Educational Sociology Commons^™

Gender Equality In Higher Education And Research, Rodrigo Rosa, Sara Clavero

Articles

No abstract provided.

Towards A European Framework For Community Engagement In Higher Education – A Case Study Analysis Of European Universities, Emma O'Brien, Bojana Culum Ilic, Anete Veidemane, Davide Dusi, Thomas Farnell, Ninoslav Scukanec Schmidt

Articles

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the development and piloting of a novel European framework for community engagement (CE) in higher education, which has been purposefully designed to progress the CE agenda in a European context.

Design/methodology/approach – The proposed framework was co-created through the European Union (EU)-funded project towards a European framework for community engagement in higher education (TEFCE). The TEFCE Toolbox is an institutional self-reflection framework that centres on seven thematic dimensions of CE. This paper follows the development of the TEFCE Toolbox through empirical case study analysis of four European universities and their local communities.

Findings …

An Investigation Into The Conceptualisations Of Leadership Among Early Childhood Teachers In Ireland., Edel Fenlon

Dissertations

Leadership in an Irish Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) context is a new and emerging ideology at a policy and practice level. This study aimed to gain an understanding of the conceptualisations of leadership held by early childhood teachers who work directly with children in Ireland. This study explored the associations of leadership held by participants, recognition of leadership potential and attributes of effective leadership; through an interpretivist paradigm. Within this paradigm, a qualitative research design was selected to capture the lived experiences of leadership of participants. Six semi-structured interviews we completed with early childhood teachers from rural Ireland. …

Reconfiguring Systemic Power Relations: A Collaborative Practice-Based Exploration Of Inequality With Young People And Adults In Dublin, Fiona Whelan

Doctoral

This collaborative art practice-based thesis mobilises the concept of power as an analytical lens to examine a decade-long collaboration (2007-16) between its author/artist and a Dublin-based youth organisation, Rialto Youth Project. In opposition to the depoliticisation of inequality and associated insidious ethics of social inclusion, a collaborative methodological framework is foregrounded, producing dialogical encounters in which multiple power relations are visualised, challenged and reconfigured and where freedom is recognised as a lived contingent practice. Working across disciplines and in response to lived experiences of systemic inequalities, a series of transgenerational projects were developed to critically examine and respond to power …

Social Care Graduates’ Judgements Of Their Readiness And Preparedness For Practice, Fiona Mcsweeney, David Williams

Articles

While research has been conducted on social work graduates’ views of their readiness and preparedness for practice, the views of social care workers have not been specifically researched. This paper reports on the views of social care graduates in Ireland of how ready they are to join the workforce and how their educational programme has prepared them. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with the same participants. The first was at the end of their final year in college and the second between 9 and 12 months later when they were in employment. Findings indicate that participants, while apprehensive, felt ready …

Towards A Learning System For University Campuses As Living Labs For Sustainability, L.A. Verhoef, M. Bossert, J. Newman, Filipa Ferraz, Z.P. Robinson, Y. Agarwala, P. Wolff, P. Jiranek, C. Hellinga

Articles

Universities, due to their sizeable estates and populations of staff and students, as well as their connections with, and impact within, their local and wider communities, have significant environmental, social and economic impacts. There is a strong movement for universities to become leaders in driving society towards a more sustainable future, through improving the sustainability of the built environment and the universities’ practices and operations, and through their educational, research and wider community engagement missions. Around the globe the concept of ‘Living Labs’ has emerged as an instrument to integrate these different aspects to deliver sustainability improvements, through engaging multiple …

Classification Of Schoolchildren On Professional Trajectories Using Experience Of Successful Specialists, John Cardiff, Elena Shushkevich, Svetoslav Zverev, Mikhail Alexandrov, Angels Catena, Dmitry Srefanovskiy

Conference Papers

In the paper, we propose a new approach to vocational guidance of schoolchildren based on classification of pupil wishes between given professional trajectories, which are presented by profiles of successful professionals. Both wishes and profiles are replies in free text form on a questionnaire proposed by skilled psychologists. Such an approach avoids the well-known deficiencies of traditional methods including binary questioning, talks about concrete professions, and interviews with school psychologists. We use the simple terms selection for preprocessing and the traditional method of voting for classification. The mentioned procedures are discussed and the proposed approach is preliminary checked on invited …

