Rising Teachers, Rising Leaders Programme

    In September 2018, Maynooth University launched the highly innovative Rising Teachers, Rising Leaders leadership programme for senior cycle students attending DEIS post-primary schools and teachers. These ‘Rising Teachers’ were recruited from students currently in fifth year and who attend DEIS post-primary schools with low progression rates to university. The ‘Rising Leaders’ educational leadership programme is aimed at twenty teachers who come from underrepresented groups in teaching and have overcome obstacles to become teachers. The teacher cohort contains primary and post-primary school teachers. The student and teacher participants on the programme are embarking together on a two-year leadership journey. Core modules of the Rising Teacher pathway and the Rising Leader programme are jointly delivered to allow senior cycle post-primary students to meet and be mentored by primary and post-primary teachers from underrepresented groups in teaching. By discovering what challenges these role models faced and how they overcame them on their paths to teaching, the student participants will be empowered to consider the teaching profession as a desirable and achievable career option. Working in partnership, the Rising Teachers and Rising Leaders are playing a central role in creating an innovative and empowering national campaign that sends a clear message about the need for greater diversity in the teaching profession.

    Who are the Rising Teachers?
    Forty senior cycle students with a strong desire to become teachers from the NAO target groups (students from socio-economic groups that have low participation in higher education, Students with disabilities, Irish Travellers) currently in fifth year in DEIS post-primary schools with low progression rates to university. Student participants are provided with a suite of supports aimed at raising and supporting their aspirations to become teachers, and those aimed at their academic and personal preparedness to make the transition into initial teacher education.
     
    Raising Aspirations to Become Teachers:

    • Mentoring from Rising Leaders (Teachers)

    • School placements to cultivate their passion for teaching as a future career

    Academic Supports:

    • Irish Language and Mathematics Support 

    • Fully Funded Summer trip to the Gaeltacht for the Risng Teachers

    Developing College Readiness:

    • Individualised support completing HEAR, DARE and SUSI applications

    • CAO and college readiness workshops

    • Individualised support planning and budgeting for college

    Who are the Rising Leaders?
    This innovative leadership programme is open to teachers who have been part of a third level access programme, with disabilities, from one of the National Access Office target groups and/or teaching in a DEIS school with low progression rates to university.

    Over the course of a two-year innovative leadership programme, teachers will:

    • Mentor and act as role models to aspiring teachers

    • Develop culturally responsive mentoring and teaching skills

    • Access an educational mentor that can support teachers in their career progression

    • In partnership with the Rising Teachers, create a powerful national campaign about the need for diversity in teaching.

    • Strengthen leadership skills through participation in an accredited CPD programme that will benefit teachers’ career advancement