Teacher resilience is an overlooked and under researched area in Irish education. Studies on teacher resilience globally are still at an early stage (Gu, 2018). This doctoral study examined teacher resilience as the capacity to maintain and sustain a sense of commitment and agency in teaching throughout different career phases and in ever changing environments (Gu and Day, 2013). The research concentrated on the educational changes introduced in the Irish context from 2016-2021 and how they impacted on career wide resiliency across the three teaching roles in mainstream primary schools; principals, mainstream class teachers and special education teachers (SETs). Systemic changes considered are presented as four pillars: legislative, curricular, Department of Education (DE) policy documents and Teaching Council (TC) policy directive. During this time teachers nationally and internationally also faced the complexities of the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools in Ireland closed on 12th March 2020. Teaching moved online in an unprecedented move which challenged the wellbeing and resilience of even the most experienced teachers. Accessing and supporting pupils’ learning entirely through digital platforms was new for teachers. Schools assigned daily or weekly work using platforms such as Class Dojo or Aladdin with some opting to use Microsoft Teams or Zoom to conduct interactive lessons. The measures put in place to ensure the minimisation of the impact on teaching and learning ensured where pupils and teachers had to isolate or return to working remotely for designated periods of time, continuity of teaching prevailed. Education through the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes for teachers often accompanied by an intensified workload (Allen et al., 2020; Lemon and McDonough, 2023). It was necessary to address the impact of Covid-19 on teachers’ resilience. There were two phases of data collection in this exploratory mixed-methods case study research. Six schools of varying size, demographic and socio-economic status were recruited. Ethical approval from Dublin City University (DCU) was obtained. Questionnaires were distributed initially to case study schools, followed by semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom. Data collection took place in the final term of the 2020/21 school year. A follow up nationwide questionnaire took place in June 2021. There were 137 questionnaire respondents and 16 semi-structured interviews. Teaching and leading during Covid was acknowledged as a challenge but through personal resilience building strategies participants felts a sense of pride from mastering the move to online learning. Maintaining a work-life balance when teaching from home was challenging. Teachers felt they were “always on” and checking devices. Principals reported difficulties in getting all teachers to engage with online teaching. Technological advances made have reformed teaching in terms of utilising digital platforms seamlessly in schools to assign homework, as assessment portfolios, and as communication tools. Respondents emphasised the roles of these platforms in contributing to positive classroom behaviour, increasing independence and reaching parents instantly. Although teachers and leaders acknowledged the pandemic, they didn’t focus on it entirely, and their resilience was not significantly impacted. Many lessons have been learned and contribute positively to driving for academic success in teaching and learning today.

Keywords: Teacher resilience, primary school, collaboration, Covid-19, communication.