Colleges of Education Research Consortium Conference 2006 St Patrick's College, Drumcondra     Theme: Towards an Agenda for research on Teaching and Teacher Education in Ireland   Programme   10.00 Coffee B103 10.30 Welcome by Dr.Pauric Travers, President, St. Patrick’s College (B103) 10.35 Introduction of participants, overview of CERC and plan for the day by Michael O’Leary Overall aims of the day : To provide an opportunity for the exchange of ideas about research on teaching and teacher education in Ireland To increase opportunities for collaborative research on topics of mutual interest; To highlight the work of CERC Aim of the morning session: To highlight the work of the American Educational Research Association’s panel on research on teacher education in the US; To consider how this work can guide our thinking about research on teaching and teacher education in Ireland; To review past research and identify key topics for future research on teaching and teacher education in Ireland Aim of the afternoon session: To provide a forum for reporting on the outcomes of the groupwork; To facilitate the exchange of ideas about how to proceed with an agenda and action plan for research projects on teaching and teacher education in the Irish context.   10.45 Introduction of Marilyn Cochran-Smith by Jim Deegan Overview of AERA panel report, Studying Teacher Education (in the US) by Marilyn Cochran-Smith 11.10 Preparation for small group discussion led by Marilyn Task: Identify the key topics related to teaching and teacher education that need to be the focus of research in Ireland. Questions: What are the guiding questions? What do we know about the topic already? What do we know about the research? What research do we need to conduct and why? How should that research be done? 11.30 Small group discussions (4 x 6 persons) 12.30 Lunch 14.00 Invitation to each group to present a synopsis of their deliberations: John Coolahan. 14.30 Introduction of roundtable discussion element of the day by John. Discussion recorded by Karl Kitching. 15.45 Observations on the day by Mary Shine Thompson 15.55 Closing remarks and formalities by Mark Morgan 16.00 Coffee