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Recognition of the growing homogeneity of the Irish teaching body (Keane & Heinz, 2016), and increasing awareness of the positive impact a more diverse teaching population have on disadvantaged and diverse students’ educational engagement, has precipitated an Irish policy response which has included funding a university foundation course (FC) which supports students who are underrepresented in teaching, to progress into initial teacher education (ITE).There is a dearth of empirical research on who is accessing these interventions, and how these students differ from those who ‘usually’ apply to and enter ITE directly. Consequently, in September 2018, twenty FC students and eighteen students from the direct entry group completed an on-line survey in order to compare the demographic make of both groups.The results of the descriptive analysis indicate that students utilising the ITE FC are more diverse in ethnicity, disability status and academic history, and have greater levels of disadvantage in terms of family history of education and family occupation than those entering ITE directly. These results highlight the value of utilising alternative entry routes to ITE, and their potential to support those disadvantaged and underrepresented to take the initial step into ITE.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Irish primary teachers, and particularly those working in disadvantaged schools, are coming under increasing pressure to orient their practices towards satisfying the exigencies of accountability and performativity (Conway, P. F., and R. Murphy. 2013. “A Rising Tide Meets a Perfect Storm: New Accountabilities in Teaching and Teacher Education in Ireland.” Irish Educational Studies 32 (1): 11–36. doi:10.1080/03323315.2013.773227). Focusing specifically on early career teachers (ECTs) in Irish designated disadvantaged primary schools, this paper investigates ECTs’ engagement with discourses of accountability and performance and its influence on their daily practices. Semi-structured, life-history interviews were conducted with 18 participants drawn from three urban designated disadvantaged schools. Local conditions (level of disadvantage, the intensity and concentration of students’ needs, and school culture), as well as participants’ career stage, impacted upon the way ECTs...

Irish policy is increasingly focused on addressing the lack of teacher diversity. However, persistent challenges remain around the high standard of Irish required to enter primary level Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and the quality of Irish language teaching in schools that are designated disadvantaged in Ireland. This research aims to explore the relationship between these variables. Students from groups currently underrepresented in ITE and who are participating in a Foundation Course for Initial Teacher Education (FCITE) described their experiences of learning Irish in schools that are designated as disadvantaged, and then their journey through Irish language learning on the FCITE. Participants described largely negative experiences of learning Irish in school which contrasted with positive experiences of learning Irish while on the FCITE. Participants believed the communities they came from, and schools they attended, influenced the quality of teaching received; while teacher expectations of their language capabilities, and consequently their language proficiency impacted upon their Irish language learning. The findings indicate that specific measures should be put in place along the continuum of teacher education to ensure that there is an emphasis placed on not only improving the quality of Irish language teaching in schools located in communities experiencing social and economic inequality, but the parallel need to develop a model of social and political criticality amongst student and practicing teachers that addresses the problematic assumptions observed in this research about students’ language learning capabilities.