LAST UPDATE | 5 Jul 2023

THERE ARE CALLS for the Government to step in and stop the practice of ‘influencer teachers’ filming paid partnership social media posts in collaboration with Horse Racing Ireland in classrooms. 

Several teachers with social media followings – which they have gained from sharing content about their teaching experiences – have been posting videos showing them using HRI materials in the classroom, with children visible in the background. 

The materials come from HRI’s ‘The Road to Racing Primary School Programme’. 

In a statement to The Journal this evening, the Department of Education said it holds the view “it would not generally be appropriate for commercial content to be shot on school property”.

“However, such decisions are a matter for the board of management/ETB concerned,” the department said, while pointing to potential issues around data protection and the Teaching Council’s code of conduct for teachers.

Labour party TD Aodhan Ó Ríordain said that this is a practice that needs to be ended “with immediate instructions from the Department”. 

“Children are pawns for you to line your pocket. The companies involved need to take a good hard look at themselves,” he added.

Education lecturer Cara Reilly flagged the practice this week on social media.

One of the teacher influencers who filmed social media posts in her classroom and then posted them online, spoke in the video about how she has been using HRI’s “new, free, primary school programme which is all about horse racing”. 

The account has 16,000 followers on Instagram. 

She said that through materials provided by HRI, she has been taking the children in her class “along the journey of jockey Danny Mullins”. 

She said that her students, using materials provided by HRI “decided to write about a day in the life of jockey Danny Mullins”, and she showed clips of the exercises written out by children. 

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

Other similar videos have been posted on TikTok by various Irish teacher influencer accounts. 

HRI is the governing body for horse racing in Ireland. 

It receives public funding through the Government – to the tune of €72.8 million this year.

It has asked for more funding to cover the costs arising from increasing insurance costs, the difficulties posed by Brexit, and the need for investment in veterinary care. 

It also generates a substantial amount of money into the country’s economy. 

The Journal has asked HRI how much it pays teacher influencers for their posts, and if it is instructing teachers contracted for this purpose to film the content in the classroom. 

The Journal also asked the Department of Children and the Department of Education if any action is being taken on this issue. 

It has asked the Department of Education if the ins and outs of horse racing would normally feature on a primary school curriculum.

Department of Education Response

A spokesperson for the department said that while all schools are legally managed by the school board of management or education and training board, the department still believes it would be inappropriate for commercial content to be made on school property. 

“In the Department’s view it would not generally be appropriate for commercial content to be shot on school property. However, such decisions are a matter for the board of management/ETB concerned,” the department said.

“All schools must comply with data protection requirements, including the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and must ensure that any data, including videos, is processed in compliance with data protection legislation.”

The department also said that schools should have an “Acceptable Use Policy” in place to address all rights, privileges, responsibilities and sanctions associated with the use of the internet and digital technologies within the school, including online and offline usage.

This policy applies to the staff as well as pupils, it told The Journal.

The department also pointed to Teaching Council of Ireland’s requirement for all registered teachers to comply with its code of professional conduct, which states that teachers should “… avoid conflict between their professional work and private interests which could reasonably be deemed to impact negatively on pupils/students.”

“According to the Teaching Council, the purpose of the Code is threefold,” the department added.

It serves as a “guiding compass” in terms of ethical behaviour and may be used by the education community and the wider public to inform their understanding of the profession, while also holding an “important legal standing”.

This latter purpose is used by the Teaching Council when “exercising its investigative and disciplinary functions under Part 5 of the Teaching Council Acts, 2001 – 2015, dealing with fitness to teach”, the department said.