Teacher education in Ireland has been significantly reconfigured over the last decade due to a number of factors. First among these was the establishment of the Teaching Council (professional regulatory body) in 2006. Second, in response to a marked drop in reading literacy scores among 15-year-olds as measured in PISA 2009, was the issuing of new guidelines for all teacher education programmes and the re-design since then of all initial teacher education programmes. Third was a review and subsequent initiation of radical restructuring of the way in which teacher education is made available in Ireland (Hyland, 2012). The key point with regard to teacher education in Ireland is that, while teacher education has become a policy priority in the last decade, the professional preparation of those working in teacher education has not been a policy focus per se, and the multiple professional pathways into the work of teacher education has remained similar to a historic pattern of entry by two different groups: a minority of early starters typically with strong research backgrounds and possibly some experience teaching in schools, and a midcareer entry for the majority with professional practice in schools. The purpose of this presentation is to present the survey data from Irish teacher educators who are working in this radically changing policy environment. There were noticeable demographic differences between the Irish survey sample and the total survey sample when reporting those working full-time as a teacher educator (Ireland – 94%, Total sample – 78%), the age range of teacher educators (25-34 years: Ireland - 21%, Total sample – 5%; 55-64 years: Ireland – 17%; Total sample – 28%) and the weighting of respondents with Masters or PhD (PhD: Ireland – 83%, Total sample – 53%; Masters: Ireland – 17%; Total sample – 39%). The results from the Irish sample will be reported under the three headings of (i) life as a teacher educator, (ii) teacher education and research, and (iii) professional learning opportunities. Specific instances where the Irish survey sample conveys different trends to the total survey sample will be explored and contextualised within the current Irish teacher education / teacher educator policy and practices. These include teacher educators supervising postgraduate research and preparing teachers to work in early childhood and primary education. Differences evident in the weighting of responses across the Irish sample and total sample will also be discussed and include the role of the teacher-educator researcher and the professional learning activities most valued.

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