The Examining Teaching and Teacher Professional Development in Ireland and Beyond presentation draws on global and national work by UNESCO to examine both the status of the teaching profession and role of teacher professional development in sustaining it.

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The first section draws on UNESCO’s 2024 Global Report on Teachers to help explore the severity and particularities of teacher shortages around the world. The second section focuses more specifically on the Irish context, building on insights gleaned from a current project UNESCO is implementing together with the Department of Education and Youth and the European Commission on the Strategic Workforce Planning for Teachers in Ireland. The third and final section looks toward the 2026 Global Report on Teachers, which focuses on teacher professional development through the lens of lifelong learning.

Taken together, the presentation will offer unique insights into the possibilities for advancing teacher learning and sustaining the teaching profession in the years ahead.


Presenters:

Matthew A.M. Thomas is a researcher, educator, and international civil servant whose work focuses on education policies, pedagogical practices, and teacher and higher education. Matthew is currently a Senior Education Programme Specialist for UNESCO, where he leads the Section for Teacher Development’s work on teacher education and teacher professional development.

Ieva Raudonytė is a Programme Specialist with the UNESCO Section for Teacher Development where she is leading technical support projects on teacher policy and teacher workforce planning. Prior to joining UNESCO Headquarters, she was an Education Researcher with the UNICEF Office of Research (Innocenti) for the Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance research.