Meeting between representatives of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and members of the Inspectorate

Wednesday 06 January 2016

11.00- 12.30

Purpose of meeting: To provide representatives of the TUI with an opportunity to meet with members of the Inspectorate to discuss and provide feedback on:

  • proposed revisions to seven existing evaluation guides and to three new draft evaluation guides
  • current school self-evaluation practice, the next phase of SSE, and the draft revised domains and standards for school leadership and management.

In attendance:

  • Gilbert Burke: President TUI
  • David Duffy: Education/Research Officer TUI
  • Harold Hislop, Chief Inspector
  • Emer Egan, Deputy Chief Inspector
  • Deirdre Mathews, Assistant Chief Inspector
  • Kate O Carroll, Senior Inspector
  • Mary Culhane, District Inspector

Participants were welcomed and invited to comment on the draft documents.

Summary of main points raised regarding SSE and draft leadership and management domains and standards

TUI representatives indicated that:

  • Capacity to engage in SSE was limited due to the number of initiatives and the lack of middle management in many schools
  • CPD would be needed to enhance capacity to engage in SSE. They suggested that such CPD should be streamlined with the Teaching Council’s “Cosán” document
  • Page 7 of the domains and standards for school leadership and management referring to the principal supporting teachers to develop their professional practice should not be taken as performance appraisal. They suggested that this needed to be reworded. The Inspectorate asked that TUI would submit alternative wording for consideration

Summary of main points raised regarding draft guides to inspection

TUI representatives:

  • Requested that all meetings regarding the giving of feedback to teachers should be held during school time
  • Felt that a five-day notice period of a forthcoming inspection was too short but conceded that ten days was too long. A seven-day notice period of an inspection was suggested
  • Indicated the need to make explicit that ‘Evaluating Professional Practice’was not about an evaluation of an individual teacher’s practice. Rather evaluations related to the quality of teaching and learning as well as the health, safety and wellbeing of students in the lessons observed. Inspectorate asked that any suggested alternative wording in this paragraph ‘Evaluating Professional Practice’ be submitted for consideration
  • Requested thatthe number of documents and the information sought during evaluations should be kept to a minimum. They suggested that a guide as to what was required for each model would be helpful.

The Chief Inspector thanked the representatives of the TUI for taking the time to carefully consider the documents and for the suggestions made. Their observations, along with the observations of other education partners, would be carefully considered in any revisions made.