Irish Education

The purpose of this study is to identify the needs and expectations of the Irish sport industry for emerging sport management graduates. Through the conduction of semi-structured interviews six current employees within the industry were asked a number of questions and from their responses three key themes emerged; the importance of education and further education, the skills and attributes required by the industry and the value of voluntary and practical experience in the job seeking process. In comparison to more mature sport industries in countries such as the USA, the UK, Australia and New Zealand findings for the Irish sport industry were similar in the overall with just a few differentiators. The key differentiator determined in the study is the lack of a requirement for a sport management degree in Ireland. It would be fair to determine that the infancy of the industry in Ireland is the reason for this difference, however this is an area that requires further research. Similarities between the Irish sport industry and the sport industries in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and the UK include the key skills and attributes sought by employers as well as the importance of having some level of practical experience. The Irish sport industry emphasises the importance of voluntary participation, whilst New Zealand, Australia and the USA indicate that structured college placements and internships are key to developing the necessary skills and securing employment.

This paper examines how Irish elite schools negotiate change and maintain their legitimacy in times of economic turmoil and rising social inequality. It argues that they have not bowed before the demands of democratisation or economic globalisation. Instead they continue to maintain a high level of social closure and control diversity rather than adapt to it. Moral character acts as a principle of distinction and legitimation as these schools pose as the moral vanguards of the nation, in a national context where the economic crisis is commonly blamed on ‘greed’ and moral corruption. Their discourse is based on the defence of a certain social and moral order, somehow at odds with the dominant neoliberal ideology, but consistent with a static view of society and an aristocratic conception of leadership, which their students internalise.

This report provides the main analytical results of a survey distributed to gender minority students (i.e. transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming) in Irish higher education (Third-Level Programmes). The survey touched upon daily lived-experiences and issues of safety, the efficacy of administrative policies, obstacles (on- and off-campus), and sources of support. The aim of the report was to capture essential quantitative and qualitative information that could be used to better students' lives, increase the effectiveness of gender policies, and lobby for reform (regarding issues such as trans health care, third gender recognition, and hate crime laws).

Les historiens de l'éducation ont beaucoup cité et analysé le rapport Investissement dans l'éducation (1965), cependant celui de l'OCDE (1969) n'a fait l'objet d'aucune étude détaillée. Ces deux documents font partie du processus d'examen du système éducatif irlandais par les pairs de l'OCDE. À travers sa contribution, l'auteur examine le pré-rapport de 1965, Investissement dans l'éducation, le rapport de l'OCDE de 1969 ainsi que l'évolution des rôles du ministre, du ministère et des évêques devant les réformes suggérées. Il apparaît finalement qu'en dépit des résistances de la part du Ministère des Finances et de l'Église catholique, le processus d'examen par les pairs de l'OCDE a légitimé des réformes prévues par les pouvoirs publics, telles que le système de collège unique ainsi que des programmes et des examens identiques dans toutes les écoles du second degré. Cet article apporte une contribution supplémentaire à l'histoire irlandaise en s'appuyant sur des documents d'archives, sur le rapport de l'OCDE de 1969 et sur des entretiens menés par l'auteur au cours des vingt-cinq dernières années auprès d'acteurs de premier rang du système éducatif irlandais. Mots-clés : examen par les pairs de l'OCDE-OCDE-éducation irlandaise-Investissement dans l'éducation-écoles du second degré-écoles secondairesécoles techniques-Irlande

In Dublin, my new colleagues and students at TCD have provided me with a platform to write, think, and teach, and I consider it a privilege to be able do so. ere are three people to whom I owe more than mere thanks. Marianne Elliott was a source of unwavering support and encouragement as my PhD supervisor. Roy Foster had faith in my work at a vital moment, and James H. Murphy has questioned, cajoled, and inspired many aspects of this work-even its title.

A première vue, l'Etat semble jouer un rôle important dans le système éducatif en République d'Irlande, puisqu'il contrôle les programmes et les examens, rémunère les enseignants, finance en grande partie les bâtiments et verse une subvention à la plupart des écoles généralement en fonction du nombre d'élèves inscrits. Cependant, l'Etat ne gère pas directement les écoles mais aide diverses personnes et organisations à le faire. 2 En outre, chaque école a beaucoup d'autonomie dans sa gestion. Il n'existe aucune administration entre le ministère et les écoles pour gérer l'ensemble du système éducatif sur le plan régional.

