From outsider to researcher: Making the invisible barriers to education progression visible

From outsider to researcher: Making the invisible barriers to education progression visible

by | ESAI

Melissa Lynch’s educational journey truly began almost two decades after her initial attempt at higher education, “with two children in tow and life experiences the length and breadth of the island of Ireland”. Despite being “full of drive and ambition”, hoping to achieve the dream of going to university, she never got past the first day. It wasn’t till many years later that she found the courage to return to education as a mature student. In this personal essay, Melissa reflects on her journey and what it reveals about the barriers to further education for people like her.

My journey begins

I created this image using my family to show my research in an image. It won the Research on walls competition. I would like to use this image as I feel it allows people to see what they refuse to see, and once we do see it we cant unsee it. It’s the realities of many lives of the students im researching.

My educational journey began with a blocked path. First, by a lack of navigational knowledge, followed by a lack of leaving certificate points in the so-called ‘equitable’ Irish entry system known as the ‘Points Race’ (O’Connor, 2017). The Irish Leaving Certificate points system allocates specific points to exam grades, which are then totalled to create a rank order for higher education applicants (Hyland, 2011). Though I found a workaround and was able to attend university, it wasn’t enough.

My journey was also defined by the prejudgment I faced from others within hours of stepping foot inside a place I felt I didn’t belong. Even though I was in an access programme designed for students like me – from a low socio-economic status background – there was no one like me! I never got past the first day and for that I branded that initial attempt at educational progression a complete personal failure because I couldn’t make myself fit in nor look and sound like the others. Yet, I knew deep down the failure wasn’t mine; it was systemic.

The hidden obstacles facing students from LSES in Ireland

As a teenager from a low socio-economic status background (LSES), how was I expected to succeed alone when an unstable home life, chaotic circumstances, and a lack of ‘insider’ cultural knowledge made higher education navigation impossible? The Irish education system was set up to favour students who already possessed unspoken social and cultural advantages, and I had nothing to inherit. That personal failure and the persistent musing it provoked is now the basis of my ongoing PhD research, exploring why students from similar LSES backgrounds remain underrepresented in further/higher education despite decades of new policies and initiatives.

The Irish Higher Education Authority reported that only 10% of students from LSES areas who attend Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) in Ireland progressed to higher education in contrast to 85% of students from affluent areas attending private schools (HEA, 2022;2023). I argue that until we acknowledge and understand how the hidden obstacles of social and cultural capital impact educational progression of LSES students, our equity and inclusion policies are destined to fail the very students they aim to help.

To understand why a system designed for fairness still produces fundamental inequality, we must change our focus. We must stop looking only at what the system provides in terms of funding and assistance and start looking at what students inherit.

The Irish educational paradox

My initial ‘personal failure’ was painful; I am speaking of the dual burden faced by many students from low-LSES backgrounds. First, there is the objective failure: not obtaining the university qualification we are socially conditioned to see as the sole metric of success. Second, and more corrosive, is the internalised belief that this shortcoming is a reflection of individual defect, rather than a consequence of lacking the social and cultural capital needed to navigate a judgmental system. This was my reality when, upon entering an access programme, the very stigma it was meant to erase led me to withdraw. It was, however, also a single reflection of a much larger, fundamental flaw in how the Irish educational system approaches equity. And now two decades later, it hasn’t changed a whole lot.

For a long time, the system has attempted to address inequality through many initiatives and policies, such as the introduction of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme, launched in 2005. This is one of the well-intentioned initiatives that are still in place and currently under review to be upgraded to ‘DEIS PLUS’. The central purpose of the DEIS Initiative is to support students from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds to combat educational disadvantage and break the cycle of poverty through targeted support for schools and students. Its aim has been to level the playing field by directing additional resources, funding, and support to schools that serve communities with the highest levels of socio-economic disadvantage. These major government initiatives are well-intentioned, backed by significant investment, and focus heavily on two things the system can easily measure and deliver: academic support and financial aid.

This is where the paradox emerges; if we are pouring finances and resources into extra teaching resources, smaller class sizes, book-grant schemes, school completion programmes and so on – Why do students from LSES backgrounds or DEIS schools remain underrepresented in further and higher education?

