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.

Precarity and the pandemic: an inquiry into the impact of Covid19 on the working lives of non-permanent educators in post-compulsory education in Ireland

“…Yet non-compulsory education providers repeatedly avoid embracing these benefits or renumerating people as they should. Instead, they relegate these employees to a continual cycle of uncertainty and to significant stressors that have very real impacts on a person's capacity to earn a decent wage, engage in meaningful professional development, borrow money to pay for their housing and transport, and other essential features of everyday life (Bobek, Pembroke, and Wickham 2018;Courtois and O'Keefe 2015;Cush 2016;Lopes and Dewan 2018;Nugent, Pembrook, and Taft 2019;O'Keefe and Courtois 2019;O'Neill and Fitzsimons 2020;Pembroke 2018;UCU 2016;Whelan 2021). Significantly, the impact of Covid 19 has revealed the unequal working conditions already experienced by non-permanent staff prior to the pandemic.…”

“…Two trade unions; the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) and the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) immediately welcomed the report's recommendations which included 1) a reduction in the waiting period for Contract of Indefinite Duration (CID) eligibility from three to two years, 2) that additional hours should be allocated to existing part-time lecturers, and 3) that there should be a dedicated process to address disputes relating to the recommendations of Cush. 1 Although less visible in public discourse, non-permanent, unsatisfactory working conditions have been a feature of FE in Ireland for many years (Murtagh 2015, 22;O'Neill and Fitzsimons 2020). Again, government policy documents The Green Paper: Adult Education in an Era of Learning (Department of Education and Science 1998) and The White Paper Learning for Life, (Department of Education and Science 2000) both recognise significant precarity for staff.…”

Os “profissionais” de educação de adultos e a importância dos contextos de trabalho para o seu processo de aprendizagem e construção de saber: Um processo suficiente?

“…Uns exercem as suas funções em exclusivo, outros participam de forma episódica, acumulando esta atividade com outras; há quem o faça de forma voluntária e há muitos cuja situação laboral é precária, situação destacada por diversos autores (Andersson et al, 2013;Guimarães, 2016;Milana & Skrypnyk, 2016;Paulos, 2020;Research voor Beleid, 2008;Zarifis & Papadimitriou, 2014). Num estudo recente, aqui trazido apenas para dar um exemplo dessa precaridade, realizado na Irlanda acerca dos diplomados em Educação Contínua da Universidade de Maynooth, que se debruçou sobre as suas tentativas de desenvolverem uma carreira como educadores de adultos, verificou-se que nem metade desses diplomados conseguiu realizar qualquer ocupação no setor, dos que conseguiram apenas 10% desenvolve a sua atividade a tempo integral, muitos dos quais com contratos temporários, o que não lhes confere qualquer segurança profissional futura (O'Neill & Fitzsimons, 2020).…”

“…Nas discussões destes e de outros autores, a questão da existência de um conhecimento específico associado ao exercício da atividade é fundamental, concluindo grande parte deles que apesar dos esforços que têm ocorrido no sentido da profissionalização (Lattke & Jütte, 2014; Merriam & Brockett, 2007), ainda não temos uma profissão ou sequer profissões dentro da educação de adultos, no sentido tradicional do termo, mas sim ocupações (Guimarães, 2016;Milana & Skrypnyk, 2016;Zarifis & Papadimitriou, 2014). A verdade é que, se, por um lado, se admite que há os tais esforços de profissionalização, não se pode, por outro lado, ignorar que uma proporção muito significativa dos que aqui trabalham estão em situação laboral muito precária (Guimarães, 2016;O'Neill & Fitzsimons, 2020;Paulos, 2020;Zarifis & Papadimitriou, 2014, 2015.…”

Lessons from the road less travelled: student teachers' and newly qualified teachers' experiences of mentoring in the Irish further education and training sector

“…The evidence suggests that some FET ITE graduates face precarity around employment where they may find themselves in non-typical roles, for example, in vocational schemes or community education, and even in non-educator roles. They also highlight the absence of a common induction process and a lack of valuable opportunities for professional learning (O'Neill and Fitzsimons, 2018). Notably, FET stakeholders call for both teaching and industry qualifications and experience among graduates, as well as enhanced interpersonal skills.…”