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This constructivist grounded theory study interrogates the role of the second level teacher in contemporary Ireland. This role emerges as a problematic navigation between: a passive pedagogy, an ambivalent professionalism and a frequently silenced vocational domain. The study highlights an intensified pedagogy dominated by: terminal exams, competitive accountability, limited autonomy, and a fractured relational domain in typically non - reflective learning spaces. The study also celebrates however, a deeply rooted yearning by teachers, to re-discover their vocational mission. The author argues for a more radically integrated vocational practice. He challenges teacher educators, policy makers, teachers and educational leaders to attend to´ the human development mission at the heart of teaching and learning. In so doing, he proposes a visionary framework to guide the realignment of educational practice in Ireland.

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Dr. Michael F. Ryanis an advocate of teaching, active learning and professional development for educators. Publications include work on: teacher education, capacity building, change & loss education, integrated area planning, development education & place based learning. Lecturer in The Faculty of Business and Humanities at LIT-Tipperary, Ireland.

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