<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The Irish Teaching Council introduced a new model of school-based and National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT) called Droichead (meaning ‘bridge’ in Gaelic) in 2013/14. The Droichead process is an integrated professional induction framework for newly qualified teachers. It was designed to provide whole-school support for teacher induction in both primary and post-primary schools. This study explores the implementation of Droichead in a post-primary school, and to gain insights as to its effectiveness and the potential to bring about improvements.
The study found that NQTs are un-prepared to assume full teaching duties after initial teacher education (ITE), and can benefit greatly from having mentors from within the school to guide them through their first year of teaching. The benefits of the process include emotional support for NQTs, practical help in terms of learning new teaching strategies, the promotion of reflective practice and assisting the professional development of teachers. Droichead was found to promote peer observation and can help leaders change the culture of an organisation to better embrace and support peer observation and review. The programme also promoted and developed leadership skills among the mentors, who cited a renewed enthusiasm for teaching from their involvement in Droichead. There were conflicting views on the involvement of the senior leadership team in the programme, and it would seem that the success of their inclusion depends largely on the individual style of leadership. The negative aspects of the Droichead process related to the ‘Cluster meetings’
which are compulsory for NQTs and were seen as being too similar to their initial teacher education.
</abstract>

The Irish Teaching Council introduced a new model of school-based and National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT) called Droichead (meaning ‘bridge’ in Gaelic) in 2013/14. The Droichead process is an integrated professional induction framework for newly qualified teachers. It was designed to provide whole-school support for teacher induction in both primary and post-primary schools. This study explores the implementation of Droichead in a post-primary school, and to gain insights as to its effectiveness and the potential to bring about improvements.
The study found that NQTs are un-prepared to assume full teaching duties after initial teacher education (ITE), and can benefit greatly from having mentors from within the school to guide them through their first year of teaching. The benefits of the process include emotional support for NQTs, practical help in terms of learning new teaching strategies, the promotion of reflective practice and assisting the professional development of teachers. Droichead was found to promote peer observation and can help leaders change the culture of an organisation to better embrace and support peer observation and review. The programme also promoted and developed leadership skills among the mentors, who cited a renewed enthusiasm for teaching from their involvement in Droichead. There were conflicting views on the involvement of the senior leadership team in the programme, and it would seem that the success of their inclusion depends largely on the individual style of leadership. The negative aspects of the Droichead process related to the ‘Cluster meetings’
which are compulsory for NQTs and were seen as being too similar to their initial teacher education.

An Exploration of an Induction Programme for Newly Qualified Teachers in a Post Primary Irish School

School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies, DCU Institute of Education

International Journal for Transformative Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The Irish Teaching Council introduced a new model of school-based and National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT) called Droichead (meaning ‘bridge’ in...

An Exploration of an Induction Programme for Newly Qualified Teachers in a Post Primary Irish School

Published Online: Dec 31, 2020

Page range: 19 - 25

Received: Sep 14, 2020

Accepted: Oct 30, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijtr-2020-0003

Keywords
Teacher Induction, Mentoring, Droichead, Reflection, Professional Development

© 2020 Michael Nally et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

An Exploration of an Induction Programme for Newly Qualified Teachers in a Post Primary Irish School

Published Online: Dec 31, 2020

Page range: 19 - 25

Received: Sep 14, 2020

Accepted: Oct 30, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijtr-2020-0003

KeywordsTeacher Induction, Mentoring, Droichead, Reflection, Professional Development

© 2020 Michael Nally et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Teacher Induction, Mentoring, Droichead, Reflection, Professional Development