School Placement Partner Resources (PMEPP)
Cooperating Teacher (Treoraí)
Professional Learning CPD
School Placement, as you know, is a crucial step on a student teacher’s journey to developing the knowledge, skills and dispositions required to become a teacher. It is the first step on their professional learning journey, and your role in supporting them cannot be underestimated.
In 2020, the Teaching Council published Céim: standards for initial teacher education. In these standards, the cooperating teacher is now referred to as a Treoraí, the Irish word for guide. This term more accurately reflects the nature of the role of the cooperating teacher as a teacher who guides and supports the student teacher during their School Placement.
Here, at Hibernia College, we see the inherent value, influence and impact that the Treoraí has on our students. Through the apprenticeship model within which School Placement is situated, student teachers witness and, subsequently, model the good practice they see. Therefore, we appreciate the central role the Treoraí plays in framing future practitioners’ approaches to teaching and learning. In light of this, our Continuing Professional Development course, also known as a CPD course, will serve to enhance this role and ensure it is as impactful as possible in teacher professional development.
Our course entitled ‘Collaborating with the Student Teacher’ is a first step in terms of providing targeted and specific professional development and support to you, our valued Treoraí. It is designed to be accessible at your convenience.
Course information
This is a self-paced course designed for teachers working in a post-primary setting in Ireland who wish to become Treoraithe. Its intention is to support the Treoraithe in mentoring and guiding the student teacher through their school placement.
This course along with the Treoraí handbook are two complementary resources that are intended to support and affirm the good practice of the Treoraí.
Please note, the course will be regularly updated to reflect the experience of the Treoraí, student teachers and feedback from you on completion of the course.
The course will focus on the following three topics:
- Observing Teaching and Learning
- Giving Feedback and Facilitating Rich Reflection
- Team Teaching
On completion of the course, you should be able to:
- Identify target areas of observation that the student teacher can benefit from observing during their school placement observation week
- Devise a valuable feedback approach when giving feedback to the student teacher about their teaching practice
- Examine the ways in which you can support the student teacher to engage in reflection
- Explore and identify successful team-teaching models that the student teacher can adopt
After completing the course, you will be awarded a digital certificate recognising your achievement.
If you are interested in our professional learning course, then please complete the Expression of Interest Form below.
Complete the form
Assessment criteria
