Mná Fest Saturday 8th January 2022

A Virtual Event for Aspiring Female Leaders in Education:10am - 2pm Saturday 8th January 2022

Mná Fest is Proudly Sponsored By

Who is Mná Fest for?

You are a teacher who is curious about a career in educational leadership.

You would like a better understanding of what holds you back and why.

You are a teacher who wants to gain confidence and competence in themselves so you feel able to put yourself forward for new opportunities.

You want to develop a clear understanding of the steps you could take to move forward in your career.

You are a teacher who feels like an imposter from time to time and want to know how to overcome this.

You want to be inspired, motivated and informed about your career in the teaching profession!

According to a Rahoo survey taken in March 2021, 50% of female teachers would consider leadership in education. Yet only 6% of female teachers are principals.What holds them back?

By the end of this CPD event, you will:

Have clear, practical guidance on how to prepare for moving forward in your career, instead of feeling like you are clueless on what you are supposed to do.
Know what imposter syndrome is and how you can overcome this feeling, instead of feeling like you are reaching beyond yourself.
Be able to pinpoint your achievements and verbalise them, instead of worrying that you sound like you are bragging!
Have clear steps on how to build a network of like-minded colleagues who encourage you to be the best you can be, instead of feeling like you are alone and worrying what people think of you.
Know and understand the challenges that can come with moving outside your comfort zone and accepting them, instead of feeling overwhelmed and anxious about taking on new tasks.
Feel empowered to use the tools and resources shared in the virtual conference to prepare for career progression, instead of feeling unsure about what to do and how to prioritise aspects of your life to fit.

“When the opportunity for leadership presented itself, I experienced so much self doubt. I had worked with amazing principals- all male, utterly capable and I had never seen any of them reduced to tears by any incident in school. I was a 36 year old mom of 3, who cried at John Lewis ads and loved a chat about Love Island with the staff.I couldn’t be a principal”!
Teresa Coughlan, Primary Principal

Why have you created this event for aspiring female leaders?

We hosted a workshop called “Aspiring Female Leaders in Education – Addressing the Barriers” at Féilte 2021.

This unique workshop outlined why it is important that women progress to leadership, the barriers that exist including imposter syndrome, family, confidence and fear of not being good enough and we explored strategies to overcome these barriers.

Based on the interest we have received from female teachers about this topic, we decided to create a stand-alone event that would explore the barriers (often gendered!) to women in leadership in education – and strategies to overcome them!

We believe that these barriers and lower proportion of women in educational leadership is not a “women’s issue” – this is a societal issue that is taking place in one of the most formative societal environments – school.

“Certainly, many factors determine the number of female principals in a country… More can and should be done to decrease sources of potential bias or barriers to female leadership”.
OECD, 2015

What is included?

Mná Fest is a specially designed online event for aspiring female leaders in education.

This event aspires to inspire, motivate and share valuable insights to those curious about career progression in leadership.

The day includes the following events:

Gender Barriers & Realities – An Introduction
Imposter Syndrome
Leaders Lean-In Panel Conversation
Personal Branding & Communication
Building Confidence, Network & Competency
10-Week Career Challenge

We hear from subject experts and leaders who have walked the road before you and are willing to share their experience.

We take the time to reflect on your goals and we set personal challenges for the 10 weeks ahead.

Join us for a morning of positivity and support in a virtual space full of like-minded teachers who are cheering each other on!

Speaker: Aoife O Brien, Happiness at Work Expert

Imposter Syndrome – Understanding what it is & How to Overcome it

Up to 70% of people experience imposter syndrome at some stage in their career.

It impacts on both men and women, but we deal with it in very different ways. It can impact on individuals in many ways, including feeling overwhelmed and unfulfilled at work, not realising your potential, burnout and even resigning from work. During this interactive presentation, Aoife will speak about what imposter syndrome is, how it shows up, who gets it, and what steps we can take to manage and overcome it.

Aoife O’Brien is a Happiness at Work expert. She set up her business, Happier at Work, in 2019 with the mission to support organisations in becoming more people-focused.

Leaders Lean-In Panel Discussion

Led by Niamh Cullen, the panel will be discussing their insights and perspectives of leadership, the challenges faced by leaders and how they have overcome any barriers faced. We are joined by a panel of enthusiastic and passionate leaders, new and experienced, eager to share.

Niamh Cullen, Principal of Grace Park Educate Together National School

Niamh trained as a mentor with the National Induction Programme for Teachers in 2007 and has mentored teachers in all school settings and classes. Niamh is an Associate with NIPT and facilitates induction workshops, Cluster Meetings and PST Training. Niamh was seconded to the Teaching Council. Here, she was directly involved in the development of the current Droichead Policy.