Studies show the gap in progression to third level is still significantly low (Smyth, McCoy & Kingston, 2015; Fleming & Harford, 2021). We’ve treated the visible wounds, such as the lack of points and the cost of college, but the deep infection remains. Why is this conclusion unavoidable? Because the system is rewarding what it can see and ignoring what it can’t, or should I say, chooses not to see. My research is grounded in the belief that until we look beyond academics and economics, and start identifying and understanding the invisible barriers and impacts of social and cultural capital on students progression to FET/HE, the cycle of intergenerational educational disadvantage, poverty and inequality will continue.

Beyond Ireland – The lens of capital

To understand why a system designed for fairness still produces fundamental inequality, we must change our focus.

My PhD research adopts the framework of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who argued that success is not just about having money (economic capital) or good grades (academic capital). As established in his seminal work (Bourdieu, 1986), it is fundamentally about capital that is invisible.

This social and cultural capital is the invisible curriculum the system rewards, but never formally teaches.

Social Capital – Who you know • Your networks • Your connections • The area you grow up in • Your interactions that open doors, provide guidance, and support turning aspirations into real opportunities Cultural Capital – What you know • The unspoken rules • Your educational qualifications • Language– as in the way you speak • The knowledge you've been exposed to, and the life you have been born into • Any 'insider' knowledge that makes navigating a university or professional setting feel effortless for some, and impossible for others.

Research by Hannon, Faas & O’Sullivan (2017) shows that the Irish educational system inadvertently rewards this inherited social and cultural capital. This invisible curriculum is a set of unwritten instructions: how to pick the right subjects for your career when in 4th year in school, how to apply for the appropriate higher education courses, how to behave in a college environment, or how to secure a professional network.

When I was a teenager from a LSES background, I didn’t fail because I lacked the intelligence, drive or the work ethic; I failed because I lacked the map and the compass, I had nothing of this crucial capital to inherit, and the system did not provide it. This realisation is the engine driving my research to measure this missing map, and understand the scale of the capital gap.

Mapping the invisible gap

My ongoing qualitative doctoral research – based on focus groups and interviews with DEIS post-primary students, staff, families, education and community professionals – uses this Bourdieusian lens to map the capital gap. The preliminary findings are heartbreakingly consistent.

The preliminary discovery is that for LSES students, the barriers to educational progression are rarely just financial; they are overwhelmingly navigational (SOLAS, 2017). Students often have high aspirations, but their families and social networks cannot provide the ‘insider’ cultural knowledge required to translate those aspirations into successful further and higher level educational progression. Without networks, students lack exposure to professionals or university graduates who can explain what a particular career or degree actually involves. It is extremely difficult to envision becoming someone no one you know has become. This lack of connection was confirmed by a parent:

“Like I said, we don’t know anyone. It’s not just about knowing people with fancy jobs, it’s about knowing anyone who’s been through the system.”

– Brooke, parent

The social web that guides more affluent students toward high-capital degrees (law, medicine, engineering) is simply absent.

Families and students often don’t know many of the initiatives that are available to them and those that do are intimidated by the educational bureaucracy. Terms like HEAR, DARE, ACCESS, CAO points calculation, and FET route become a confusing, impenetrable language barrier, constraining choices regardless of a student’s academic or financial ability.

One parent, whose child was doing well academically, summed up the anxiety perfectly:

” I’ve heard some things about student grants, but the forms look really complicated, and I don’t really understand all the questions. I’d be worried about filling them in wrong and messing it up.”

– Amy, parent

This also soundly debunks the persistent narrative that LSES students lack aspiration. They are ambitious, resilient, and intelligent, but they lack the cultural confidence that comes from familiarity. For many, college remains an ‘alien’ or hostile environment. Students reported feeling they wouldn’t ‘fit in’ or that the university was ‘not a place for people like us’. Aligning with international research on identity and inequality (Hutchings & Archer, 2001), this demonstrates that our equity policies, by focusing narrowly on measurable deficits, fail to provide the most essential ingredient for successful progression and transition – a sense of belonging and the cultural competency to navigate the landscape.

Becoming a teacher – and seeing myself in my students

My own educational path was not a straight line; it was a rescue mission, and the turning point that came years later, sparked by a disorienting dilemma; a health scare that reminded me life is too short to settle.

While working as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) in a North Dublin primary school, I received a pivotal piece of external validation when the school principal agreed with me I had the capability to lead a classroom, not just assist in one. That belief gave me the courage to return to education as a mature student, overcoming the fear of my initial failure and also the imposter syndrome that had caused me to back out of applications three times before.

