Ms Chris Kelly:

In the context of initial teacher education, the Teaching Council has recently published a new standards in initial teacher education, ITE, programmes called Céim. That was published in November. As part of the review leading up to that publication, the areas of intercultural, anti-racism and diversity have been given greater prominence in the new standards for ITE and global citizenship education is included as one of the seven core elements of ITE to include education for sustainable development, well-being, both personal and community, social justice, interculturalism. The revised standards define inclusive education as "‘any aspect of teachers’ learning aimed at improving their capacity to address and respond to the diversity of learners’ needs; to enable their participation in learning; and remove barriers to education through the accommodation and provision of appropriate structures and arrangements to enable each learner to achieve the maximum benefit from his /her attendance at school".

As part of the review and accreditation process leading to the publication of Céim, the core elements were explored and examined with student teachers during their ITE programme. It is also envisaged that the revised procedures for review and accreditation will include a thematic review, which will focus on specific areas of the curriculum and ITE programme. All new programmes submitted to the Teaching Council for accreditation must be in alignment with Céim. It is anticipated that existing programmes of ITE will be realigned in accordance with Céim for commencement in September 2022.

In addition to ITE, extensive CPD supports are available for teachers. Particularly, in the online space, we have Webwise. The Webwise programme is a multifaceted programme. It targets a range of people within the system.

It targets schools, teachers and parents, and it has a youth hub for young people. The school and teacher hub contains an extensive range of primary and post-primary curriculum tagged resources to support educators when teaching about the safe and responsible use of the Internet in the classroom and the promotion of student well-being.

Likewise, the parent hub provides practical advice and information to help parents safeguard their children as they use the Internet and helps to forge a link between the school and the home. The hub provides guidance and practical information to parents on key issues such as the use of technology in the home, parental controls, screen time, emerging technologies, respectful online communication, cyberbullying, information around sexting and image sharing, and how to engage positively in their children's online lives.

The youth hub is a proactive and creative hub for young people where young people can get advice on Internet safety and become more involved in making the Internet a better and safer place for all users. It provides advice on issues such as online harassment and how to deal with it.

Many of these programmes will provide advice around online bullying and bullying in general. All of the continuing professional development, CPD, that is provided by the Professional Development Service for Teachers will include positive engagement in the school, respect for each other and respect for community, and these all add to the positivity in the school. We can add to that if the committee wants more information.

Teachers are supported, either in their initial teacher education process or in continuing professional development. Sometimes the CPD is the place for some of the programmes where we can support teachers better once they are in the classroom. As we move forward and as we look at the procedures for anti-bullying, we will also take on board what changes may need to be brought into place for initial teacher education also.