Mick Barry
Question:81. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Education if her Department ensures that all those working in schools have racial sensitivity training; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57288/21]
View answerTuesday, 23 November 2021
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Written answers
It is vital that the education system is one in which every child and young person feels supported and nurtured. The teacher education support services funded by my Department provide a wide array of CPD supports to teachers and school leaders which aim to promote inclusivity and equality. These are also key elements of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum. Schools also have the option to seek bespoke school based CPD supports.
My Department provides funding for programmes of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) based on the concept of inclusive education. The areas of anti-racism, identity-based bullying and cultural awareness are addressed. The primary focus is to enable teachers to meet the teaching and learning needs of students from all cultural backgrounds and provide support for pedagogical practices that promote inclusion.
In addition to supports provided for CPD, the Teaching Council carried out a review of the standards for programmes of ITE, Initial Teacher Education: Criteria and Guidelines for Programme Providers.
Following completion of the review of the Criteria and Guidelines, the updated standards document, Céim – Standards for ITE was published by the Teaching Council in November 2020. As part of this review the areas of anti-racism and diversity have been addressed. All new programmes submitted to the Teaching Council for accreditation must now be in alignment with Céim. Existing programmes of ITE will be realigned in accordance with Céim .
The Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice (2019) acknowledges that schools provide opportunities to develop friendships and to respectfully encounter diversity and access support structures. The policy promotes the provision of a whole-school approach to supporting wellbeing, an approach that has been found internationally to produce a wide range of educational and social benefits for individual children and young people, including increased inclusion, greater social cohesion, increased social capital and improvements to mental health. To implement this policy, every school is required by 2025, to use the School Self-Evaluation (SSE) process to initiate a wellbeing promotion review and development cycle. To support schools in this process, a national rollout of CPD for schools is planned to commence in the current school year.