Teachers Inspire Ireland

We are delighted to announce that acclaimed Irish author Louise O’Neill will host the new Teachers Inspire Ireland Podcast every Thursday from the 7th of October until December. So what is the Teachers Inspire Initiative?  Teachers Inspire is an Ireland-wide initiative brought to you by DCU that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise the transformative role they play in our lives and in our communities. We want to hear your personal inspiring stories of that teacher who inspired your imagination, passion, creativity, compassion or courage. Stories can be submitted through the https://www.teachersinspire.ie/ website. We look forward to sharing your inspirational submissions every Thursday. A shortlist of compelling stories will be chosen by a panel after the closing of submissions in November.

The Teachers Inspire Ireland Podcast is hosted by the acclaimed Irish author Louise O’Neill who has written many bestselling and award-winning books including Asking for it and After the Silence.  Over the next few weeks Louise looks forward to reading your submissions and sharing your inspiring stories every Thursday. Teachers Inspire is an Ireland-wide initiative brought to you by DCU that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise the transformative role they play in our lives and in our communities.   We want to hear your personal inspiring stories of that teacher who inspired your imagination, passion, creativity, compassion or courage.   Stories can be submitted through https://www.teachersinspire.ie   A shortlist of compelling stories will be chosen by a panel after the closing of submissions in November.   We ask you to follow this podcast so you are the first to get every episode every Thursday.   Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

The Teachers Inspire Ireland Podcast is curated by the acclaimed Irish author Louise O’Neill. In this episode Louise reads an inspiring 2019 shortlisted story about Limerick based teacher Sinead O'Mahony who teaches at the Mid-West School for the Deaf in Limerick. We hope this will inspire you to send in your submissions about that teacher that had a positive impact on your life. Over the next few weeks Louise looks forward to reading your submissions and sharing your inspiring stories every Thursday. Teachers Inspire is an Ireland-wide initiative brought to you by DCU that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise the transformative role they play in our lives and in our communities.   For the eligibility rules and details on how stories can be submitted check our website at https://www.teachersinspire.ie   A shortlist of compelling stories will be chosen by a panel after the closing of submissions on the 5th of November.   We ask you to follow this podcast so you are the first to get every episode every Thursday.   Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

Our curator the author Louise O’Neill reads a selection of submissions from this year. We also hear from the GAA referee and primary school teacher David Gough about his inspirational teacher and finally we hear from Caitriona Ni Cassaithe who nominated the shortlisted teacher Nora Duffy in 2019.   Over the next few weeks Louise looks forward to reading your submissions and sharing your inspiring stories every Thursday. Teachers Inspire is an Ireland-wide initiative brought to you by DCU that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise the transformative role they play in our lives and in our communities.   For the eligibility rules and details on how stories can be submitted check our website at https://www.teachersinspire.ie   A shortlist of compelling stories will be chosen by a panel after the closing of submissions on the 5th of November.   We ask you to follow this podcast so you are the first to get every episode every Thursday.   Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

Teachers Inspire Ireland is an initiative brought to you by DCU that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise those teachers that made a difference for the better in your life. To give you an example of the types of stories we are looking for we hear today from Andrea Corr and Eithne Shorthall about their inspiring teachers. Our curator the author Louise O’Neill also reads a selection of your submissions from this year. Louise looks forward to reading your submissions and sharing your inspiring stories every Thursday. For the eligibility rules and details on how stories can be submitted check our website at https://www.teachersinspire.ie   A shortlist of compelling stories will be chosen by a panel after the closing of submissions on the 5th of November.   Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

Teachers Inspire Ireland is an initiative brought to you by DCU that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise those teachers that made a difference for the better in your life. To give you an example of the types of stories we are looking for we hear today from former Irish rugby player and entrepreneur Jamie Heaslip about his most inspiring teacher. Our curator the author Louise O’Neill also reads a selection of your submissions from this year. For the eligibility rules and details on how stories can be submitted check our website at https://www.teachersinspire.ie. A shortlist of compelling stories will be chosen by a panel after the closing of submissions on the 5th of November.   Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

