The Education Minister made the comments as she confirmed that she is writing to the Teaching Council to create a mandatory placement period in a special education needs setting for all student teachers.
Some teachers do not feel “confident” enough to teach special education classes or feel “concerned” if they are asked to teach in them, Education Minister Helen McEntee has said.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, the Education Minister said that teachers need to be able to teach in any setting, including mainstream or special classrooms. “That is the feedback that I got, very strongly, that teachers don't necessarily always feel confident in providing that education. This is about, at the very outset, saying, ‘It’s just the norm. It's part and parcel. It's what you learn when you're in college.’
She said that this means that “it should be the case that every teacher knows how to support that child” regardless of what classroom they are in. She added: “At the moment, I don't feel that that's the case.”
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