This article offers a comparison in progress in developing coaching structures for schoolboys’ soccer in Ireland in the period from the end of the Second World War until 1995. It will be shown that in Northern Ireland, the Belfast-based Irish Football Association’s implementation of coaching courses was at a more advanced level in the decades immediately following the war, while the Dublin-centred Football Association of Ireland was hindered by a lack of facilities and funds for most of the twentieth century. In Northern Ireland, links between soccer organisers and governing bodies for physical recreation were stronger, and the IFA had begun to develop a coherent structure for the qualification of coaches by the early 1950s. This contrasted greatly to the structures put in place by the FAI and it was not until the Jack Charlton era (1986-1995) that they were able to implement a more comprehensive nationwide system.

With the colonization of Ireland in the seventeenth century by Cromwellian and Williamite forces, the spread of English as a language of power marked a linguistic shift as Anglicization and economic necessity transformed Irish to a vernacular of the poor. For English colonists, Irish was anathema; ultimately, the language was in opposition to English authority, progress, and civility and swiftly became a language associated with barbarism and ignorance: a patois of poverty (Grote 1994, 29;

This paper arises from research into the potential for drama to help make the Junior Cycle Shakespeare curriculum more accessible for students in a school designated as disadvantaged (DEIS). The chosen subject arose from the researcher’s belief that the teaching of Shakespeare’s plays to students in a low literacy environment could be significantly enhanced by the use of drama-based methods. The research formed the basis of the author's Master in Education thesis at Trinity College, Dublin.

Shakespeare’s unique position in the Junior Cycle English curriculum means that the issues involved are not just about access to culture but, potentially, to overall educational advancement. While the research design was focused on drama's suitability as a methodology for teaching cognitively demanding material in a low literacy setting, analysis of the data raised significant questions about the compulsory Shakespeare requirement for Higher level study within the Junior Cycle curriculum.

The research involved:
• an analysis of the literature concerning Shakespeare study within subject English, the Junior Cycle and Linguistic Disadvantage
• a drama-based project focused on teaching a Shakespeare text to a Junior Cycle DEIS school class group
• an online survey of the experience and attitudes of Junior Cycle English teachers in DEIS and non-DEIS schools, with particular regard to the use of drama as a methodology in the Shakespeare class.

The data collected from this research casts doubt on the value of Shakespeare as a neutral measure of suitability for Higher level study in the English curriculum, from both a cognitive and a socio-cultural perspective.

This thesis explores the practice of Philosophy for/with Children (P4C) in Irish Educate Together schools through teacher perspectives, encompassing wider themes of education and democracy in Ireland. Within this exploration is a focus on the articulation and analysis of teachers’ accounts of how they reconcile P4C pedagogies with their own educational outlooks within a P4C/Educate Together context, comprised of both their particular Educate
Together school and the movement as a whole. The historical, social and political factors that led to the Educate Together movement’s development are
charted, alongside other factors related to distinctive approaches to P4C practice in Ireland. The outcomes of this study show that focusing on child-centered
perspectives expands and extends democracy as emergent and democracy as ‘a way of life’, particularly in terms of the possibility of democratic education in Ireland, enabled and enhanced through a P4C/Educate Together context.

This research is a lived enquiry, involving deep immersion in the research environment as an embedded extern – that is, as both a researcher and a P4C practitioner. The ‘livedness’ of this research incorporates the social dimension of John Dewey’s theory of enquiry, where a combination of lived experiences and dialogic exchanges were fused together by the social relationships forged
throughout my research journey. A thematic analysis of participant interviews encase the unfolding events of this reflexive practitioner research.

This study reveals an interrelationship between P4C and Educate Together that encompasses the shared territories of dialogue and child. Such an interrelationship enables the creation of democratic spaces, inhabited by both
adults and children, and facilitated by Irish Educate Together teachers engaging in P4C within their classrooms, expressed through the idea of democracy as
‘becoming’. Such a contextual space provide opportunities for adults and children to live and learn in and through democratic processes. By showing how democracy can be enacted as a living value in this way, the implications of this study point towards the importance of educational policy and practice at a time when global educational policy seems to be moving further and further towards
a market-led consumer-based idea of education, where standards of attainment, centralised models and technical rationality is priority. Further implications of this study relate to educational research, particularly practitioner research, with regard to the depth of insight revealed through a lived enquiry as an embedded extern, and concern the conceptualisation and realisation of an emergent sense of democracy where children are central.