Becoming a qualified teacher was a triumph, but returning to teach in disadvantaged settings held up a mirror to my past. I saw students with immense raw talent who, like my younger self, were paralysed by a lack of confidence. This was heartbreakingly familiar. I saw brilliant students limiting their own potential because they had internalised the idea that they weren’t “academic.” They didn’t lack intelligence; they lacked opportunity, belief and they were impacted by their lack of social and cultural capital.

I realised that teaching a few students at a time wasn’t enough; I wanted to change the narrative for them on a larger scale. Today, my PhD research is not just an academic exercise; it is fueled by this ‘insider knowledge.’ I am researching educational barriers not because I read about them in a textbook, but because I climbed over them.

Call to action

My journey from being an outlier, seen as a ‘complete personal failure’ to becoming an educator and a PhD researcher has one singular purpose: to shift the conversation. My research suggests that, while financial and academic support are necessary, they are no longer sufficient. As one principal participant, Keith (2025), put it, we must stop ‘putting plasters over the visible wounds’ and start building the crucial capital that has been unintentionally starved out of the system.

The next generation of equity initiatives and policy cannot be about ‘equal opportunity’ alone; it must be about ‘equity of capital’ and my call to action is clear and practical.

We need to systematically embed capital-building initiatives directly into our support framework.

By co-creating these initiatives with our stakeholders and centering their lived experiences, we can structure initiatives that truly meet the needs of LSES students. Until we acknowledge that the Irish educational system, policies and initiatives inadvertently rewards what is inherited and not just what is achieved, our current efforts will continue to fail LSES students.

My research aims to make the invisible visible, and I pose the question for policymakers: Will you look with your eyes truly open?

Key Messages

  • Education systems reward what students inherit, not just what they achieve.
  • Financial aid alone cannot close the education gap – we must address invisible barriers.
  • Students from disadvantaged backgrounds don’t lack aspiration; they lack the map to navigate higher education.
  • Social and cultural capital are the invisible curriculum the system rewards but never teaches.
  • Educational equity requires shifting from equal opportunity to equity of capital.
Melissa Lynch

Melissa Lynch

Dublin City University

Melissa is an educator, researcher, and equity advocate dedicated to dismantling barriers in education. Currently a PhD candidate and lecturer at DCU’s Institute of Education, her research investigates how social and cultural capital impact the progression of students from disadvantaged backgrounds into higher education.

Her academic work, funded by Research Ireland and recognised with internal awards, is deeply informed by her own lived experience. In addition to her research, Melissa serves as a Board Director for Youth Advocate Programmes Ireland, Is a member of  ATD the All together in Dignity Alliance (#AddThe10th) and is a Research Associate at the Educational Disadvantage Centre (EDC) in DCU.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=45QzcSsAAAAJ&hl=en#d=gs_hdr_drw&t=1762540028190

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5503-1603

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood.

O’Connor, C. (2017) Education Matters Yearbook 2016–2017. Dublin: Education Matters, pp. 202-205.

Fleming, B., & Harford, J. (2021). The DEIS programme as a policy aimed at combating educational disadvantage: fit for purpose? Irish Educational Studies, 40(4), 481-499. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03323315.2021.1964568

Higher Education Authority (2022) National Access Plan for Equity to Access Participation and Success in Higher Education 2022-2028. Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-further-and-higher-education-research-innovation-and-science/publications/national-access-plan-2022-to-2028/. [Accessed 2 November 2025]

Hannon, C., Faas, D., & O’Sullivan, K. (2017). Widening the Educational Capabilities of Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Students Through a Model of Social and Cultural Capital Development. British Educational Research Journal, 43(6), 1225-1245. 

Hutchings, M., & Archer, L. (2001). ‘Higher Than Einstein’: Constructions of Going to University among Working-Class non-Participants. Research Papers in Education, 16(1), 69–91. 