Máirín Ní Chéileachair, Assistant General Secretary of the INTO

Between 2015 and 2021 Máirín spent time on secondment, both as National Co-ordinator of the National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT) and as Director of Dublin West Education Centre (DWEC). She has designed and delivered CPD for the Education Centre network, with which she has had a career-long association. Máirín is a former principal and has been Chairperson of Boards of Management at both primary and post-primary level.

Ciara Lynch, Assistant Principal

Ciara is a newly appointed Assistant Principal and a 3rd Class Teacher in an Educate Together school. She is passionate about creating a positive, inclusive and welcoming classroom for all students throughout the school year”. Ciara manages the successful Instagram blog called @ciarasclassroom.

Niamh Byrne, Principal

Niamh is a newly appointed primary school principal. She is a former member of the Professional Support Team (PST) and has supported over 20 NQT’s through the Droichead Process. She is a part-time tutor at Marino Institute of Education. She manages a highly successful educational blog www.irishprimaryteacher.ie supporting thousands of teachers every week on a range of topics. She is the author of ‘The NQT Year’.

Teresa Coughlan, Principal

Principal of a primary school in Cork and more recently during lockdown- a “highlighter” reader. She loves working as a principal and has a fantastic team of colleagues that create a warm and safe environment for students to flourish. Teresa shares her experiences with other teachers through her popular social media profile “Journey of a Primary Principal”.

Speaker: Margaret E Ward, Leadership Consultant, Journalist & Women on Air Founder

Getting Ahead – Communications, Confidence & Culture

Margaret is a leadership and communications consultant who combines New York journalism savvy and international business acumen with remarkable empathy and a laser focus on what really matters…empowering women to lead. She founded leadership consultancy Clear Ink in Dublin 2006. An award-winning investigative journalist/broadcaster (Irish Times, Sunday Times, Newstalk) and campaigner she is the founder of Women on Air, a board member of Fáilte Ireland and was an Oireachtas committee nominated member of the board of RTÉ (Irish national broadcaster) from 2016 to 2020.

Over to You – 10 Week Career Challenge!

Led by Ciara McGuane, director of Rahoo, we will explore out next steps in terms of our personal career journeys and navigate tangible actions we can take over the next 10 weeks! The suggested baby steps include aspects of personal branding, communication, networking, confidence-building, competency, self-care and vision-setting.

This voluntary challenge will be supported over the 10 weeks via a private group!

Mná Fest Features:

Online Conference – accessible from your home – all you need is a cuppa, notebook, pen and a smile!
Certified for Croke Park hours & CPD Record
Expert Speakers on Imposter Syndrome, Personal Branding, Confidence and more!
Leaders Lean In Panel share experience & advice on the realities for female leaders
Q & A / Discussion Opportunities

Speakers to be announced shortly!

BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:

Access to event talks and workshops for 2 weeks post-event.
Downloadable Conference E-Booklet.
10 Week Career Challenge
Access to Private Teacher Online Sharing Area.
Giveaway Competitions on the day!

"I don’t buy the ‘you can’t have it’ all card. You can have it all. You can work hard, you can have ambitious career goals, you can reach for the sky and you can achieve balance".
Clara Fiorentini, Assistant Lecturer in Education

Mná Fest is Proudly Sponsored By

Learn more about what they do HERE.

Thank you for taking the time to check out Mná Fest. Feel free to get in touch with us at info@rahoo.ie if you have any questions you would like to ask. We love hearing from you and will do all that we can to support you!

** Please note that this event is subject to changes. **

When does the event start and finish?

It starts at 10am on Saturday the 8th January 2022 and finishes at 2pm. Please try to be 5 minutes early and get yourself cosy with your cuppa and notebook – and a few scented candles – go on!

What if I can’t make it at the date and time? Can I attend later?

Yes – sign up as usual. Then ignore any reminder email we send about the upcoming event – sorry in advance! The event will be recorded and the recording will be shared the next day and available up to two weeks post-event to watch. All you need to do is log back into our platform and it will be there on the event page.

Will I be visible to other attendees?

No! Imagine a dark theatre with the lights shining on the stage – and nobody can see each other in the audience – we use Zoom webinar technology and so it is not like attending a virtual meeting. As well as this, questions can be inputted anonymously.

Do I get a certificate of attendance?

Yes, you can get a certificate post-event to download. Please ensure you do this within two weeks of the event.

Thank you for taking the time to check out this event for NQT’s.

Feel free to get in touch with us at info@rahoo.ie if you have any questions you would like to ask. We love hearing from you and will do all that we can to support you!