'Highly inappropriate' - TD condemns teachers filming sponsored videos in classrooms

A TD is calling on the Minister for Education to address reports of teachers filming paid partnership social media posts within classrooms across Ireland. 

Labour's Education Spokesperson, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, has urged Minister Norma Foley and her Department to urgently address the issue, particularly amidst ongoing controversy on sponsored content and transparency at RTÉ. 

Deputy Ó Ríordáin said, "There’s a broader conversation happening at the moment of what is and is not appropriate in terms of advertising and ‘sponsored content’ in RTÉ.

"It seems that there is a total lack of clarity from the Department of Education for influencers who are employed as teachers in schools nationwide. 

"It has emerged in recent days that Horse Racing Ireland has paid ‘influencer’ teachers to use its ‘Road to Racing Primary School Programme’. Posts include images of children in the classroom in the background. 

"This is highly inappropriate and the Department must intervene." 

When contacted by Iconic Media, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) confirmed teachers were paid to promote their Road to Racing series. 

A representative stated, "Yes, educational influencers, sourced by an agency, were used to promote the Road To Racing series." 

Education Minister must intervene as ‘influencer teachers’ film paid partnerships in schools - @aodhanoriordain

“It seems that there is a total lack of clarity from the Department of Education for influencers who are employed as teachers in schools.

️https://t.co/X2gVLbVEPA pic.twitter.com/9I8XfsV2hy

— The Labour Party (@labour) July 6, 2023

Deputy Ó Ríordíain continued: "Many teachers make use of social media to share and collaborate on ideas around classroom resources and education concepts. Teachers find it a useful way to share engaging educational content that they can bring back to the classroom. There’s no issue with this.

"Where the issue arises is taking money from companies and profiteering off the back of their students, classroom and school community.

"Granted, social media influencing is a relatively new concept but the actions of Horse Racing Ireland to use ‘teacher influencers’ to promote itself demands Ministerial attention. In addition to investigating what happened here, I would urge the Minister and the Department to issue clear guidelines to all teachers on social media use in the classroom." 

Horse Racing Ireland responded to Deputy Ó Ríordáin's comments by stating, "HRI Juniors is a Horse Racing Ireland initiative that offers programmes and tools where children can learn more about racehorses in a child-centred way.

"This particular campaign centred around the Road To Racing programme, a four-part video series which also provides fun worksheets for junior and senior students where they learn about horse care and the daily routines of horses and horse riding.

"The programme was free for teachers to access and use as they see fit.

"Educational influencers were used to create posts and videos to assist teachers in using those materials." 

Educator Ciara Reilly originally highlighted the paid partnership issue on Twitter on July 5, stating, "Primary teachers who are social media influencers are also getting paid to use Horse Racing Ireland resources in the classroom. They are sharing content recorded during the school day and declaring this recorded classroom activity as paid promotion on personal channels." 

Primary teachers who are social media influencers are also getting paid to use Horse Racing Ireland resources in the classroom. They are sharing content recorded during the school day and declaring this recorded classroom activity as paid promotion on personal channels. #edchatie https://t.co/C4fV3wdOkM

— Ciara Reilly (@PrimEdTeacher) July 5, 2023

She later said, "Lots of correspondence on this [issue]. I know it is a paid partnership because it is declared as such on the post. There are others who didn't declare it, so I don't know if they were paid. Either way, influencer culture/practice has no place in our classrooms.  

"It's glaringly obvious that other sponsored posts aren't being declared, and are in breach of ASAI guidelines. My primary (pun intended) concern is classroom practice and teacher conduct therein. Glad to see that we've built awareness in the past 24 hours." 

However, according to Ciara, the posts have since been deleted. 

She stated, "I'm hoping to see more appropriate conduct in the future. It's a space to watch for sure. Onwards." 

Hundreds of videos of Irish teachers filming videos including comedy skits in classrooms are still available to view on social media platforms such as TikTok. 

When contacted for comment on the reports of teachers filming paid partnerships, the Teaching Council of Ireland stated the following: "The Teaching Council is the professional standards body for the teaching profession, which promotes and regulates professional standards in teaching in Ireland. The Teaching Council investigates complaints in relation to registered teachers and conducts fitness to teach inquiries, where appropriate.

"As a constant policy, the Council cannot comment on any individual complaint that may or may not come under the scope of the Council’s fitness to teach processes. Every registered teacher is expected to comply with the Teaching Council’s ‘Code of Professional Conduct for Registered Teachers’.

"Information on processes pertaining to Fitness to Teach can be found on the Teaching Council’s website. If you have any further queries, or require any further clarification, please do not hesitate to get in touch."