055. Set contract of hours for teachers

People often give out about teachers’ working hours. We’ve heard it all – half days and long holidays, blah blah blah. Everyone that is a teacher or loves a teacher knows that the hours we have with the children tell about half the story. There’s not a lot of point in me talking about all … Read more

053. Scrap private colleges of education

Before I begin this opinion, a disclaimer: I worked for a private college of education for 6 years. Now, on to the article. Most people know that the reason a private college for training teachers was established was because there was a huge shortage of teachers. Almost two decades on, it is still the case, … Read more

052. Have specialised qualifications for Infant teachers

Sometimes it’s good to change a long held tradition. Anyone working in infant classes will see that their job is completely different to that of someone in another class. The way the curriculum is going, with Aistear encompassing much of what infant teachers do these days, is it time to simply use infants as a … Read more

049. Provide specialised teachers for Irish

Really, we have to face it: we are failing at teaching Irish. We have a few passionate teachers who can teach it well, but overall, there’s something very wrong when most people come out of 14 years of education unable to string a sentence in Irish together, yet can almost be fluent in some European … Read more

048. Abolish the Supplementary Panel

It’s very likely that this post will be liked by most principals and hated by teachers on temporary contracts and nobody else in the middle will care too much. The Supplementary Panel is a good idea in theory. If you work enough time in a school (or schools) whether that’s subbing or temporary positions, you … Read more

045. Diversify the profession

Primary school teaching is most likely one of the least diverse professions in the country. A study in NUIG found that 99% of teachers identified as white and Irish and 90% of teachers identified as Catholic.  Looking at the following 1969 video of the UK’s first black headteacher, it seems shameful that 50 years later, … Read more

043. Scrap Section 29s

Section 29s bring out the fear in principals. If you aren’t in the know, a Section 29 case can be brought against a school when they refuse to enrol a child into their school and it is appealed by a parent. It can also be used when a child is being expelled. I’ll deal with … Read more

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