The integrated school in a conflict society: a comparative analysis of two integrated primary schools in Northern Ireland

The purpose of this paper is to compare the approach to promoting positive relationships between Catholics and Protestants in two types of integrated primary school in Northern Ireland. Drawing on qualitative interviews with teachers, governors and parents in one transforming school and one grant maintained integrated school, i.e. one representative of each of the two types, the paper shows that whilst there are distinctions in the ways that the schools promote their image and ethos, the ‘lived reality’ of the schools, as reported by the research participants, is almost indistinguishable. The paper suggests that both schools tend not to refer to or explore cultural difference and that this tendency to ‘minimise difference’ seems to have the potential to silence school members who do wish to explore their own and other cultures. It is argued that such practices are likely to impede rather than facilitate the progress of good inter‐community relations.     

“Mathematical knowledge for teaching”: adapting U.S. measures for use in Ireland

This article describes a study in which measures of mathematical knowledge for teaching developed in the United States were adapted to measure mathematical knowledge for teaching in Ireland. When adapting the measures it was not assumed that the mathematical knowledge used by Irish and U.S. teachers is the same. Instead psychometric and interview-based methods were used to determine a correspondence between the constructs being measured, and ensure the integrity of item performance in the Irish context. The study found overlap between the knowledge that is used to teach in both Ireland and the United States, and that the items tapped into this knowledge. However, specific findings confirm the usefulness of conducting extensive checks on the validity of items used in cross-national contexts. The process of adaptation is described to provide guidance for others interested in using the items to measure mathematical knowledge for teaching outside the United States. The process also enabled the authors to raise questions about the assumptions that lie behind the practice-based construct of mathematical knowledge for teaching.

Some factors in problem solving: The name of the concept,specific instructions,and the ability to verbalize

Three extrinsic factors were manipulated in a problem-solving task performed by 80 10-year-old children of IQ 90–110. The factors were: The presence or absence of the name of the concept given in feedback, specific instructions, and whether the child was allowed to verbalize. The task was a modification of Vygotsky's experiment on concept formation using concrete material. The performance criteria were: time taken to solution, number of moves, and amount of verbalization. The presence of the name of the concept given in feedback speeded the time to solution and reduced the number of moves required. Specific instruction speeded the solution but did not reduce the number of moves; whereas verbalization reduced the number of moves but increased the time of solution.     

Journalism and emerging professionalism in Ireland

This article examines one of the first attempts by Irish journalists to establish a professional representative organisation. Established in near-tandem and in response to the establishment of the National Association of Journalists of Great Britain in 1884, the Association of Irish Journalists presents a unique insight into early attempts at professionalism by Irish journalists that were ultimately thwarted by the bitter divisions that, amid demands for home rule and a violent campaign for tenant rights, characterised Irish politics and journalism in the late nineteenth century. While no records of the Association survive, this article utilises digital newspaper archives to shed light on journalistic practice, solidarity, and division amid early attempts at professional organisation among journalists in late nineteenth-century Ireland.     

A decade of change in mainstream education for children with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Ireland

Inclusive rather than segregated schooling has been advocated in several significant international declarations during the past two decades. Even so children with significant intellectual disabilities are at greater risk of being excluded from mainstream education, unless particular efforts are made to support them in such settings. These children and young people are more likely to be educated in special schools or in special classes within mainstream schools. In the decade from 2003 to 2013, the Republic of Ireland enacted legislation and provided additional financial resources for pupils with special educational needs, although these were more constrained during the financial crisis that Ireland experienced from 2008 onwards. A national database, updated annually, is maintained of children receiving services from specialist intellectual disability services and this enabled comparisons to be made for the enrolments of over 8000 children aged 4–19 in mainstream and special schools following the introduction of legislation and availability of additional resources. The data showed a steady increase in children with significant intellectual disabilities attending mainstream classes and a decrease in the proportion attending special schools along with a much smaller but decreasing proportion in special classes. The profile of pupils with intellectual disabilities in mainstream and special schools also changed over the 10 years with higher proportions of males, of pupils with moderate disabilities and those of primary age attending mainstream schools, whereas special schools now tend to have higher proportions of females and those of secondary school age. However, there was marked regional variation in the proportions of pupils in mainstream schools which was attributed to the availability of special schools across the State. This study demonstrates how a national data-set can be used to track the impact that policy changes and legislation designed to enhance the development of inclusive learning environments had on the number of pupils availing of mainstream opportunities. It was also possible to identify prevailing trends in types of support provided within schools and the changing pattern of provision for pupils with different levels of intellectual disability. At the broader level of international trends in policy and provision aimed at establishing inclusive learning environments, this study demonstrates the need for a common frame of reference around which the national and international conversations on educational systems can take place.     

