From Classroom to Boardroom: How BITCI is Supporting Teachers and Principals Across Ireland
As BITCI celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are reflecting on the success of our educator-focused programmes Industry Insights for Teachers (IIT) and Management Excellence for Principals (MEP), which impacted over 620 educators in 2024.
IIT is aimed at educators and career guidance counsellors, showcasing businesses and business sectors to school leavers. The programme comprises sessions every 2–3 weeks during the academic year, each lasting up to two hours, either online or in person.
Each session features one or more companies presenting on their business sector, their presence in Ireland, and includes guest speakers such as HR leaders, graduates, and apprentices. They speak about recruitment, apprenticeships, types of roles and the skills required, along with insights into working in the company.
Companies featured during 2024–25 have included DAA, Coillte, Suir Engineering, Dalata Hotel Group, Fáilte Ireland, DHL, Uisce Éireann, Teleflex, IAPI (Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland), Dawn Meats, Tata Consultancy Services, Cook Medical, and Sky. Topics have spanned apprenticeships, media and advertising, logistics, engineering, hospitality and tourism, food, energy and utilities, and medical devices.
Companies have inspired educators, and in turn, their students. It’s a win-win, supporting company recruitment pipelines, addressing skills shortages, advancing DE&I initiatives, and promoting the company and its sector. Teachers find it an invaluable resource:
‘Great advice for students going forward as to what is in demand and why. Also, to students who didn’t know what to do after school. Great opportunities!’
‘The platform is relevant from TY to LC and beyond into third level and industry.’
A second programme for school leadership teams is Management Excellence for Principals (MEP), which provides soft skills training from company leaders to school leaders in areas relevant to their roles, including:
Leadership Development: Learn practical strategies to enhance your leadership style.
Personal Effectiveness: Boost productivity with time-saving techniques.
Change Management: Get insights on leading through transitions smoothly.
Performance Management: Gain tools to effectively assess and support staff.
Conflict Resolution: Manage difficult situations on the staff team.
Public Relations, Marketing & Personal Branding: Improve how you promote your school.
These sessions also run for 1–2 hours, both online and in person, and provide an excellent resource and a means for companies to share their expertise and give back to schools in their local communities as a CSR initiative. Feedback from principals who participated includes:
‘I feel there are always little nuggets of information that can be brought back to a school setting. We are all dealing with people and trying to get the best out of people – regardless of whether it is in education or business.’
‘Very positive, supportive, practical, relevant. In a very relaxed atmosphere which felt safe in respect of sharing opinions.’
Both of these programmes are delivered across Ireland and are open to all schools, free of charge. Online, in-person, or hybrid delivery can be facilitated, and we manage the whole process to make it an easy commitment for companies.
Thank you to our funders: the Department of Education’s Teacher Education Section for the IIT programme, and Cornmarket Group Financial Services for the MEP programme.
If you or your company are seeking an impactful one-off volunteering initiative, consider getting in touch! We are now confirming featured companies for autumn and winter sessions for both programmes. There is no charge to participate, and an impact report is provided for all sessions.
Interested? Contact the programme lead, Suzanna Doyle via sdoyle@bitc.ie
