Affiliation:
1. Marino Institute of Education, Ireland
Abstract
This chapter presents the policy, practice, and societal contexts of initial teacher education in Ireland as a backdrop to the TOBAR programme. Primary teaching in Ireland is a high status and high demand profession, yet the teaching body is predominately white, female, and Catholic. In recent years, in response to changes in Irish society, and in initial teacher education and higher education policy, new initiatives have been introduced to diversify the teaching body. In the second section of this chapter, the authors present an overview of one such initiative: the TOBAR programme. The TOBAR programme supports Irish travellers to participate in initial teacher education programmes. Drawing on a series on interviews with students on the TOBAR programme, the authors report that the programme is having a positive impact on the students but that many challenges and barriers still exist.
Reference43 articles.
1. Optimism despite disappointment: Irish traveller parents’ reports of their own school experiences and their views on education
2. Burns, G., Colum, M., & O’Neill, J. (2022). ‘No one sees a Traveller at the top of the class’: Experiences of Irish Travellers on Programmes Supporting Teacher Diversity. Diversity in Teaching.
3. Central Statistics Office (CSO). (2017). Summary Results 2016 Census. Chapter 5: Diversity. http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/ documents/population/2017/Chapter_5_ Diversity.pdf
4. Conversations on Covid-19: a viewpoint on care, connections and culture during the pandemic from a teacher educator and an Irish Traveller
5. Coolahan, J. (2003). Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers: Country Background report for Ireland. Academic Press.