This Teachers Inspire Ireland initiative is brought to you by DCU. Over the last month we have been receiving lots of uplifting story submissions from you celebrating those inspiring teachers that made a positive impact on your lives. We have a special episode today with the debut author Louise Nealon telling us about her inspiring teacher. Louise Nealon released her debut novel Snowflake this year to both critical and commercial acclaim going straight to No.1 in the bestseller charts with the critics calling Louise a voice for her generation. I talked to Louise about her English teacher who inspired her to follow her dream to become a writer. Our curator Louise O’Neill will be back next Thursday to share more inspirational stories from you about those teachers that influenced you the most and made a difference in your life. I’d ask that you follow or subscribe to the podcast on your favourite platform to be the first to get a new episode every Thursday. We look forward to chatting to you again next week.  Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

This Teachers Inspire Ireland initiative is brought to you by DCU. Over the last month we have been receiving lots of uplifting story submissions from you celebrating those inspiring teachers that made a positive impact on your lives. Our curator the best selling author Louise O’Neill shares more inspirational stories. I’d ask that you follow or subscribe to the podcast on your favourite platform to be the first to get a new episode every Thursday. We look forward to chatting to you again next week.  Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

Louise O’Neill chats on the podcast today about Adele who picked her English teacher this week as the most inspirational person on her Audience with Adele show. Emma Thompson asked Adele who her childhood inspiration was growing up and she said it was her Year 8 English teacher, Miss McDonald: “She was so cool. She got me really interested in literature. We knew she cared about us.” Louise also shares two inspirational story submissions from this year, and they are both French teachers. For Joanne O’Donnell her French teacher, Orla Finnucane, in Salesian Secondary College in Limerick, “opened up a whole new world for me- a world involving the beautiful French language and France - a country I would grow to love in years to come”. Asked what she had learnt by her teacher that has stayed with her, she said, “to look beyond the confines of your locality and embrace foreign cultures and languages.”  The next inspiring story is from Elaine Murray who chose her French teacher Brid Fox in the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Drogheda in County Louth. At 17 and in her Leaving Cert year, Elaine Murray thought her dream of playing football in America was about to become reality. She had represented Ireland at under 15 and under 17. “Anybody that knew me knew that my only dream was to play football in America and be a professional,” she said from her now home in Auckland, New Zealand. After a career changing ACL injury, Elaine was encouraged and helped by her French teacher, Brid Fox, who also coached her in the school soccer team and this guidance had a huge impact on her life.    This Teachers Inspire Ireland initiative is brought to you by DCU. Over the last month we have been receiving lots of uplifting story submissions from you celebrating those inspiring teachers that made a positive impact on your lives. Our curator the best selling author Louise O’Neill shares more inspirational stories. I’d ask that you follow or subscribe to the podcast on your favourite platform to be the first to get a new episode every Thursday. We look forward to chatting to you again next week.  Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

This Teachers Inspire Ireland initiative is brought to you by DCU. Over the last month our curator Louise O’Neill has been sharing a selection of your story submissions celebrating those inspiring teachers that made a positive impact on your lives. Today we will first hear from RTE’s Rachel English talk about her most inspiring teacher. Then Louise will share read three more submissions from this year. Our curator Louise O’Neill and our Fergal O’Keeffe have loved reading your entries over the last few weeks. We look forward to sharing the shortlisted entries in January. Please follow this podcast on whichever platform you use, and you will be the first to get the next episode on your phone. Thanks for listening and see you in January.  Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