Grade inflation arises when there is an improving trend in examination grades over time without an accompanying improvement in learning or academic achievement. It is a phenomenon which has received widespread attention in the United States and in the UK but little to date in Ireland. This is one of a series of papers from the Network for Irish Educational Standards, researched and written to address the dearth of empirical information and informed analysis on the topic in this country.

Grade Inflation occurs when there is an upward trend over a period of time in grades awarded to successive cohorts of students taking a given examination or set of examinations in the absence of a matching improvement in learning or achievement. This paper explores the consequences of this phenomenon that afflicts modern education.

Grade Inflation occurs when there is an upward trend over a period of time in examination grades awarded in the absence of a matching improvement in learning or achievement. This paper explores the causes of the grade inflationary trend in Irish higher education that has been described by Guilfoyle, 2007a, 2007b. Three sets of influences and policy choices that drive the grade inflation process are suggested: the impact of social and economic changes, institutional choices about educational policies and the operation of the educational awards process.

The higher education sector in Ireland has undergone major changes under the effect of neoliberalism including severe budget cuts, transfer of research funding to external agencies, reduction in permanent contracts and increased reliance on part-time, temporary staff for teaching and research roles. The neoliberalisation of the university, as in other countries, has dramatically changed the nature of work undertaken on behalf of the institution. Permanent jobs increasingly disappear in favour of low-paid, temporary employment. Such work comes without security, proper remuneration or benefits, and renders invisible the precarious workers whose labour the university relies on to function.
Based on the results of an outreach project on casual academic labour practices, this paper reports on the discernable patterns in the work of the precariat in Irish higher education. Our results indicate that casualisation in the Irish context is systemic, gendered, and not the preserve of junior academics. We also suggest it predates austerity and has become so endemic that there are now few exit points out of precarious work and as such, many are now trapped in a hamster wheel of precarity.

Sean Whittle’s edited volume is a much-needed oasis in a sea of confusion concerning what Catholic education is and where it is headed in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The purpose for commissioning this book is to explain how, in both countries, Catholic education is at a crossroads at the primary and secondary levels.

This paper discusses the various ways privatisation processes affect Irish education. Due to the long history of considerable church involvement, the notable absence of middle tiers of governance, and more recently, the embrace of neoliberal principles, in large part due to and for economic reasons, the Irish education system represents a fascinating example of a complex interplay between the public and private sectors. The conceptual and analytical tools provided by Cultural Political Economy are used in this paper to highlight why and how privatisation has unfolded and might yet unravel further in Irish education. These tools offer a useful lens through which to examine country-specific developments, whilst locating them in the global picture. Utilising the conceptualisations offered by Cultural Political Economy, this paper demonstrates how different forms of privatisation in Ireland have contributed to what can be described as a complex system of governance with strong private involvement.

This dissertation is a prolegomenon to a larger philosophy of the Catholic university which encompasses all of the various aspects of its existence. It does not concern itself to raise questions about why universities exist or whether they should exist. Its concern is the structure and function of Catholic universities in 21st century America. It does not endeavor to answer every single question posed about the dimensions of the Catholic university. Primarily, I want to investigate the student-teacher relationship as the foundation of all universities with special emphasis on Catholic universities in light of human dignity. Insofar as relationship pertains to ethics, and ethics pertains to institutions, there is a unique conception of the Catholic university. This dissertation intends to expound on that conception. For these reasons, its intended audience, aside from philosophers, theologians, and educationists, is the academic administrator in charge of running a Catholic university. Here presented are the chapters, their contents, and argumentation.

This study assesses the extent and pattern of change in the distribution of grades in the Irish Leaving Certificate examination between 1992, when the current grading system was introduced, and 2006. It also evaluates whether grade increases are likely to have arisen as a result of improved scholastic achievement or as a result of grade inflation.

Sing Out with Strings provides weekly lessons, group workshops, and instrumental and choral ensemble classes for 297 children across Limerick city. Established in 2008 by the Irish Chamber Orchestra as a Community Engagement Programme, it facilitates music-making in three Limerick city schools: Galvone National School, Southill Junior School, and St Mary’s National School.

This report sets to evaluate the extent to which the core aims of the project are being met, from the perspective of the children who are participating in Sing Out with Strings. Using mixed methods research including quantitative and qualitative interviews with children from each of the schools involved, the data collection took place over a four-week period between May and June 2015.

