Lighting a Fire! All things Teaching and Learning with the Teaching Council

Andy Hargreaves is a Professor at Boston College and the University of Ottawa. He is also a writer, speaker, consultant and policy adviser. Andy is the founder of the ARC Education Project of which Ireland is a member. This is a group of nations committed to broadly defined excellence, equity, wellbeing, inclusion, democracy and human rights in professionally run systems. Andy, along with Dennis Shirley, recently released the book Five Paths to Student Engagement which brings together 7 years of collaborative research on engagement.

In this episode, Andy joins Tomás Ó Ruairc, Director of the Teaching Council, for a conversation about the importance of engagement in the teaching and learning process, the future of education as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, and much more.  

Podcast Disclaimer Notice: These recordings have been prepared by The Teaching Council for general information and discussion purposes.  Any expression of viewpoints or opinions reflect the views of the individual speakers and are not necessarily those of The Teaching Council. 

Dr Deborah Netolicky has more than 20 years of experience in teaching and school leadership in Australia and England. She is currently Head of Teaching and Learning at St Mark’s Anglican Community School, Honorary Research Associate at Murdoch University, Chair of a local primary school board, and member of education advisory committees. She blogs at theeduflaneuse.com, is author of Transformational Professional Learning: Making a Difference in Schools, editor of the upcoming Future Alternatives for Educational Leadership: Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Democracy and co-editor of Flip the System.

 Deborah joins Tomás Ó Ruairc, Director of the Teaching Council and Dr Finn Ó Murchú, Head of School (Post Primary) in Mary Immaculate College, Thurles for a chat about Professional Learning, Wellbeing, Wayfinding Leadership and much more.

Podcast Disclaimer Notice: These recordings have been prepared by The Teaching Council for general information and discussion purposes.  Any expression of viewpoints or opinions reflect the views of the individual speakers and are not necessarily those of The Teaching Council. 

In this episode, Clive Byrne joins Tomás Ó Ruairc, Director of the Teaching Council, and guest host Áine Lynch, CEO of the National Parents Council Primary for a chat about his career journey, his  participation in the Wellbeing for All group, the school community, school leadership and much more.

Clive  is the Director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), a role he has held since 2008. In his role as Director of NAPD, Clive has written and presented on the role of the school leader as an agent of change in Irish education and has been an outspoken advocate for reform of curriculum and assessment to make Ireland’s system fit for purpose.  

He previously served two terms as President of the European School Heads Association and as a Council member of the International Confederation of Principals (ICP).  

He was appointed to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and served two terms, being Chair of the Board for Senior Cycle during the final term.

Clive is due to retire this summer and may we take this opportunity to wish him the very best in his next chapter and thank him for his valuable contribution to education.

Podcast Disclaimer Notice: These recordings have been prepared by The Teaching Council for general information and discussion purposes.  Any expression of viewpoints or opinions reflect the views of the individual speakers and are not necessarily those of The Teaching Council. 

Dr Niall Muldoon is Ireland’s Ombudsman for Children and has worked in the area of Child Protection for over 20 years. In this episode, Niall joins Tomás Ó Ruairc, Director of the Teaching Council, and guest host, Angela Lynch, Principal Advice Manager at the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN), to chat about what drives him in his role as Ombudsman, the Wellbeing for Teachers and Learners Group, and what education means to him. 


Podcast Disclaimer Notice: These recordings have been prepared by The Teaching Council for general information and discussion purposes.  Any expression of viewpoints or opinions reflect the views of the individual speakers and are not necessarily those of The Teaching Council. 

Ciara Reilly is an Assistant Lecturer in Digital Education at the Marino Institute of Technology, and is well known to many teachers around the country through her contributions on Twitter via #edchatie.

Ciara joins Tomás Ó Ruairc, Director of the Teaching Council, and Brian Fahy, primary teacher on secondment and Communications Associate in the Teaching Council, for a chat about her career journey including her pioneering work with Kathleen Byrne in bringing Teachmeet to Ireland, navigating the ups and downs of working online in the current climate, and what learnings we can take forward when life returns to normal.


Podcast Disclaimer Notice: These recordings have been prepared by The Teaching Council for general information and discussion purposes.  Any expression of viewpoints or opinions reflect the views of the individual speakers and are not necessarily those of The Teaching Council. 

We are revisiting FÉILTE 2019 in NUI Galway, where Dr Finn Ó Murchú stepped in at the last minute to host a panel discussion on Inclusive Education. The focus of the discussion is not only about additional needs or special education needs, but rather it looks at the wider area of inclusion – socio economic diversity, access to our education system for all teachers and all learners. 

Although this discussion took place in 2019, we know that inclusive education is always relevant. Perhaps now, more than ever, we are looking at ways to include everyone in the school community while COVID rages through our communities.

Tomás Ó Ruairc, Director and CEO of the Teaching Council, hosts a panel discussion with members of the education community: Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children, John Cunningham, student in NUI Galway, Nada Khaled-Abdo, teacher, Dr Finn Ó Murchú,  Head of School, MIC Thurles.


Podcast Disclaimer Notice: These recordings have been prepared by The Teaching Council for general information and discussion purposes.  Any expression of viewpoints or opinions reflect the views of the individual speakers and are not necessarily those of The Teaching Council. 

Mary Robinson, the Former president of Ireland and former UN Commission for Human Rights, was a guest at FÉILTE 2020, the annual Festival of Education in Learning and Teaching Excellence.

She was the keynote interviewee at the festival, and director of The Teaching Council, Tomás Ó Ruairc interviewed her via video link.

She spoke about the importance of teachers in our society and had a wide-ranging discussion on topics from  climate change to social justice, to Covid 19 to poetry!


Podcast Disclaimer Notice: These recordings have been prepared by The Teaching Council for general information and discussion purposes.  Any expression of viewpoints or opinions reflect the views of the individual speakers and are not necessarily those of The Teaching Council. 

Moninne Griffith, CEO of BeLonG To, speaks to hosts Tomás Ó Ruairc, director of The Teaching Council, and Máirín Ní Chéilleachair,  director of Dublin West Education Centre about supporting LGBTI+ students in schools and in the community.
BeLonG To runs Stand Up Awareness Week every November, which is a time for second-level schools, youth services, and Youthreach Centres in Ireland to join us and take a stand against homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. This week is an opportunity for schools to look at how they can make them safe and supportive places for LGBTI+ students.

Tomás, Máirín and Moninne chat about Moninne's experience of school when she was growing up, about the work Belong To do supporting young LGBT people and how everyone in society can be an ally by 'coming in'.


Podcast Disclaimer Notice: These recordings have been prepared by The Teaching Council for general information and discussion purposes.  Any expression of viewpoints or opinions reflect the views of the individual speakers and are not necessarily those of The Teaching Council.