Building a Strong Bridge - A Critical Policy Analysis of Droichead: Ireland's Integrated Professional Induction Framework for Teachers

Few professions place as much pressure on their newest recruits as teaching. Newly-qualified teachers differ from members of other professions, such as medicine and law; there is no equivalent of residency or devilling that newly-qualified doctors or barristers must undertake as part of their early professional learning. Newly-qualified teachers enter their classrooms with full professional responsibility, yet they have encountered inadequate mentoring, lack of support and excessive responsibilities which are not commensurate to their teaching experience. Research indicates that the learning needs of newly-qualified teachers must be met to shape their future engagement with professional learning. Enter Droichead, Ireland’s formalised teacher induction programme; since July 2020, it is the sole route of entry into the teaching profession in Ireland. Using Bowe, Ball and Gold’s policy cycle framework and focusing on primary education, this paper offers a critical policy analysis of Droichead and identifies future policy trajectories in the area of teacher induction. Its recommendations include the need for increased professional learning opportunities for experienced teachers to effectively mentor newly-qualified teachers, consistency in feedback language to newly-qualified teachers, and how the Inspectorate might be engaged as an independent agent in this non-evaluative induction process.