Continuous Assessment No 1

Tutorial Papers
Paper 2:
Droichead
Student number:

G00305550

Student Name:

Alan Burke

Module Title:

Professional Studies

Module Leader:

Dr. Pauline Logue Collins

Mr. Kevin Maye

Programme:

B. Sc (Hons) in Design Technology and Education

Year:

Date Submitted:

15th October 2015

SUMMARY DROICHEAD
Droichead is a new model of induction and probation for newly qualified teachers (NQTs).
The Councils policy on this new model was developed following a consultation process,
which took place in 2013. Prior models of induction for NQTs did not exist. Droichead
provides a supportive framework for a whole school approach, to formally welcome an NQT
into what it describes as the most important profession in society (Council, 2013).
Droichead offers teachers and professionals an unprecedented opportunity to shape
education policy, which directly affects them and their colleagues. The council has made
significant changes in response to feedback from participating schools and vows to continue
to continually listen to all involved. The process focuses on progression rather than
perfection, in respect of a teacher whom is just newly qualified.
Schools participating in Droichead are provided with a programme of professional learning
including release time, off-site, online and school-based professional development and
access to ongoing support from a Droichead Associate (NIPT). A Professional Support Team
(PST) includes the principal, mentor and other members of staff. Mentoring and
Professional Conversations are at the heart of the Droichead process, which involves
support, challenge and a shared vision of teaching for both the profession, and within the
reality of each school context.
The PST use the Droichead Criteria and Indicators of Good Practice to guide the process.
School context examples are identified to enable the translation of these criteria into the
practical reality of school life. The process is being shaped from the feedback provided by
these schools, both from the research being conducted by the ESRI, and on an ongoing basis
as communicated by NIPT. It is critical that all types of schools are involved in shaping this
process so that policy reform is developed, informed and most importantly, owned by the
teaching profession itself.
In confirming that a teacher has satisfactorily completed the process, a Droichead form is
completed, confirming that the teacher has:

Completed a required minimum period of professional practice. (300 hours)

Engaged professionally with the school based induction activities as established by

the teaching Council.

Demonstrated a satisfactory commitment to quality teaching and learning.

Demonstrated an ability to practice independently as a qualified, fully registered

teacher.

Once this form is completed and all of its criteria has been satisfactorily met, only then is an
NQT deemed a fully qualified teacher, and a member of the most important profession in
society.

CRITICAL REFLECTION DROICHEAD

Professionally led regulation is the fundamental value underpinning Droichead (Council,
2013). It believes that fully qualified teachers in the profession are the best way of
supporting NQTs on their journey to full registration. In the context of any NQT having just
completed college, they are after coming along a guided and supportive path of learning in
their teaching course. Along this path they learned all the fundamental elements which are
core to the profession. But there is always more to learn, they may even learn more in a
school setting, NQTs may benefit from multiple mentors to gain exposure to a variety of
styles, opinions, and experiences, that can ever be learned or taught in a third level
institution.
This mentor mentee process, like most things in life will always have its pros and cons.
Although the process is relatively new to the teaching profession here in Ireland, only in
practice since 2013, it is a well-established model in the Medical profession worldwide.
Mentorship is likely one of the most important determinants of success in academic
medicine and research (Phillips, 2009). This article I felt put a positive spin on the mentor
mentee process. An NQT having completed 4 years in college may feel the induction process
is just another unwanted chore on the road to qualification. I myself feel that this is the
wrong way to look at it. We need to focus on the learning outcomes which are possible from
the process. The article states that the process is essential for a mentee to develop
confidence in his or her work, it is a dynamic, collaborative, reciprocal relationship focused
on a mentee's personal and professional development. Having a mentorship process in
place opens many doors and opportunities to an NQT, which were never possible before.
However there is another angle in which this process could be viewed. The mentoring which
an NQT will receive will only be as good as the mentor. The qualified practicing teacher may
see this mentor role as yet another unpaid aspect to the job, in a profession in which there
are already many. This may spoil the quality of mentoring received by the mentee. Another
way of looking at it would be that all mentors have different strengths and may not perform
all the roles and embody all the qualities of an ideal mentor, so that his/her contributions
are useful for mentees. Whereas mentees benefit through their personal and professional
development. Mentors benefit by gaining professional stimulation, personal enrichment,

satisfaction, and a sense of giving back to their profession (Hess, 2009). This statement
would hold true for the majority of teachers today, however I feel that there may need for
mentoring to be incentivized in some way, be it financially or by means of time off for
example.
The word Droichead means bridge in Irish. You dont have to search very far on the
internet to find articles on this bridges flaws. A general consensus is that the Teaching
Council are correct for introducing the process. But there seems to be no link between
completing teacher training and becoming a fully-probated teacher. Effectively, one is sent
out to the solitary confines of a classroom and twice a year, an inspector comes into this
room for half a day to judge whether the teacher is satisfactory or not, with little to no
background knowledge of the journey this teacher has made. This is where the mentor
comes in, but effectively, they are also working in a system where all the variables could go
hopelessly wrong on the days of the visits or (possibly worse) very well (Anseo, 2015).
On this website an alternative is proposed where the final year of a teacher in training is
spent in a school which is trained up in mentoring and is accredited by the Teaching Council
as a University School for the full school term. This will have advantages in the fact that it
will be a genuine experience on all levels, and will hold more true to the responsibilities that
are part and parcel of the profession, such as all long term and short term planning. He/she
must set up the classroom, establish the rules and do everything a fully-qualified teacher
would do. The trainee would still get inspections as normal like on Teaching Practice, and
would still have access to an in house mentor. This year would then serve as a more fitting
bridging process from teacher training and becoming a fully-probated teacher.
Again it has its advantages in being a more genuine experience, but it may be difficult
implement with regards of finding schools to take on practicing teachers for a full academic
year. Could this act as an incentive as I mentioned earlier for the mentor? Time off for them
whilst the mentee takes their classes and completes their probation?
How and ever the Droichead programme is here to stay, and will continue to evolve and be
moulded by but the valuable feedback gained from its participants, feedback from grass
roots level, where it matters most. In my eyes as time goes on it can only but improve the
quality of the most important profession in society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anseo. (2015, September 14). http://www.anseo.net/. Retrieved from an-alternative-to-droichead:
http://www.anseo.net/an-alternative-to-droichead/
Council, T. T. (2013, May 27). Droichead-A-Quick-Reference-Guide. Retrieved from
http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/: http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/Publications/TeacherEducation/Droichead-A-Quick-Reference-Guide.pdf
Hess, R. (2009, 12 19). Making the Most of Mentors: A Guide for Mentees. Retrieved from
http://www.medscape.com/: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/586814
Phillips, R. S. (2009, 12 19). Making the Most of Mentors: A Guide for Mentees. Retrieved from
http://www.medscape.com/: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/586814