Universal Design In Curriculum Development To Address Issues Of Socio-Cultural Capital In Third-Level Education, Brian Vaughan

Conference papers

Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) is primarily focused on ensuring that curricula are as accessible to students with a range of disabilities and difficulties. However, UDI can also be leveraged as a means of addressing issues of socio-cultural capital in third-level education. The assumption that all students belong to the dominant habitus can have a detrimental effect on those seen as being external to it. This paper examines the use of UDI as part of a wider approach to curriculum development as a means of addressing these issue. This is especially pertinent in light of the amalgamation of a number …

Supporting Sustainability Through Developing A Learning Network Among Traditional Food Producers: Applications Of Action Learning, Paul Coughlan, David Coghlan, Denise O'Leary, Clare Rigg, Doireann Barrett

Articles

Purpose: The chapter describes and reflects upon an EU-funded research initiative, TRADEIT, which has attempted to develop a learning network among European traditional food producers as one way of contributing to the economic sustainability of the ventures, the social sustainability of the food’s regional character, and the environmental sustainability of food production through the use of traditional methods.

Design/methodology/approach: The chapter describes TRADEIT before moving on to an exploration of learning in organizations and networks. It outlines the action learning research methodology developed and implemented to explore the development of a learning network in TRADEIT. A single case history …

Maths In Prison, Catherine Byrne, Michael Carr

Articles

I teach maths to all levels in an adult male remand prison in Ireland and am also studying for a PhD in maths in prison education in Technological University Dublin (DIT). This paper describes recent initiatives piloted by maths teachers and school management to increase attendance, engagement and certification in maths. It assesses the effects of the initiatives and looks at future potential in this setting and in others. To set the paper in context, I begin by describing a typical day as a prison maths teacher.

Multiculturalism In Secondary Schools – A Linguistic, Socio-Political & Pedagogic Perspective, Maria Kenneally

The ITB Journal

As a modern foreign language lecturer I am fascinated by issues of language, culture and identity. To an extent my interest is compounded by the belief that we Irish are bilingual, English and Gaeilge, - a rich language with a strong oral tradition that has been an integral part of Irish identity. In September 1996 I began work as a secondary teacher in an inner city London school with a high proportion of multilingual and multicultural students. My observations and interactions with pupils at Plumstead Manor proved part of a journey of selfanalysis and self-discovery, and fortified my belief that …

Ba Design Visual Communication Re-Branding Project With Men's Health Forum Ireland, Technological University Dublin

Students Learning with Communities

No abstract provided.

A Reflective Conversation: Community And Hei Perspectives On Community-Based Research., Niamh O'Reilly, Catherine Bates

Staff Articles and Research Papers

This paper is a reflective correspondence between a community partner and a community-based research coordinator in a higher education institute (HEI). We asked each other questions about our experience of collaborating on two community-based research (CBR) projects, in order to share our learning from our collaboration, and to relate this to the wider context in order to develop recommendations for others – community partners and HEI staff – who would like to initiate CBR projects in the future.

Restructuring Irish Higher Education Through Collaboration And Merger., Siobhan Harkin, Ellen Hazelkorn

Books/Book chapters

Irish higher education has been undergoing significant change, provoked by the global financial crisis and its particular manifestation in Ireland. The demand for higher education is rising at the same time that public funding is declining. In response, mergers and strategic alliances, including regional clusters, of higher education institutions has become a key component of the strategy to better position Irish higher education for greater efficiency, enhanced quality, improved competitiveness and visibility, and clearer alignment with national policy objectives. This chapter traces these developments. It describes the socio-economic and policy context underpinning developments in Irish higher education since the 1970s, …

Interfaith: One Size Fits All?, Alan J. Hilliard

Conference Papers

Interfaith: one Shoe Size Fits All?

This paper explores interfaith activity through a social policy lens. Examining our contemporary world through the concepts of Globalisation, Migration, Immigration and Cosmopolitanism the paper reveals how there is not only a growth in ‘global’ phenomenon but also reveals a corresponding impact on local issues and identities.