Dr Áine Mangaoang, Research Fellow at the Department of Music, St Patrick’s College of Education, and Dublin City University was commissioned by the Irish Chamber Orchestra to conduct an internal evaluation of the Sing Out with Strings programme in May 2015. Key findings are summarized in this document.

This thesis explores the mechanisms of teacher evaluation that exist in the Republic of Ireland, which are juxtaposed with the trends of teacher evaluation in primarily neo-liberal societies. It is mainly a philosophical inquiry where, following Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought, the methods of external review in neo-liberal societies are assessed in opposition to the methods of internal review witnessed in the Republic of Ireland. However, there is now new evidence of a shift that is taking place in the Republic of Ireland in terms of the adoption of new neo-liberal agendas in aspects of teacher evaluation. The reasoning behind this and the results will also be looked at in detail. 

My research methodology is primarily in the form literature study, consisting mainly of primary sources such as three main texts by Nietzsche, as well as numerous policy documents and legal acts. I also look at a number of secondary sources, such as studies, articles and commentaries. 

In my first chapter, the two main approaches of teacher evaluation in the Republic of Ireland will be outlined in detail with reference to various policy manuals and reports issued by the Department of Education and Skills. Throughout my research, I found that teacher evaluation in the Republic of Ireland strongly contrasts with the evaluation tools used in neo-liberal societies, in that the concept of self- reflective practice is promoted in order to allow teachers to infer the areas that they feel need improvement. The school context is also an important factor in determining the evaluation procedures. However, neo-liberal societies tend to enforce external standards that may not suit the needs of the teachers and their schools exactly, and may also result in the stifling of the teacher’s creativity and originality. Hence, we will also discuss some evidence about the rigid, standardised criteria used when evaluating teachers in neo-liberal societies. Furthermore, as mentioned, the teacher evaluation system in the Republic of Ireland is beginning to take a more neo-liberal approach, especially since the economic recession during the first few years of the millennium, and hence, the rationale behind this significant shift and its affects are also analysed. 

My second chapter deals primarily with the Nietzsche’s thought, in terms of how he would regard the standardised procedures used to evaluate teachers in neo-liberal societies. I analyse some significant components of Nietzsche’s philosophy in order to determine whether or not standardised evaluation, according to Nietzsche, can lead to the formation of ‘good teachers’. The main aspect of Nietzsche’s philosophy that is relevant to this study is his idea of ‘perspectivism’ – that no person can be unbiased in their assessment of such moral concepts as truth or ‘the good’, since all of us consist of inner assumptions, drives and prejudices that affect how we interpret the world. This will be contrasted with Nietzsche’s perceived ‘herd morality’ which does not allow for individuality in its assumption that we are all the same and should be evaluated accordingly. I will also briefly touch upon the concept of ‘will to power’ in terms of how no standards really exist, according to Nietzsche, but only interpretations based on the most compelling will(s) at the time, who pass off their interpretation as ‘absolute truth’. 

Both my final chapter and my conclusion deduce that Nietzsche, in fact, would not approve of the standardised teacher-evaluation systems evident in neo-liberal societies. With reference to his idea of ‘will to power’ and the importance of self-overcoming, it is my belief that Nietzsche would much rather approbate the self-reflection visible in teacher evaluation procedures in the Republic of Ireland. I will also explore what Nietzsche, in this light, may have considered to be a ‘good teacher’ and why.

The research described in this paper was carried out to determine the effects of olfactory stimuli (provided by natural essence oils of lemon) on achievement in English of fourth grade pupils in a school in Turkey. Pupils were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n:29) or a control group (n:29). Both groups were taught English lessons twice a week for a period of four weeks as part of the normal curriculum. In the experimental group, lessons were provided in an aromatic atmosphere. In the control group, lessons were provided in a normal classroom environment. Following treatment, the experimental group outperformed the control group on an achievement test in English. A month after the termination of treatment, the performance of both groups on the achievement test had deteriorated, but the experimental group still outperformed the control group.

While Irish elite schools have adopted some internationalising practices, international students are often erased from their ‘public faces’. Based on interviews and analysis of schools' websites, this paper argues that Brooks and Waters' [2014. “The Hidden Internationalism of Elite English Schools.” Sociology, advance online publication April 2] argument that elite schools hide their internationalism to preserve an explicit national identity for strategic purposes largely applies to the Irish case. In addition, it explores how features characteristic of Irish elite educational settings can help understand ambiguous attitudes to the international ‘other’, who is not only hidden but also at times ‘Irish-ised’ as these schools cultivate cultural identities defined primarily along ethno-national lines.

