TUI concern over teacher mentoring scheme

Last March the Teaching Council announced its revised policy for the Droichead programme, which states that the scheme is “a non-evaluative professional induction process” — meaning school staff will not be required to evaluate their newly qualified colleagues.

The TUI argued that new teachers were already assessed by external inspectors.

However, David Duffy, education research officer with the TUI, said while the union welcomes the removal of the probation aspect of Droichead, concerns remain that the programme is time-consuming for teachers and is under-resourced.

“The remaining issue is resourcing — effectively time.”

“If we’re asking one colleague to formally support another, and informally this has always happened, it doesn’t just happen by accident and requires time,” he said.

“We’re seeking from the Department [of Education] clear resources, particularly in the context of time, as to how and when can this get done.

“If those resources can be provided then it absolutely has the basis of being a very good induction model,” he said.

Asked if the extra resources sought amount to extra payments to teachers mentoring colleagues through the scheme, Mr Duffy emphasised it was a time issue.

“They key factor here is about time. It’s about making sure the induction support team in a school have the time to meet with an incoming teacher, that the incoming teacher has the opportunity to view what is happening in other classes to see what works well.

“The key factor here that we will continue to pursue with the department is about time for meetings, time to view what happens in other classes, time to talk about what I’m doing well, or struggling with that I might want extra support in,” he said.