A further discussion as to the nature of religion and the nature of religious belief in the global context raises the possibility of a framework for religious belief which can be applied to interfaith activity. This discussion also shows a shift in the cultural significance of religious …

Early Childhood Policy And Provision: A Digest To Inform A National Book Gifting Programme, Geraldine French

Reports

The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad and up to date account of early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy and to investigate if a national book gifting programme can fulfill the need of current policy. Due to the immediacy of emerging policy and provision in the field this paper can only present what is understood currently. By the end of 2013 two developments: The Child and Family Agency and The National Early Years Strategy will be completed. Both of these developments may have relevance for a book gifting programme.

Early Intervention Speech And Language Therapy Service: Meeting Needs Of Children, Families, Practicioners And Communities: Policy Brief, Noirin Hayes, Siobhán Keegan, Eimer Goulding

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The Speech And Language Therapy Service Of Tallaght West Childhood Development Initiative: Full Report, Noirin Hayes, Siobhán Keegan, Eimer Goulding

Reports

No abstract provided.

Don Duine Is Lú, Léitheoireacht Abú, Geraldine French

Reports

Tá sé mar aidhm ag Rannán Leabharlann Chomhairle Contae Fhine Gall feasacht a spreagadh maidir leis an tábhacht a bhaineann le luathlitearthacht agus conas is fearr luathlitearthacht a leasú i gcomhpháirtíocht le gníomhaireachtaí breisoideachais áitiúla, eagraíochtaí a bhfuil leas acu sna blianta luathfhorbartha, suíomhanna luath-óige, scoileanna agus coláistí. Tá Leabharlanna Fhine Gall, dá bharr, ag forbairt gníomhaíochtaí áirithe chun an pobal a chur ar an eolas d’fhonn tacú leis an leanbh liteartha. Sonraíonn an doiciméad seo Straitéis Litearthachta Luathbhlianta Leabharlanna Fhine Gall (dá dtagraítear Straitéis anseo amach anseo). Tosaíonn sé le creat de Chontae Fhine Gall go ginearálta agus Leabharlanna …

The Youngest Ages Can Turn Pages, Geraldine French

Reports

We think of literacy as reading and writing, something children learn at school. But literacy is much more basic than that and begins at birth. Children develop the ability to learn and communicate very early in life from their parents and carers. They learn to listen and to speak before they read and write. Not all parents and carers realise the important role they play in the future development of their children. By helping to develop a child’s literacy levels they can give them a really good start not just in school but in life. Simple things like engaging children …

Inside The Black Box An Exploration Of The Impact Of Action And Activity In The Inner Spheres Of Policy Making On Early Childhood Education And Care Policy, Siobhan Bradley

Doctoral

While ECEC policy decisions usually reflect the predominant ideological stance of those actors involved, they also represent the outcome of a battle over values and objectives as vested interests within the inner spheres of policy making debate, contest and negotiate the nature of the problem and prescribe solutions to remedy it. Despite the integral importance of these processes, few studies explore how action and activity in these less visible arenas impact on policy design and outcome. By shifting the focus of policy analysis from the reified product of policy decisions to the behind the scenes processes of policy production, this …

Contribution Of Tertiary Education To Human Capital Development, Labour Market And Skills In The State Of Victoria, Australia, Ellen Hazelkorn

Articles

This chapter examines how effectively TAFE Institutes and universities in the State of Victoria contribute to meeting the social and economic needs of the population in terms of opportunities to study and relevance of the qualifications offered. It identifies some key achievements and areas for improvement. The chapter closes with a series of recommendations that include the need for a greater system approach to tertiary education in order to support sustainable regional development and the role that the State of Victoria can play in this strategy.

Men And Literacy: A Study Of Attitude And Experiences Of Learning, Tanya Lalor, Adele Mckenna, Gerard Doyle, Aoife Fitzsimons

Reports

In recent years, significant resources have been invested in Ireland in researching men’s attitudes towards and involvement in learning, within formal, non-formal and informal learning settings. In conducting this research, NALA wished to identify literacy issues among men, specifically those in informal learning settings, and to assess the impact which these difficulties have on men’s participation in learning. This report details the findings from NALA’s study on men’s attitudes and experiences of literacy which was conducted between November 2008 and May 2009.

Researching Quality In Early Irish Education, Noirin Hayes

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.