ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore policy development and empirical research about teacher diversity over the last century in Ireland. We trace the journey from a primarily religious teaching population in the early decades of the Republic, to a predominantly ‘lay’ (non-religious) teaching body following the expansion of post-primary education in the 1960s, to the current day where we continue to observe a lack of diversity in the teaching population. Through our discussion, we highlight key developments in policy, and research findings from key empirical studies, culminating in the landmark development in teacher diversity policy through the Higher Education Authority’s Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH): Strand 1 (Equity of Access to Initial Teacher Education) (PATH1). We then briefly consider recent teacher diversity research in Ireland before ending with a summary overview of current PATH1 projects.
