An early but critical stage on the continuum of teacher education is the filed experience of student teachers under the guidance of an experienced class teacher, often referred to as the cooperating teacher. It is well documented that student teachers regard the element of school placement as the most important aspect of their teacher education degree and more particularly the cooperating teacher as critical to their overall success (Kirk, MacDonald, & O’Sullivan, 2006). Internationally, there is a growing trend to move towards a system of school-based teacher education, resulting in the role of the cooperating teacher becoming more prominent (Koerner, Rust, & Baumgartner, 2002). Currently, a considerable number of countries, including England, Australia and the United States, recognise the school as the sole context for teacher education and utilise qualified  teachers as the teacher educators to student. While other countries e.g.  Scotland and Ireland retain teacher education within higher education intuitions (HEIs) many are experiencing the push of central policy to ensure that their students spend more time in schools. This has recently been the case within Ireland where the Teaching Council issued a directive to HEIs which required them to ensure that 25% of all students’ initial teacher education was spent on school placement (Teaching Council, 2011). Teachers who accept a student do so voluntarily and without payment. Equally no formal partnerships between teacher education institutions and co-operating teachers or schools are in place in Ireland (Conway et al., 2009). While HEIs are required to place students, schools are not formally required to accept students on placement. All HEIs are experiencing a drop in school support for placement (INTO, 2016). The reasons why teachers decline or accept a student teacher on placement remains somewhat of a secret garden.

This study paper sets out to alter this situation by presenting the voice of the teacher. It examines why Irish primary teachers chose or decline the opportunity to support a student teacher on placement.  Some initial evidence on the critical biographical and contextual influences that impinge on their choice are documented This paper may be regarded as an initial mapping of a poorly understood and little explored terrain, with potential to provide greater insight into and understanding of the challenges facing reform of teacher education, as well as its positioning within the university sector in turbulent times.

Recognising that the existing research literature illuminates comprehensively commonly held conceptions of cooperating teachers’ categories of participation in school placement (Brodie et al., 2009; Zeichner, 2002), the question as to why they choose or decline to participate in the school practicum within pre-service teacher education looms large internationally. In light of this question, the research is contextualised within a naturalistic inquiry paradigm (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) as it affords us the opportunity to explore this question with teachers on their “own turf” and most significantly “in their own language” (Kirk & Miller, 1986, p. 21).  

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