The population of Ireland is becoming increasingly diverse and this is reflected in the classrooms as well, with more pupils coming from a different background. The situation is different when it comes to teaching staff, since foreign-trained teachers face significant challenges in their efforts to obtain a job in their field in Ireland. In light of the research showing diversity among teaching staff can have strong benefits for the school and enhance integration, a new programme ‘Being a Teacher in Ireland’ has been implemented. This is a project financed by the Office for the Promotion of Integration of Migrants in the Department of Justice and Equality. As part of the project currently 40 primary and post-primary teachers from Spain, India, Poland, Brazil, Hungary, South Africa, Croatia, UK, Italy, USA, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Russia, Iceland, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia are attending a training aiming to help them develop skills needed to live and work in Ireland. The training includes both face-to-face and online lectures, based on the outcomes from the consultations with principals and migrant teachers.
According to the article “the course is about helping them (migrant teachers) to understand the culture and workings of the Irish education system and to overcome invisible obstacles to getting a job, such as lack of social networks and the sort of discussions among cousins and friends where opportunities may be mentioned”.