The Teachers Inspire Ireland initiative is organised and run by Dublin City University. Teachers Inspire is an Ireland-wide initiative that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise the transformative role they play in our lives and in our communities.    Our curator is the author Louise O’Neill has been going through the uplifting submissions over the last few months and we are delighted to say that Louise announces on the podcast the four inspirational awardees for 2021. Curator Louise O’Neill said, “we received hundreds of entries for the Teachers Inspire initiative and if there was any recurring theme, it was the power of teachers to encourage their students to believe in themselves, and how those young people carried that message throughout their entire lives.”   The four Awardees are Claire Duffy, from Skerries Community College, nominated by Rob O’Hanrahan, Una Smith from Virginia College, nominated by Shauna Marie Sheridan, Donna Fitzgerald from St Joseph’s Secondary School, Tulla, nominated by Conor Gorey and Liz Kett, Grennan College, Thomastown who was nominated by Gerard Kelly.     Prof Daire Keogh, President of Dublin City University said “The response to the second year of the Teachers Inspire initiative has been phenomenal. Once again, we have received extraordinary testimonies from people across the country, who have spoken about the hugely positive influence teachers have had on their lives and on the life of communities. I want to congratulate the four worthy recipients of this honour, who are representative of the excellence, passion, and dedication of so many of Ireland’s teachers.”   Follow us on social media for the latest news Twitter @TeachersInspIE Facebook @teachersinspireireland Instagram @teachersinspireireland  #TEACHERSINSPIRE2021 #TEACHERSINSPIREIRL

“I come from a family of teachers.” Acclaimed author Louise O’Neill returns as curator of Teachers Inspire and the host of the Teachers Inspire podcast of 2022.   Teachers Inspire wants to celebrate the life-changing influence that so many teachers have had so it seemed appropriate to open the podcast of 2022 by chatting to the teacher who had that influence on Louise. So, for the first time publicly, Louise introduces us to Jo Keane, the teacher who gave her a copy of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and they talk about their memories of that day. In her reflection after the 2021 awardees were announced, Louise commented how she came not from a family of writers, but from a family of teachers. For this first episode, Louise introduces us to her sister Michelle, who is a primary school teacher. They discuss why Michelle wanted to teach and what she gets from her job.

Teachers Inspire 2022 is now open for nominations at https://www.teachersinspire.ie/shareyourstory Inclusion in education is a recurring theme in the nominations to Teachers Inspire. In this week’s episode, Louise catches up with Sinead O’Mahony, who was one of the four awardees in 2019, the inaugural year of Teachers Inspire. She was nominated by Rachel Broderick whose son Daniel, now aged 11, was taught by Sinead.  After chatting to Sinead and Rachel, Louise introduces us to Elizabeth Mathews.  She is an assistant professor with DCU’s School of Inclusive and Special Education. She explains her interest in Irish Sign Language and tells Louise about a DCU pilot programme for deaf primary school teachers, the  BEd in Irish Sign Language and the difference she believes it will make for deaf children.

Teachers Inspire 2022 is now open for nominations at https://www.teachersinspire.ie/shareyourstory A love of reading and the pleasure, and benefits, of reading to children feature in this episode of the Teachers Inspire podcast. Louise is joined by Dr Sinead McNally, Assistant Professor in Psychology at the DCU Institute of Education and they listen to parents who share a great love of reading to, and with, their children. Louise discovers she shares childhood experiences revolving around a love of reading with Dr McNally! They also discuss the important role playing has in early childhood education and how, post pandemic, primary school teachers used play as children made the transition back to in person classes.

Teachers Inspire 2022 is now open for nominations at https://www.teachersinspire.ie/shareyourstory English teacher Una Smith, from Virginia College in county Cavan, was one of the four Teachers Inspire awardees last year.  Shauna Sheridan decided to nominate her after watching our host Louise chatting about Teachers Inspire on Ireland:AM on Virgin Media television. As well as preparing for her Leaving Certificate exam that year, Shauna's father took his own life and her mother was recovering from cancer.  Una believed in Shauna’s academic ability, but also, Shauna said, “she was somebody that believed in me and wanted to see me do well as a person, and helped me get through the year.” Louise is joined by Shauna as she tells her about what was happening in her life at the time and about the impact Una’s support had. Louise is then joined by Dr Audrey Doyle, DCU Anti-Bullying Centre, who says that the mental health and wellbeing of students “is fundamental to the life of a school.”

