Precarious professionality: graduate outcomes and experiences from an Initial Teacher (Further) Education programme in Ireland

ABSTRACT

This article presents and discusses the findings of a small-scale research project into the occupational outcomes of graduates of an Initial Teacher (Further) Education (ITE) programme at Maynooth University in Ireland. The findings from this mixed-method research indicate that many graduates experience high levels of occupational precarity and a sense of professional inequity when compared with their compulsory education teacher-peers as they attempt to make the transition into the heterogeneous field of adult and Further Education in Ireland.

KEYWORDS:

• ITE
• further education
• graduate outcomes
• precarity
• professional inequity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Youthreach offers training, work experience and educational opportunities for early-school leavers aged 15–20.

2. Route 1 and Route 2 are the professional entry routes into primary and secondary school teaching, respectively.

3. The university sector in Ireland reserves the right to award its own certification – seconded to do so by QQI.

4. The National Learning Network provides a range of vocational and personal development programmes for adults with additional support needs.

5. Train the Trainer is a short-course, usually offered at NCQ level 6 or 7, which provides an industry-recognised qualification for delivering training courses.

6. An employee continuously employed on fixed-term contracts for a period in excess of four years can claim a contract of indefinite duration based on the teaching hours they have been assigned to date.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jerry O’Neill

Jerry O’Neill returned to education as a mature student in the mid-1990s. He worked for several years as a lecturer in the Further Education sector in Scotland before returning to Ireland in 2010 where he has been teaching and researching, albeit precariously, in adult, work-based and higher education. He has a keen interest in critically reflexive approaches to research, teaching and professional development and is currently a lecturer, and the Teaching Placement Coordinator, on the Higher Diploma Further Education programme at Maynooth University.

Camilla Fitzsimons

Camilla Fitzsimons has been working in adult and community education since the 1990s. She has worked with practitioner groups, women’s groups, vocational groups, residents’ groups and campaign groups. She has published extensively in community education, the professionalisation of adult and community education, inclusive teaching practice, practitioner development and many other themes that emerge as of relevance to adult educators. When focusing on adult education practice, she seeks to uncover dimensions of power in relation to gender, race, presumptions about ability, and other social and structural concepts. Camilla is the Coordinator of the Higher Diploma in Further Education programme at Maynooth University.