The Irish education system has undergone a period of intense policy reform since 2011, with increased focus on accountability and performance in supranational indicators, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Teacher resilience is an often forgotten aspect of education reform, despite it being acknowledged as crucial in times of change and it is an underexplored concept in the Irish educational sector. This multi-site case study addressed the research gap on the resilience of Irish primary teachers and principals in the face of national systemic changes that took place from 2016-21. This research drew on the concept of teacher resilience as the capacity to continue to maintain and sustain a sense of commitment and agency in teaching throughout different career phases and in ever changing environments (Gu and Day, 2013). It was underpinned by a conceptual framework that draws upon the Four Dimensional Framework of Teacher Resilience, (Mansfield et al., 2012) and the Boon (2021) Lived-in Resilience Framework, to explore how experiences influence the capacity of teachers to be resilient throughout various career stages. 

At the heart of this study was the lived experience of participants throughout career phases from newly qualified teachers (NQTs) to vastly experienced teachers and principals with in excess of thirty years experience in the field. Much of the literature currently available in the area of teacher resilience, focuses on initial teacher education (ITE) and early career resiliency in the induction phase. This study addressed the lack of research on career-wide resilience. The research design was a multi-site case study approach, complemented by a large-scale quantitative survey that included 137 respondents. Survey data indicated that while some systemic changes had a negative impact on teacher resilience, not all changes impacted equally. Furthered by sixteen semi-structured interviews, it became evident that participants were highly capable of identifying which areas require further professional learning, in order to enhance their teaching, reform their practice and in turn sustain their resilience. Although the concept of systemic change explored in this study spans a vast range of issues impacting teachers and principals schoolwide to national policy level and beyond, this was chosen to reflect the curricular change, Department of Education (DE) policy and subsequent initiatives faced by schools from 2016-21.

An unexpected finding was the positive influence of Droichead – the national induction programme (Teaching Council, 2017) and sole probatory route for Irish primary and post primary teachers since 2021 in promoting and sustaining resilience. This paper expands on the role of Droichead in Irish primary schools and the potentialities that exist in utilising the Droichead model to enable collaborative practice among teachers and within and between schools. The importance of sustaining and fostering teacher resilience throughout all career phases is explored and seen as an integral part of maintaining career wide resiliency. This paper suggests how expanding the Droichead model can further develop collaborative pathways in schools. 

The research approach used in this study is an exploratory mixed-methods case study approach which explored the resilience of primary school teachers - mainstream class teachers and Special Education Teachers (SETs) and principals whose working contexts were impacted by multiple systemic level changes relating to policy development, the implementation of initiatives and the global pandemic of Covid-19. Each school involved (six), is considered a single-case initially and then comparative findings and conclusions are drawn across each school or case collectively. Eisenhardt (1989) suggests between four and ten case studies is sufficient for multiple case study design. Within the constraints of a doctoral study, six case study schools seemed a feasible number. Ethical approval by Dublin City University (DCU) was for school types in the Leinster region, this was primarily to include schools outside of Dublin as the majority of schools in the greater Dublin area are led by administrative principals. Over half of primary school principals nationwide are also full time teachers in classrooms or SET positions and juggle the same challenges as their administrative counterparts while also being responsible for educating a class or supporting multiple classes as an SET. This study involved the distribution of questionnaires initially to participating case study schools, followed by semi-structured interviews with three participants (mainstream teacher, SET and principal) per case study school. Questionnaires were used to elicit teachers’ attitudes around teacher resilience and the inclusion of unstructured questions allowed for elaboration regarding systemic changes. Interviews provided participants with the opportunity to have their voices heard and to expand on further generalised answers to the questionnaire. In resonating a point made by Quierós, Faria and Almeida (2017), interviews as a qualitative approach capture emotions, behaviour and changes of emotions of participants with ease. This qualitative research involved semi-structured interviews with sixteen participants, six principals, five teachers in an SET role and five mainstream teachers from the six case study schools. This study took place in the final term of the 2021 school year, a particularly challenging year for all schools in relation to Covid-19 and these challenges continued during the return to school after the remote learning period. Online completion of the questionnaire and remote interviews facilitated participants in terms of suitability for the interview schedule and ensured the research was completed within the specified time frame. Recruiting schools and participants proved challenging at times but the target number for both questionnaires and interviews was achieved.

While wide ranging reforms at an international level have exerted pressure and resulted in an increased workload for teachers (Gu, 2014), many of the systemic changes introduced in the period from 2016-2021 in the Irish context were seen as favourable. Droichead was described by an interviewee as one such initiative which “opened doors” and led to enhanced collaborative experiences in schools despite initial reluctance especially from principals and the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO, 2016). The vast majority of participants found that Droichead (Teaching Council, 2017) did not challenge them and was a supportive factor for developing resilience. This emphasises the collaborative component, where teachers felt valued and supported. The introduction of Droichead facilitates the development of support networks within schools, through facilitated observations of more experienced teachers and through supportive conversations with professional support team (PST) mentors. Collegial relationships, Gu (2018) notes, provide a “necessary intellectual and emotional condition for collective and collaborative learning and development” (p. 26). Through the Droichead model and NIPT workshops, facilitators and PST members support NQTs to develop strategies to be able to depersonalise stressful incidents (Howard and Johnson, 2004; Schussler et al., 2018). “Whilst the capacity to be resilient is a necessary condition for sustaining quality in teaching, without moral purpose and the support of colleagues and school leaders it is unlikely to contribute to building and sustaining quality teaching” (Day and Gu, 2014, p.12). This is supported in Irish schools through the Droichead process and informal mentoring networks in place in many schools. Findings from this study indicated that engagement in the process had led to increased collaboration among all teachers, not just NQTs, with a positive impact on school culture and relationships noted. Extending the realm of the Droichead process to the wider school context may support the development of context specific resilience and develop relationships and collaborative practices further.

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