If you ask any principal in Ireland what the biggest threat to our education system is, it is likely that Droichead, the scheme where schools will be responsible for deciding whether a newly qualified teacher is fit to be a teacher, would be high on the list. While most principals feel the extra workload should not … Read more
A few months ago, the INTO encouraged their members to vote in favour of the Lansdowne Road Agreement despite the fact that pay inequality for post-2011 teachers was to remain as part of the deal. Today at the congress, they are calling for pay inequality to be stopped as if this had always been their mantra.
The story of Droichead has been worthy of a film. It’s got a cast of characters, a big problem to be resolved, some bad guys, good guys and everything in between. If Droichead was to become a film, here’s my attempt at a script. Some meeting room somewhere. Inspectors: We don’t want to probate newly … Read more
Every week, I delve through ClassDojo’s Twitter chat and answer the questions that were posed. This week, our own Ciara Brennan, (@primedteacher), was the moderator and the topic was all about learning from mistakes. As usual, here and the questions and my answers. Q1. Failure is the mother of success. Do you agree or disagree? … Read more
The Minister for Education has refused an invitation to our union congress. While her apologists will excuse this, I think it’s a massive reflection on her disappointing term in education and the least she could have done was show up to thank teachers for cutting her so much slack.
The INTO have issued a directive to all members to stop all involvement in SSE. I can imagine all the media outlets, the general public and even the Department of Education bustling around asking, “What the heck is SSE?”
Although the turnout was low at 23%, the new Teaching Council was elected this week. At primary level, around 7,500 teachers voted, which represents around 25% of all primary teachers. In any case, I was glad that most of the candidates who were elected went into the elections with a number of promises to reform the Teaching Council. There … Read more
The Teaching Council elections took place last week and I was happy to see that almost all of the primary candidates I would have voted for were elected in their respective regions. However, I did have a bit of a beef with the campaign running up to the election and the results demonstrated that they possibly … Read more
Because the Teaching Council elections were done online, results were out very quickly. There were roughly 7,500 teachers who voted in the primary school sector, roughly 25% turnout, which is a lot better than the last election but still worryingly low. However, from Anseo.net’s perspective, it was good to see both Séamus O’Connor and Gregor Kerr elected. … Read more
I hate to be grumbling but I was utterly dismayed to read the INTO endorsing the hashtag #PledgeForParity on International Women’s Day. It’s not that I’m against the concept at all but I’m sure it feels very tasteless to the many of their members who were sold out during the Lansdowne Road Agreement when the INTO endorsed acceptance … Read more