Teachers Inspire 2022 is now open for nominations at https://www.teachersinspire.ie/shareyourstory Nominating a teacher, whether primary or secondary, is done by filling in a form on teachersinspire.ie.  Virgin Media journalist Rob O’Hanrahan chats to Louise about why he nominated his former teacher at Skerries Community College. He had been a shy student yet with her support he took up public speaking and learnt skills that he still uses. Rob is also a teacher and he tells Louise about teaching before he went into journalism. He says teachers worked ten times harder during the pandemic and he explains why it is important “to take the time” to nominate a teacher who had an impact on you. Claire Duffy, who was Rob’s English teacher, went on to be a Teachers Inspire awardee for 2021, as a result of being nominated by him. Don’t forget nominations are still open for 2022.

It is thirty years since DCU set up it’s Centre for Talented Youth Ireland for children who are high achievers.   Codes and Ciphers, Law, Veterinary Science and Philosophy are some of the courses available at the centre, which is known as CTY Ireland. They are for young people from the ages of six to seventeen, who have high academic ability or are bright and motivated. They learn about subjects and topics that are not available at their schools. We hear from a student who has done a number of the courses and Louise chats to Colm O’Reilly, Director of CTY Ireland.    He tells her why DCU started the centre thirty years ago and how over 70,000 students have now taken part in different courses.   They also discuss the mental health and wellbeing of bright children and how the perception that a gifted child should always get 100% in every test is not true. Teachers Inspire is open for nominations at https://www.teachersinspire.ie/shareyourstory

Celebrating the influence and impact teachers have had on their students is at the heart of Teachers Inspire.  Hundreds of people have shared their stories and told us about that one teacher who helped to change their life. Some of the teachers nominated for a Teachers Inspire award were retired, others are still working in schools, primary and secondary, around the country. A great many of them trained to be teachers at DCU’s Institute of Education, and on St. Patrick's campus.  Louise’s guest for this episode is Professor Anne Looney, Executive Dean of DCU’s Institute of Education.  Professor Looney tells Louise about teaching the teachers of tomorrow and how student teachers at DCU are surrounded by research and so, when they graduate, they carry new ideas into their schools. Professor Looney also shares her thoughts on the requirement of a high standard of Irish for student teachers and how we might need to think about focusing on the standard of Irish students have when they leave college rather than the standard of Irish they have when they start. We also hear the thoughts of some of DCU’s student teachers on why they want to teach.

DCU Alumni can be found around the globe and in this episode Louise is joined by two who remain deeply committed to education. They are Dearbháil Lawless, the CEO of AONTAS, Ireland’s National Adult Learning Organisation and Kevin Shortall, principal of St Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght. They share their personal stories about accessing education and what, and where, education has brought them.  An access style programme meant Dearbháil was on the DCU campus for one day a week initially. The lecturers she saw there inspired her and a few years later she was teaching on a DCU degree programme. ‘My heart is in DCU,’ she tells Louise. Kevin left school at 16 and going to college then had never occurred to him. A meeting with a trainee teacher when he was 19, led him to begin the next stage of his journey in education which was to repeat his Leaving Certificate. ‘It set me on this kind of trajectory and put me on the path that I've been on for more than thirty years,’ he says. There is much laughter as they share their stories, including talking about the educators who inspired them, with Louise.

Every year Teachers Inspire receives nominations that continue to remind us of the role teachers can play and how sometimes a single sentence or suggestion can make a powerful impact. The nominations for 2022 have closed and are being reviewed at the moment. The four awardees will be announced in the near future.   In the meantime, for this episode, Louise introduces us to two of the nominators.   The first is Sarah Doran who went to Pobalscoil Neasáin, Baldoyle, Dublin. Sarah had a tough time in her early teens and did not sit her Junior Certificate. She joined Pobalscoil Neasáin in transition year.    Sarah, who now lives in London, has nominated a teacher who was her year head - Aisling Mhig Shamhráin. She says Aisling, ‘essentially saved my life,’ and taught her resilience and to, ‘be myself and not worry about it.’   Then Louise chats to Caitlin Green who nominated Marianne O’Reilly, who was her teacher at Mercy College, Beaumont in Dublin. Caitlin talks about her grief after the death of her grandmother and how Marianne noticed that she was not herself and mentioned it to her parents.   Her intervention came, ‘at a really crucial moment in my life,’ says Caitlin who is now at college and plans to be a primary school teacher.