From looking at our schools (LAOS) to whole school evaluation -management, leadership and learning (WSE-MLL): the evolution of inspection in irish schools over the past decade

This paper attempts to provide an overview of the key assumptions underpinning the Whole School Evaluation (WSE) inspection policy developed in Ireland since 2003. Beginning with a documentary analysis the paper argues that the capacity to generate useful self evaluative data in schools was seen as being at the heart of the model of school evaluation proposed by the Department of Education and Science. It further suggests that while the rhetoric of self evaluative capacity building has been key to the emerging system the lack of a meaningful structural response within schools means that this has remained aspirational. The latter part of the paper seeks to test this contention, examining the research base in the area of school evaluation and inspection in Ireland and conducting a number of targeted focus groups with school leaders. For the most part the initial contention is confirmed although there is a sense that there may be significant new pressures emerging in the near future that could cause the whole system to be revisited and perhaps be radically overhauled. An initial indicator of these potential changes can be seen in the emergence of a refined WSE Management, Leadership and Learning inspection policy which has yet to be widely implemented.     

The teacher shaping and creating dialogues in project work

The background of the work presented in this article is that for quite some time project work has been a method of working that is more theoretically described than it is put into practice. The aim of this text is to show how a teacher can function as a facilitator or a guide for the students within project‐directed teaching and how this setting can enhance the students’ learning. A qualitative method with a focus on dialogues in the classroom was used in the inquiry process. In this article a dialogue between the students in the realization phase of the work is analysed in depth to illustrate how student interaction framed by project work can enhance the students’ learning. In the study Dewey’s, Vygotsky’s and Bakhtin’s theories are used as a theoretical framework and the activity system is used to visualize the work processes in their intertwined context. The outcome of the study shows that learning is inherent in language, but concludes that it demands a great deal of the teacher to create such learning situations.     

Enhancing primary school children collaborative learning experiences in maths via a 3D virtual environment

Over the last years there has been a growing use of 3D virtual environments for educational purposes. Many studies advocate the integration of these environments in the daily teaching practice of various subjects. This requires innovative design in order create the appropriate affective/ pedagogical conditions as well as the development and use of well-structured activities in order to achieve effective collaborative learning. This paper presents an exploratory study in which collaborative learning strategies and cognitive apprenticeship models act as the pedagogical framework to facilitate learning and collaboration. The context is the teaching of mathematics in primary education via a 3D virtual environment. Specifically, we focus on evaluating students’ engagement (behavioral, affective and cognitive) in the collaborative learning process as they learn fractional concepts in a meaningful way. The findings show that a 3D virtual environment can support collaborative learning in primary school through its ability to enhance students’ engagement (behavioral, affective and cognitive) in the collaborative learning process.