The Teaching Council is the statutory body with responsibility for professional standards at all stages of the teaching career. In that context, it has established standards for post-qualification professional practice, as set out in, Droichead, the new model of induction for newly qualified primary and post-primary teachers. The model ensures that the same standards and requirements apply to all teachers who have gained conditional registration with the Teaching Council. The Droichead model was the subject of a three-year pilot which informed the Droichead Policy approved by the Teaching Council in March 2016. The new policy includes a number of significant changes to Droichead. These changes were shaped by the teachers who have participated in the pilot phase of Droichead. There will be a further review of the Droichead policy in 2019. In this way, teachers and schools who participate in Droichead over the next few years will have further opportunities to shape and influence the future of their profession's learning.
Following approval of the Droichead process as its policy on induction and probation in March 2016, the Council requested the Inspectorate in my Department to continue to conduct inspection visits for the purpose of probation during the growth and development phase. As part of this growth phase, the Council indicated that from September 2016, newly qualified teachers in mainstream settings may complete probation in the traditional manner, through external evaluation conducted by inspectors. However, completion of the induction/probation process in special education settings can only be achieved through the Droichead process. The growth and development phase of Droichead will commence in September 2016 and by 2018 the Droichead model will be available to all newly qualified teachers to enable them to gain full registration with the Teaching Council.
I would encourage the INTO to engage with the Teaching Council as the statutory professional standards body for teaching to clarify the concerns that it has about Droichead in the first instance. I also wish to inform the Deputy that my Department will continue to work with teacher unions on issues of mutual concern.
