research. The chapter will convey opportunities for the teacher educator as researcher to increase the visibility for teacher education at local, university, national and international levels.