Hyland, Á. (2011). Entry to higher education in Ireland in the 21st century. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

Smyth, E., McCoy, S., & Kingston, G. (2015). Learning from the Evaluation of DEIS. Research Series, 39. Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Available at: https://www.esri.ie/system/files/publications/RS39.pdf

SOLAS (2017). Barriers to Further Education and Training with Particular Reference to Long Term Unemployed Persons and Other Vulnerable Individuals. Solas: The Further Education and Training Authority. Available at: https://www.solas.ie/f/70398/x/432b2fa3ba/barriers-to-fet-final-june-2017.pdf

Equity in Education during COVID-19 and the Danger of “Microwave Equity”

Equity in Education during COVID-19 and the Danger of “Microwave Equity”

by | NW 4 Inclusive Education, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education

The last two years have been quite challenging for the world and for educators. First, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world for a while, and many learning institutions were closed as a result of the pandemic.[1] At the same time, the increasing strength of the anti-racism movement from the United States and across the world has highlighted the importance of equity, inclusion, and equality in education in such a time as this. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closure globally led to 1.6 billion children[2]missing out on education, which has further amplified the inequalities inherent in many education systems. In many regions around the world, for example, in Europe, groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic on education may include students of minority migrant background, new language learners, disabled students, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and others (LGBTQ+) students. My PhD research study on developing culturally inclusive teaching and learning environments in Ireland, funded by the Irish Research Council postgraduate scholarship and Galway Doctoral Research scholarship programmes, has caused me to reflect deeply on the concepts of equity, inclusion, and equality in education. Furthermore, my research and work with student-teachers, teachers, parents of minority migrant backgrounds, in Ireland and beyond, has further revealed the importance of an understanding that is all the more urgent in the context of the inequalities that will exasperate equitable and quality education for all learners in the era of COVID-19.

What is the difference between equality and equity?

The image to the left is a graphical representation of equality, while the image to the right represents equity 
Image credit: Maryam Abdul-Kareem

 

It is quite challenging to unpack the concepts of equality and equity in education, particularly the differences between these two concepts. It is critical for teachers to know the differences between these two concepts to ensure equitable learning for all students, especially in a time of crisis.

In the left image, everyone is provided with equal support to watch the football game. In the right image, everyone is equipped with differential supports that allow equitable access to the game.

It should be noted that understanding the differences between equity and equality is not straightforward. It is layered with many complexities. Therefore, the above image provides a basic representation of the differences between equity and equality.

In summary, equity is based on needs, that is, responding to students’ individual or specific needs in our classrooms to ensure quality teaching and learning. In contrast, equality is based on fairness, which means being fair to all, without acknowledging the additional challenges faced by some.

UN Sustainability Goals and

the importance of equity and inclusion in education

Many education systems around the world are concerned with the issues of equity and inclusion in policy and practice. However, more work needs to be done in developing and implementing equity and inclusion policies and practices in education, particularly in the current COVID-19 crisis. Equity can be explained as providing students with personalised support that overcomes potential hurdles such as poverty and minoritised cultural backgrounds.[3]While inclusion in education implies that all students, irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds or disabilities, are accepted and fully catered to in mainstream school environments. In other words, ‘inclusion is about all students belonging’ in a classroom.[4] The concepts of equity and inclusion in education are not new. Global educational goals have long sought to advance the principles of equity and inclusion in education systems internationally. For example, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 requires countries worldwide to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030. The SDGs were passed in 2015 by United Nations member states as a holistic approach to ensure that countries around the world achieve equitable and sustainable development in different sectors of society by 2030. [5] However, recent reports by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) tasked with tracking the world’s progress in achieving SDG 4 presented that it is unlikely for the world to meet the targets of SDG 4 by 2030.[6]Unfortunately, the current humanitarian emergency of COVID-19 has further validated the reality of the findings of this new report on the impact of the pandemic in achieving the SDGs[7]

The role of teachers in addressing equity and inclusion in their classrooms

Moving forward, teachers can begin to address equity and inclusion in education with support from other educational stakeholders to ensure equitable learning for all students and developing peer accountability systems. Secondly, teachers can build better working relationships with students and their guardians/parents. Third, they can commit to continuous professional development programmes. Finally, teachers can promote equity and inclusion in their classrooms during this COVID-19 pandemic and beyond by constantly checking ‘whether what they are doing enables or empowers the students to help improve them.’[8]

Avoiding the quick fix of ‘Microwave Equity’

Image credit: Twitter user Valentina Gonzales Cornelius Minor Twitter 

Cornelius Minor, a US-based educator, coined the term ‘Microwave Equity,’ which means teachers and educators attempting to achieve equity quickly or overnight. Instead, he warns, the work on equity in education takes time and patience. In his book, We Got This, Minor argued that to be equitable and inclusive, teachers need to intentionally listen to kids in achieving equity in the classroom, decentralise power by empowering students’ voices, and do the self-work without blaming students.

