Education Commons^™

Stories To Challenge The Status Quo - Experiences Of Black Minority Ethnic Social Care Students In Ireland, Margaret Fingleton

Doctoral

This study examines Black Minority Ethnic social care students’ experiences in Ireland and is located within the parameters of a number of key global events that occurred in the last decade. It provides critical insights into the students lived experiences of migration, resettlement, employment, higher education and social care scholarship.

Theoretically the thesis is grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) drawing on the key tenets of race as a social construction, interest convergence, White privilege, storytelling and intersectionality. A participatory research methodology was adopted which informed all phases of the study. Using a combined semi-structured interview/storytelling method the experiences of …

Childminding In Ireland: Attitudes Towards Professionalisation, Miriam O'Regan, Ann Marie Halpenny, Noirin Hayes

Articles

In light of rapid changes in the early years sector in Ireland since 2000, questions arise about the professionalism of childminders (family day carers), the vast majority of whom are exempt from regulation. Fewer than 0.1% (<120) of childminders are registered with Tusla, the national regulator, despite the National Childminding Initiative, (NCMI) which has promoted professional, high quality childminding. To investigate current attitudes to NCMI’s process of professionalisation (Brannen and Moss [2003]), among childminders and parents, a cross-sectional study was designed using a mixed-method approach. Specifically an anonymous online survey was conducted with 325 participants, followed by a qualitative World Café forum for 40 members of Childminding Ireland, the national childminding body. Findings from both phases of research revealed many of these childminders were well-qualified and engaged, with a sense of professional identity, seeking a distinctive approach to support childminding. Moreover, both childminder and parent participants value the distinctive characteristics of childminding – close relationships, a nurturing pedagogy, a rich, home environment – to a greater extent than markers of professionalism. These findings call for an innovative approach to childminding in Ireland, one that facilitates an organic development of agentic, professional childminding as part of a competent ECEC system.

Strategic Project/ Canteen Ireland, Yvonne Feehan

Students Learning with Communities

CanTeen Ireland is an organisation set up to support, empower and develop young people who have or have had cancer between the ages of 12 and 25. Set up in May 1990, the nationwide support group provides members with a place where they can simply be young people, away from the day to day pressures that come with living with cancer in the hospital or at home. Having no dedicated wards in Irish hospitals for teenagers with cancer, CanTeen is an important resource for the country and steps up where the HSE falls down. CanTeen does not rely on the …

The Transition From Preschool To School For Children In Ireland: Teachers Views, Mary O'Kane

Articles

There is a wealth of international research on the transition from preschool to school from a range of perspectives. Following on from such research, the issue of transition is emerging as an important new construct in early childhood care and education (ECCE), with a transition-to-school framework replacing the construct of school readiness as a focus of research interest. There has been limited research into transition practices in Ireland and this study is the first comprehensive research looking at this area from an Irish perspective1. Phase I of this study involved conducting a questionnaire on the transition from preschool to formal …

Educating For Sustainability: Creating A Comprehensive, Coherent And Compelling Approach - Guidelines For Sustainability Standards And Resource Materials, Kevin Griffin

Reports / Surveys

In 2007, Fáilte Ireland's Environment Unit, in collaboration with the Education Policy Section,commissioned a review of sustainability content in tourism education and training programmes at NQAI levels 4-8 throughout the State with a view to recommending improvements where necessary.

The review, carried out on Fáilte Ireland's behalf by the Tourism Research Centre of the Technological University Dublin, was - in terms of breadth and depth - the first of its kind to be undertaken at a national level, not only in Ireland but in any of the other countries surveyed during the course of the review.

Researching Quality In Early Irish Education, Noirin Hayes

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Contemporary Issues In Early Childhood Education And Care: Proceedings Of The Conference Held In St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin On Saturday, 23rd. April, 2005., Noirin Hayes

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Transformations: Theory And Practice In Early Education: Proceedings Of The Conference Held In University College Cork, Saturday, 5th April, 2003, Noirin Hayes, Margaret Kernan

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.