‘Teachers matter’: the impact of mandatory reporting on teacher education in Ireland
Bourke, Ashling and Maunsell, CatherineORCID: 0000-0001-7512-1403
(2015)
‘Teachers matter’: the impact of mandatory reporting on teacher education in Ireland.
Child Abuse Review, 25
(4).
pp. 314-324.
ISSN 0952-9136
The role of teachers in safeguarding the welfare of children is long
acknowledged. However, recent research in Ireland found that the training
provided to teachers on child protection issues was lacking (Buckley and
McGarry, 2011). The frequent interactions teachers have with children and their
expertise in terms of typical child development place them in an ideal position for
identifying possible signs of abuse. Yet despite this advantage, research indicates
that schools fail to report a substantial proportion of suspected child abuse cases
(Kenny, 2004). The oft cited reasons for this may be conceptualised as; explicit
reasons such as, a lack of knowledge about child abuse issues; and implicit
reasons such as, the individual teachers’ belief system about abuse. The current
paper discusses implicit as well as explicit obstacles to teachers’ ‘engagement’
with, and consequent barriers to their responding to, child protection issues. The
current changes in initial teacher education and the introduction of mandatory
reporting for professionals in Ireland, is an opportune time to raise this issue and
the need for holistic education in child protection for teachers.