The push to introduce more equity in education is badly needed, but it comes at a time when teachers are already facing significant challenges and additional responsibilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Equity and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

Teachers are crucial to achieving equity and inclusion in education, and the current crisis has further affected teaching and learning. The pandemic has denied millions of learners access to equitable and quality education.[9] Teachers, to a large extent, are critical stakeholders in helping to manage the crisis. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has further changed the nature of teachers’ work, e.g., many teachers were expected to switch to online teaching quickly. The burden of additional responsibilities placed on teachers in a crisis is not new. Research has shown that all humanitarian emergencies have affected teachers’ work. For example, in post-conflict Liberia, teachers’ responsibilities included serving as second parents, humanitarians, role models, parents, counsellors, guardians, unifiers, and psychologists to help students affected with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). [10] From the case of Liberia and in similar contexts, teachers can be adequately supported and performance improved when education stakeholders possess a deep understanding of the factors that limit their capacity to function effectively.[11] Therefore, placing the responsibility for achieving equity and inclusion solely on teachers is problematic. Educational stakeholders and the entire education system must be involved to make equitable and quality learning for all students a reality, even in the current era of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, school leaders in the United Kingdom took proactive steps and initiatives to provide support for teachers and promote sustainable good practices during the global pandemic. The research study finds that school leaders developed effective and pragmatic approaches to engage other stakeholders such as parents, pupils and policymakers, allowing learning to continue during the pandemic.[12] It is hoped that more attention will be given to having discussions on what equity and inclusion in education really mean in different contexts and levels of education. For example, regional educational research associations such as European Educational Research Association (EERA)  can engage existing platforms such as the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) conferences, within their network for educational researchers to continue to engage in discussion and research on issues of equity and inclusion in European education systems and globally. This knowledge and understanding will undoubtedly help concerned educational stakeholders working on equity and inclusion in education to address the challenges of ensuring an even playing field for all learners.

Other blog posts on similar topics:

Seun B. Adebayo

Seun B. Adebayo

PhD Researcher, Research Supervisor, Teaching Assistant, NUI Galway

Seun B. Adebayo is currently a PhD Researcher, Research Supervisor and Teaching Assistant at the School of Education, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland (NUI Galway). His PhD study explores developing culturally inclusive teaching and learning environments in Irish schools.

Aside from his research study, Seun organises workshops on culturally responsive pedagogies for student-teachers at NUI Galway.

His research interests include education policy, teacher education and professional development, culturally responsive pedagogy, equity and inclusion in education, progressive education reforms, practitioner/action research, education in conflict/post-conflict contexts, and quality education.

Seun has extensive work and research experiences with Aflatoun International, UNESCO HQ., UNESCO Office in Monrovia (Liberia), the European Research Council Executive Agency of the European Commission, the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, VSO International, Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), Education Development Trust and UNDP in New York.

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Seun-Adebayo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Royalseun

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=anOwtUQAAAAJ&hl=en

References and Further Reading

[1] UNESCO (2021). Education: From disruption to recovery. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse 

[2] Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (2022). Prioritizing learning during COVID-19. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/114361643124941686/pdf/Recommendations-of-the-Global-Education-Evidence-Advisory-Panel.pdf 

[3] Waterford (2020). Why Understanding Equity vs Equality in Schools Can Help You Create an Inclusive Classroom. https://www.waterford.org/education/equity-vs-equality-in-education 

[4] Giardina (2019). What does an inclusive classroom look like? https://inclusiveschools.org/what-does-an-inclusive-classroom-look-like/ 

[5] https://sdg4education2030.org/the-goal 

[6] UNESCO (2020). Inclusion and education: ALL MEANS ALL. Global Education Monitoring Report. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_0000373718&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attach_import_d3682741-8fe5-4012-98c6-66d2bb13b7f0%3F_%3D373718eng.pdf&locale=en&multi=true&ark=/ark:/48223/pf0000373718/PDF/373718eng.pdf#p29 

[7] Shulla, K. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and the achievement of the SDGs. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-021-00026-x 

