Ninth Level Ireland

“The six-year route to qualifying as a second-level teacher is a long, winding and expensive road. As Ireland reaches full employment with access to quality jobs after a four-year degree programme in many disciplines, the length of teacher training with its associated costs is becoming a disincentive to entering the profession, according to experts …” (more)

[Aine McMahon, Irish Times, 5 January]

“The president of the INTO is warning that all three teachers’ unions ‘will be shutting down schools’ if the Government does not address the issue of pay parity. Almost 24,000 teachers earn less than their colleagues, for the same work, as a result of salary reductions introduced for new appointees since 2011 …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien and Vivienne Clarke, Irish Times, 2 April]

“Almost 400 extra places on teacher training courses are to be created this year in a bid to help alleviate a lack of supply in key subjects. The move also has the potential to offset some of the heat added to the points race by a surge in the number of young people applying for education programmes through the Central Applications Office (CAO) …” (more)

[Kevin Doyle, Independent, 14 March]

“The number of students applying for postgraduate teaching courses has increased amid concerns of a ‘crisis’ in teacher supply. There has been a steady downward trend in applications to these courses over recent years, with entries down from 2,821 in 2011 to 1,068 in 2017, a drop of more than 60% …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 13 March]

“There is a big leap in demand for teacher training courses this year as school-leavers race to fill well-publicised staff shortages in the nation’s classrooms. Despite negative publicity about pay inequality in the profession, there is a striking surge in CAO applications for both primary and post-primary degree programmes …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 9 March]

“Third-level colleges are resisting plans by Minister for Education Richard Bruton to introduce quotas on the number of teachers they train in specific subjects. As part of a series of measures to boost the supply of teachers in key subjects such as science, maths and languages, Mr Bruton has announced plans to introduce subject quotas for postgraduate teacher education programmes at second level …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 12 February]

“The world’s richest nations are due to decide this month whether to press ahead with a major international project to measure university teaching quality that could offer a ‘fantastic opportunity’ for East Asian universities to improve their standing, possibly at the expense of the Western elite …” (more)

[John Morgan, InsideHigherEd, 7 May]

“Teaching is creative, intellectually challenging and rewarding, but it is also elusive and complex. This makes it rich territory for the development of myths that offer a damaging view of university teaching – myths that are often supported by the ways in which teaching is presented, evaluated and rewarded …” (more)

[Paul Ashwin, Times Higher Education, 26 February]

“A chara, – Regarding Prof Ted Hurley’s call for newly qualified maths graduates to be offered a bonus to pursue teaching, perhaps a more appropriate incentive would be the prospect of a career as a maths teacher …” (more)

[Nuala Flanagan, Irish Times, 14 January]

“A go-slow protest by PhD students in the School of Chemistry has been brought to an end this week after a proposed cut to their hourly demonstrating rate was shelved on Friday. Students resumed full teaching responsibility on Monday …” (more)

[Catherine Healy, Trinity News, 16 October]

“… some fairly disgusting stuff revealed here about how some in education are using the JobBridge scheme. Cleaners, SNA’s, the non-existent posts of ‘Classroom Assistants’ and ‘Cúntoir Ranga’ as well as ‘School Assistants’. There’s no other word but exploitation to describe this …” (more)

[The Cedar Lounge Revolution, 20 September]

“The proportion of young people in Ireland who are unemployed and not engaged in any training or education programme is higher than other developed countries, according to a study published today by the OECD …” (more)

[The OECD study is here]
[RTÉ News, 9 September]

“I had a discussion with a senior colleague the other day about ways to improve the quality of learning experiences in the institution. Many institutions in the UK and elsewhere have in recent years seen some very unpleasant restructuring programmes which left many out of work …” (more)

[Improvisation Blog, 25 June]

“Recently in Europe, as in many other countries, there has been a growing focus on research to the detriment of teaching and learning. There are some signs, however, that the pendulum may be beginning to swing back – ever so slowly …” (more)

[Ellen Hazelkorn, Chronicle of Higher Education, 26 September]

“Anthony Seldon says the best way to improve teaching in universities is through tough appraisals based on student feedback …” (more)

[Times Higher Education, 19 September]

“Australian higher education is dominated by its universities, and therefore by institutions that have dual teaching and research missions. There is a long debate about whether these two activities complement or contradict each other …” (more)

[Andrew Norton, The Conversation, 21 July]

“The Examiner today has a story about the (upcoming?) EU report on Third Level education. Apparently it is going to propose that the educators get a bit of an education on how to teach. It’s hard to argue with that …” (more)

[educationandstuff, 24 June]

“Four words that strike terror and despair into the hearts of all academics : ‘oh, I googled it’. In TCD students have access to perhaps the finest research library on the Island …” (more)

[Brian M Lucey, 23 June]

“The chief schools inspector has raised the prospect of annual reviews of the performance of teachers and principals …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 22 March]

“It’s hard to get away from education. I was home in bed yesterday, struck down by some virus or other when I turned on the TV only to end up watching the Oireachtas Committee on Education …” (more)

[educationandstuff, 20 March]