Ms Phil Fox:

Dia bhur mbeatha ar maidin. Gabhaim buíochas as ucht an gcuireadh a thabhairt dúinn a bheith anseo don chruinniú seo. I am the acting director of the Teaching Council and I am joined by my colleague, Ms Bríd Murphy, acting head of initial teacher education and induction. I shall briefly summarise the details of our overall submission and we look forward to our discussion with the committee.

The Teaching Council is the statutory, professional standards body for teaching in Ireland. We are responsible for promoting and regulating the profession of teaching as set out specifically by the Teaching Council Acts 2001 to 2015. All of our activities relate to the practice and promotion of teaching as a profession. This work spans a range of areas that we have summarised on page 1 of our written submission. We currently maintain a register of approximately 116,000 teachers, which is the largest professional register in the country.

Our specific statutory role relates to teachers as professionals. It is important to note that this does not involve any direct functions, funding or service provision within schools or educational establishments. However, we have an interest from a policy and programmatic perspective on the contribution of teachers in the areas of concern to this committee.

Teachers and the practice of teaching have a massive influence on the social and personal formation and well-being of young people as valued and unique human beings in their own right and as valuable participants in our society and economy for the future. This embraces inclusivity and respect for all educational needs for all of us care deeply about the education, progress and success of all learners.

The Teaching Council develops and sets the standards for programmes of initial teacher education, ITE, formerly known as teacher training. Based on those standards, the council also has the statutory remit to review and accredit programmes of ITE provided by higher education institutions, HEIs. Graduates of these programmes are eligible to register with the Teaching Council and to teach in recognised schools. This is supported by a dedicated induction framework called Droichead, to support teachers as they start their careers and additionally by Cosán, which is the framework for teachers’ continual learning and professional development throughout their career.

The council holds the view that the best response to learners’ needs is one that is also informed and supported by teachers' ongoing professional learning. This is particularly important in the area of inclusive practice. As I mentioned a moment ago, there were almost 116,000 teachers on the register across primary, post-primary and further education. Each year, there are up to 5,500 applicants for initial registration, who are now eligible to teach in schools. The standards that are set for initial teacher education are called Céim: Standards for Initial Teacher Education. This is the first step on the continuum of teacher education, with inclusive education as one of the seven core elements that underpin all aspects of programme design. This is defined as any aspect of teachers’ learning that is aimed at improving their capacity to address and to respond to the diversity of learners’ needs and to enable their participation in learning. The standards also seek to remove barriers to education through the accommodation and provision of appropriate structures and arrangements that are designed to enable each learner to achieve maximum benefit from their attendance at school.

Furthermore, the standards also identify that a truly inclusive approach to professional practice recognises that teachers encounter a diverse range of needs in the course of their teaching, regardless of setting. This will include additional learning needs, autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia, for example. It also includes learning needs that are associated with diverse linguistic, socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

In summary, the Teaching Council prioritises inclusive education among the key learning areas that teachers need to pursue throughout their careers. We also provide research funding and offer a wide range of seminars, journals and literature to teachers with the latest insights on teaching and learning in this area. The continuing success and evolution of the teaching profession is essential to the well-being of everyone in our society, with inclusivity, diversity and respect for all at the heart of that process. The life and role of a teacher is a continuum whereby teachers contribute throughout their career to the learning experiences of our young people, from initial teacher education, to induction, to teachers’ ongoing learning. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus le baill an choiste.