[8] Adebayo and Chinhanu (2020).  Ubuntu in Education: Towards equitable teaching and learning for all in the era of SDG 4. NORRAG. https://www.norrag.org/ubuntu-in-education-towards-equitable-teaching-and-learning-for-all-in-the-era-of-sdg-4-by-chiedza-a-chinhanu-and-seun-b-adebayo/ 

[9] Moss and Bradley (2021). Education in a Post-COVID World: Creating more Resilient Education Systems. https://blog.eera-ecer.de/resilient-education/ 

[10] Adebayo S.B. (2019). Emerging perspectives of teacher agency in a post-conflict setting: The case of Liberia. Teaching and Teacher Education. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X18300143?via%3Dihub 

[11]Tao, S. (2013). Why are teachers absent? Utilising the Capability Approach and Critical Realism to explain teacher performance in Tanzania. International Journal of Educational Development, 33 (1): 2-14 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257243592_Why_are_teachers_absent_Utilising_the_Capability_Approach_and_Critical_Realism_to_explain_teacher_performance_in_Tanzania 

[12]Beauchamp, G., Hulme, M., Clarke, L., Hamilton, L., & Harvey, J. A. (2021). ‘People miss people’: A study of school leadership and management in the four nations of the United Kingdom in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 49(3), 375-392. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1741143220987841 

The Experiences of Irish Teachers in England

The Experiences of Irish Teachers in England

by | Emerging Researchers' Group, ESAI

Emigration has become common for many Irish teachers due to the often precarious and casual nature of employment many recently qualified teachers face in Ireland. England, the nearby neighbour, has proved to be a popular destination for many. England has faced a severe teacher recruitment and retention crisis for many years and recruiting teachers from countries such as Ireland, often facilitated by recruitment agencies, has become a common practice.


Current Research into Irish Teachers in England

Ireland is now one of the top providers of teachers to England but, despite the volume of Irish teachers passing through the English education system, very little is known about their experiences in and perceptions of English schools. We often hear unpleasant anecdotes in Ireland or read complaints on social media channels and online platforms about teachers’ working conditions in England. Still, in terms of scholarly literature on Irish teachers’ experiences in and perceptions of English schools, it has until recently been confined to one published report.

My qualitative research adds to this report and offers a voice to an under-researched but common group of teachers in England. It may be of use to practising and pre-service teachers in Ireland considering moving to England, school leaders in England during the teacher recruitment process, and researchers and policymakers in both countries and beyond. The full research paper, where for the first time Irish teachers’ experiences and perceptions of autonomy and accountability in England are documented, is available here.


Teaching in England

To set some context, what it means to be a teacher in Ireland is very different from what it means to be a teacher in England. Internal and external policies, discourses, pressures, and inspections, to name a few, mean that the nature of teachers’ work differs significantly between the two countries.

England’s education system is widely regarded as one of the most high-stakes systems in the world in terms of accountability. It has been described by others as being ‘notoriously driven by accountability measures’, as having ‘one of the strongest accountability systems in the English speaking world’, and being the ‘mother ship of high-stakes, performativity-focussed types of evaluation’.

The reality for many teachers is that they work in low-trust environments characterised by heightened and oppressive top-down control and micromanagement, frequent and stressful inspections and audits, and intensive and unsustainable requirements and demands. In contrast, however, accountability is less of a feature of Irish schools, and the working conditions are more benign.

It is well documented in the literature that a teacher’s identity (i.e. his/her professional beliefs, values, and principles, and the professional self-image he/she holds) is closely linked with his/her past experiences of education. In my research I proposed that the cultural change for Irish teachers who move to England would be challenging for them and their professional identities given their previous experiences of school in Ireland. Here are some of the challenges that Irish teachers report facing in England:

Challenges for Irish Teachers in England

Profuse accountability

The Irish teachers I interviewed were overwhelmingly negative about their experiences in English schools. They contended that they did not exercise much autonomy, but endured too much accountability, including for aspects that they felt were beyond their control, such as the behaviour of students and the grades they obtained. A common way of holding teachers accountable was through what interviewees referred to as ‘learning walks’ where senior staff members enter their classrooms unannounced to observe their practice and to engage in dialogue with students. A second method was through inspections of their ‘marking’ or corrections of students’ written work.

