Teachers and principals have never been so challengedwith the mainstreaming of special-needs students, increased numbers of non-Irish national pupils, andmore unruly students.The profile of the typical teacher is also changing.The male primary teacher is in danger of extinction with fewer men interested in teaching, while newly qualified second-level teachers are having trouble getting permanent positions.Many teachers are coming to the job later in life.

Meanwhile rural schools are finding it increasingly difficult to attract principals.With the main teaching union conferences taking place this week,

Isabel Hayes looks at the big issues facing teachers and pupils

PROFILE: THE YOUNG TEACHER THE parents of Aoife Doyle's second-class students are often surprised when they first meet her.

Doyle has just turned 22 and is one of the state's youngest teachers. "It is a challenge and I have at times felt that I have to really prove myself, " said Doyle (pictured), who works in her old school, St Colmcille's in Knocklyon, Dublin. "But parents are getting used to seeing young teachers around and I think that being fresh out of college means I'm ready to try new ideas."

For Doyle, her first year of teaching has been "fantastic, but hectic." As a Marino College graduate, she has to complete her fourth year of college at night in Trinity College between three and four times a week. She is writing a thesis, preparing for her school inspection and getting her class of 31 pupils ready for their first holy communion.

However, Doyle is also one of the few teachers included in the national pilot project on teacher induction, which means she has a range of supports in place in her first year of work, including a mentor to go to for advice.

"I've been really lucky to be included in this, because although the college courses are great, they can't fully prepare you for being a teacher, " said Doyle. "This programme should really be rolled out nationally. No one expects doctors to graduate from college and start practising on their own immediately, so the same should apply for teachers."

CLASS SIZE "WHO would have predicted 10 years ago the education system would see such enormous upheaval and change?" asked John White, general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI). "A lot of it has been positive. Irish teachers have welcomed newcomer pupils to their schools and we have welcomed special-needs pupils into mainstream education. What we haven't seen in line with these changes is a reduction in class size."

According to a study commissioned by ASTI, 64% of third-year students are taught in overcrowded classes of 25 students or more, with one in six taught in classes of 30 students or more. While education minister Mary Hanafin has insisted there have "never been more teachers or fewer students at second level" and that there is a teacher for every 13 students at second level, ASTI strongly rejects these figures.

"It's simply not true, " said Patricia Wroe, vice-president of the union. "By saying this, the minister is including people such as deputy principals, guidance counsellors and specialneeds assistants who aren't classroom teachers. When a teacher and students have to work in a big class, everyone feels the stress." Five years ago, the independent McGuinness report on staffing in second-level schools was published. The report recommended the immediate creation of 1,200 additional classroom teachers. It has yet to be implemented.

At primary level, Ireland has the secondlargest class sizes in Europe, with one in three classes containing over 30 students . . . a situation the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) has branded "a disgrace". While it is pleased Bertie Ahern has pledged 4,000 primary teachers to reduce sizes if he wins the election, it says it will be looking for a firm commitment on this promise.

PROFILE: THE OLD HAND NOEL BUCKLEY remembers listening to politicians in the 1980s promising they would sort out class size when the economy was better.

"But here we are, 20 years later, with a booming economy and 90% of pupils haven't seen an improvement, " he said.

Buckley, assistant principal of the Presentation College, Clonmel, started teaching in 1985, after 10 years of working in the services industry, and has seen countless changes over the years. "Teachers are a lot busier these days; there's a lot more work to be done since the curriculum has changed. The old idea of simply using textbooks has long gone out the window and teachers need to have access to a much broader range of materials to teach students."

One of the biggest resource problems facing teachers today is the lack of access to technology, according to Buckley. "Everyone in the workplace has access to computers, except teachers. We haven't got the basic tools of the trade available to us and students are further ahead of us in terms of technology."

PROFILE: THE RURAL PRINCIPAL SINCE Anne Fay left her teaching post in a large national school to become the principal of St Joseph's National School in Fermoy, Co Cork, she has never been busier. On paper, St Joseph's looks straightforward . . . a twoclassroom school, consisting of 54 pupils, with one other teacher and a special-needs assistant.

In reality, Fay is one of hundreds of teaching principals around the country, whose tasks are divided between teaching a class consisting of junior infants, senior infants, first- and second-class pupils as well as running a school.

"I'm teaching a class, but on top of that I'm manning a phone, addressing discipline issues in the other class, speaking with parents, doing the administration, keeping up with curriculum changes and planning issues, while dealing with board meetings, communions and confirmations, " she said. "It's an incredible workload."

It is for this reason that rural schools are having such difficulty attracting principals to rural schools and it is something that will be addressed at next week's conference. Fay has only a part-time secretary and feels she needs much more than that to cope with all the demands.

"It is incredibly difficult, " she said. "At the same time, it's challenging and rewarding. A small school is like a large family. The junior infants are familiar with the sixth-class pupils and I believe students learn more as well.

Small schools need more support. They're the base of rural communities and it would be terrible if they go into decline."

SPECIAL NEEDS UNDER the EPSEN (Education for People with Special Educational Needs) Act 2004, every specialneeds student in the state is entitled to an individual education programme that suits their needs.

But according to John Carr, INTO general secretary, this is simply not happening at primary level because the resources are not there to run the programme.

"There are large numbers of children with special needs whose requirements are not yet being met and this needs to be worked on, " he said. "We have the framework in place but this has to be available to every child in the country."

Choice is also an issue, as parents are being forced by the state to put their children into mainstream education, where the support is not always available and when they feel it is against the best interests of the child, as the parents of autistic child Sean O Cuanachain experienced last month in the High Court.

"Parents have to have a choice and children should have the ability to move when they need to, " said Carr.

"It shouldn't just be about putting up with the provision you've been offered."

Second-level schools are also struggling to provide adequate support for special-needs students.

An anomaly in the system, known as the October Return, means principals have to file their annual school needs based on the previous year's figures.

This means that when more special-needs students enter the school, they often have to wait up to two years before receiving support.

PROFILE:

THE LATECOMER A FEW years ago, to the surprise of his family and friends, PJ O'Meara (pictured) decided to make the unusual career move from politics to primary-school teaching.

O'Meara (36), who worked in Fine Gael, came to the realisation that he needed a change, and that primary teaching could be what he was looking for.

Now in his third year of teaching at his old school, Cahir Boys National School in Tipperary, he has never been happier.

"I am aware of the problems attracting men to primary teaching, but I think a big part of it is that boys finishing up in school don't want to see themselves back in the classroom within five years, " he said. "More come to it later when they've tried a few other careers first. If someone had told me five years ago, when I was up to my neck in the general elections, that by the time I was 36 I'd be teaching in my old primary school in Tipperary, I would have looked at you as if you were mad, " he said. "But I'm very glad I did it."

THE CLASS OF 2007 EVERYONE who has been through the Irish education system has their own nostalgic notion of what schools in this country are like. But this slate needs to be wiped clean in order to get a true understanding of the challenges facing today's schools, the teaching unions argue.

Education in 2007 has more emphasis on personal skills, interactive learning and emotional wellbeing. Students are taught to be more independent-minded, to challenge facts and to use a range of methodologies in their learning.

They are often more technologicallyadvanced than their teachers, but this has led to a wave of so-called 'cyber-bullying' and while students may be independent-minded, they are also more likely to challenge authority.

While teachers now play more of a pastoral role when it comes to their pupils, when the situation gets serious, support is often not available.

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) is on hand to support children in trouble, but the service is stretched and difficult to access. NEPS currently only has 125 of the 200 psychologists required and teachers on the ground have been told a child needs to be suicidal before they will receive help from the service.