Religion and primary school choice in Ireland: school institutional identities and student profile

Ireland’s demographic profile has changed significantly in the past 20 years, being now characterised by increasing cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. However, primary schooling in Ireland has remained highly denominational, mostly Roman Catholic, in nature, with a small number of minority faith schools and multi-denominational schools. This paper describes the nature of the Irish primary educational system and addresses the implications of its institutional structure and school institutional identity for school choice. In so doing, it draws on the national Growing Up in Ireland study, and documents the role of socio-cultural and religious factors in the choice of primary school.     

试析爱尔兰问题的渊源

分析并阐迷17世纪40年代之前的爱尔兰状况，英国资产阶级革命时期爱尔兰人民的抗英斗争，18世纪爱尔兰状况三个问题，探究爱尔兰问题的渊源。     

The construct of image and the conduct of change in education

In this article, the author discusses the concept of the individual as essentially autonomous. Subsequently, each individual, in theory, is capable of directing the course of his/her own life. Yet, as persons, we are continually required to confront and even overcome new challenges in life. The potential of every human being to respond to such life experiences in a positive or constructive manner is considered in this article. In short, an individual's power to assume control over unanticipated events, as opposed passively to allowing those events to command the dictates of human existence, is examined. The role and importance of education in equipping individuals to confront and adapt to new life situations is debated. Submissions made by theorists such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Viktor Frankl and Paulo Freire are also included.     

Ireland’s National Innovation System: An Exploratory Study of Supporting Institutions and Dynamic Actors

Abstract

This paper begins with a brief look at the literature on national innovation systems (NIS). Building on the NIS approach, we present a simple conceptual framework. National innovative competence is dependent on the presence of dynamic STI actors, operating within the confines of compatible institutions. We distinguish the roles played by different STI actors and argue that heterogeneous actors engage in innovation for different reasons. Collaborative innovation is not always a natural consequence of engagement in innovation but is characterised by a distinct set of considerations. The latter part of the paper is concerned with the application of this conceptual framework to the case of Ireland. We identify the institutions pertaining to Ireland’s current innovative performance. An outline of STI actors according to their role in the system is then presented. In turn we outline the various contributions of Irish STI actors and explore their motives for engaging in innovation and collaborative innovation.     

Women’s education associations: the role of the Central Association of Irish Schoolmistresses and the Woman’s Education Association,Boston in advancing the cause for women’s admission to Trinity College Dublin and Harvard University

ABSTRACT

Examining the historiography of women’s education, the issue which dominates is understandably that of access. Access, or lack thereof, is a transnational construct which forms an over-arching framework through which the issue of historical gender equality in higher education can be interpreted and interrogated. Each of the seminal texts which examines the historiography of women’s higher education uses access as a lens. While it is important to examine access in the historiography of women’s education, a focus on access can obscure an interrogation of agency and particularly the role of social and intellectual networks in advancing key strategic objectives such as access. Against the backdrop of the higher education movements in both Ireland and the United States, this article examines the role of the Central Association of Irish Schoolmistresses (CAISM) in securing access for women to Trinity College Dublin and the concomitant role of the Woman’s Education Association, Boston (WEA) in securing Harvard degrees for women. Chronicling the activities of the associations, both compensatory and innovative, it interrogates how the women at the centre of the associations straddled a conservative/progressive agenda in order to incrementally open up the privileges of a patriarchal space to women.