 

Negative views

The participants reported working very long hours that went beyond early starts and late finishes and extended into weekends and school holidays. The feeling was that teachers’ work in England is dominated by administrative tasks that distract teachers from their teaching duties. The accountability and accountability-driven workload provoked various negative emotions and, notably, it was felt that school leaders in England were overly critical and unsupportive, which gives rise to fear and anxiety among teachers in English schools. As negative as the Irish teachers were towards the internal accountability regimes they faced, they were more critical of the external inspectorate which they recognised as being the source of their problems due to the pressure placed on schools in England. Irish teachers appear to have very strong views on the motivations of English schools, and they considered these schools to be more concerned with the needs of the organisation than the needs of the students.

 

Identity clash

Significantly, all participants experienced some form of identity clash or crisis.  The typical perception that English schools prioritise looking good over doing good, the discourses of what it means to be a ‘good’ teacher in England, and the feeling of being constantly watched produced many struggles. Some spoke of complying, but the adoption of coping strategies whereby teachers strategically give the impression of conformity was common. Worryingly, this means that students do not receive ample attention – to reduce their workload participants spoke of feigning peer-assessments, assigning oral tasks, and providing feedback on work they had not read. A quote from one participant, a female teacher who had recently left the teaching profession but remained living in England, always stands out for me and exemplifies how many teachers lose sight of their students’ needs due to their fight for survival. This participant acknowledged the students as not being ‘the main concern anymore’, and while resenting what she had become, she justified her behaviour through her vulnerable position in an accountability-driven system:

 

What I went into teaching for was to be with the kids. I wanted to help them, and at the end, I know this sounds horrendous but the kids actually became an inconvenience – they were getting in the way of everything else I needed to do… At the end of the day, I was being judged as well. So I was marking the kids’ work but my work was being marked by senior leadership so I was still a student.

 

Indicative of how Irish teachers experience and perceive professional autonomy and accountability in England is how, despite having a clear desire to eventually return to Ireland to teach, the participants would not be willing to work as teachers in Ireland under similar conditions. While there is a need for further research in this area, for now, it appears that Irish teachers have overwhelmingly negative experiences in, and perceptions of, life inside English schools. This is not to say that teachers from England do not struggle in these high-stakes and low-trust accountability-driven environments too – many do. Still, with their previous experiences in Irish schools, teachers from Ireland are perhaps more likely to find these conditions challenging and problematic.

Craig Skerritt

Craig Skerritt

Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

Previously educated at University College Cork and University College London, Craig Skerritt is a researcher at the Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection in Dublin City University.

Craig is also the Dublin City University School of Policy and Practice Scholar, the Policy and International Programmes Manager at the Royal Irish Academy, and a member of both the British Educational Research Association and the Educational Studies Association of Ireland.

Craig’s research interests include education policy, teacher identity, student voice, and class-based inequalities in education, and he has published articles in journals such as Policy Futures in Education, Research Papers in Education, Irish Educational Studies, Improving Schools, Journal of Educational Administration and History, British Journal of Sociology of Education, International Journal of Leadership in Education, and European Educational Research Journal.

Twitter: @CraigSkerritt

References / Further Reading

Brady, J., & Wilson, E. (2020). Teacher wellbeing in England: teacher responses to school-level initiatives. Cambridge Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2020.1775789

Page, D. (2017). Conceptualising the surveillance of teachers. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 38(7), 991-1006.

Perryman, J., & Calvert, G. (2020). What motivates people to teach, and why do they leave? Accountability, performativity and teacher retention. British Journal of Educational Studies, 68(1), 3-23.

Ryan, L., & Kurdi, E. (2014). Young, highly qualified migrants: The experiences and expectations of recently arrived Irish teachers in Britain. London: Social Policy Research Centre, Middlesex University.

Skerritt, C. (2019). Discourse and teacher identity in business-like education. Policy Futures in Education, 17(2), 153-171.

Skerritt, C. (2019). Irish migrant teachers’ experiences and perceptions of autonomy and accountability in the English education system. Research Papers in Education, 34(5), 569-596.

Skerritt, C. (2019). ‘I think Irish schools need to keep doing what they’re doing’: Irish teachers’ views on school autonomy after working in English academies. Improving Schools, 22(3), 267-287.

Skinner, B., Leavey, G., & Rothi, D. (2018). Managerialism and teacher professional identity: Impact on well-being among teachers in the UK. Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1556205