Inducting newly qualified Primary Level Teachers in the Republic of Ireland: rhetoric and reality

This study concerned the concept of teacher induction, understood globally as the process of initiating newly qualified teachers (NQTs) into their roles as effective teachers and members of a school organisation. Despite longstanding proposals advocating change for teacher induction in the Republic of Ireland, Ireland has no statutory provision for this and there remains a significant gap in the Irish literature about how induction is currently functioning. The research investigated primary level NQT induction using a qualitative multi-case study, interviewing principals and NQTs in eight schools. These interviews explored principals’ rationales for providing induction and what they made available for their NQTs. NQTs’ perceptions were then sought about the effectiveness of their induction. A conceptual framework for evaluating the components of an effective induction programme was adapted from the literature to enable focused critique of Ireland’s provision and guidance for future developments. Four typologies of school-based induction were chosen to categorise the data: laissez faire, collegial, competency based, and self-directing professional. In all but the last of these, a rhetoric–reality gap was found; resulting in unforeseen consequences such as conflicts of interest between principals and NQTs. Evolving from the critique and the typologies, a reconstructed framework of the components of effective induction was devised to align with perceived needs of principals and NQTs. This can aid policymakers and stakeholders in future planning for NQT induction in Ireland.