This article provides an overview of the second-level education sector in Ireland as the Covid-19 pandemic hampers progress towards important reforms. Touching on major themes that feature in the chapter as a whole, it shows how ongoing inequality and underinvestment in education are intrinsically connected, and it argues that, instead of returning to ‘business as usual’, we now need to make the investment necessary to ensure inclusive and equitable education for all.

Issues with the conceptualization, implementation and interpretation of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are examined. The values that underpin the project are discussed. What PISA is intended to measure (preparation for life, key competencies, real-life challenges, curriculum independence) is contrasted with what it probably measures. Issues are identified relating to cultural fairness (quality and equivalence of translations, Anglophone origins, response styles, importance accorded to the test) and the representativeness of participating populations (samples, response rates, adjustment for nonresponse).

The paper suggests that a process of de-academisation is discernible in the way the Erasmus year abroad is promoted, organised, supervised and evaluated. It argues that rather than being a product of students' consumerist rationalities, this process is produced within the conditions of the managerialised and under-resourced university. This process is underpinned by institutional discourses and practices that devalue academic capital, in line with the employability agenda and the corporate critique of higher education as outdated and too abstract for the real world. Based on a qualitative study conducted in Ireland, the article uses a Bourdieusian lens to examine the de-academisation of study abroad and the field-habitus clash experienced by participants. Finally it draws attention to the implications of this neutralisation of academic capital in a context where academic credentials are increasingly devalued on the labour market.

This Masters in Education thesis, completed in 1978 by John Devitt, examines the teaching of English in Ireland. It has chapters including:
1. Historical Retrospect
2. Towards a Subject Ideology for English
3. Prelude to Curriculum Change
4. The Impact of External Assessment on the Literary Curriculum
5. Towards a Pedagogy of Poetry
6. The Examining of English Literature at Leaving Certificate Level
Conclusion, Appendix, and Bibiliography

It is uploaded here as the original in the Trinity College Dublin Library is unavailable, and since my father's death in 2007 numerous requests for the thesis have been made. While it is now somewhat dated, it is hoped that, methodologically at least, that it may be of use to researchers who are interested in this area. With thanks to Colm MacGearailt for the digitisation of the type script. Further inquiries can be made to [email protected]

Issues with the conceptualization, implementation and interpretation of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are examined. The values that underpin the project are discussed. What PISA is intended to measure (preparation for life, key competencies, real-life challenges, curriculum independence) is contrasted with what it probably measures. Issues are identified relating to cultural fairness (quality and equivalence of translations, Anglophone origins, response styles, importance accorded to the test) and the representativeness of participating populations (samples, response rates, adjustment for nonresponse).

Issues with the conceptualization, implementation and interpretation of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are examined. The values that underpin the project are discussed. What PISA is intended to measure (preparation for life, key competencies, real-life challenges, curriculum independence) is contrasted with what it probably measures. Issues are identified relating to cultural fairness (quality and equivalence of translations, Anglophone origins, response styles, importance accorded to the test) and the representativeness of participating populations (samples, response rates, adjustment for nonresponse). PISA is a project of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), set up to provide member states with 'international comparisons of the performance of education systems' in key subject areas (OECD, 2001, p. 27), more specifically, the reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy skills of 15-year-olds. First conducted in 2000, it runs in three-year cycles. It is one of a number of large international surveys, such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and PIRLS (Progress in Reading Literacy Study), both organized by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). PISA differs from its competitors in its frequency and cyclical nature, and in its focus on the 'knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society' (OECD, 2007, p. 16) rather than on the outcomes of a curriculum. Perhaps due to the reasonable performance of Irish students, PISA has not come under the same media and academic scrutiny in Ireland as in some other countries. For example, the unexpectedly low ranks in PISA 2000 of Germany and Denmark resulted in major political, educational and academic responses, and in changes in their education systems (e.g., Dolin, 2007; Rubner, 2006). It has meant that an unusually large proportion of academic criticism of PISA has come from Germany (e.g., Hopmann, Brinek, & Retzl's 2007). This can be contrasted with the largely uncritical response to PISA in Ireland.

Elliott, Imelda. “The role of the OECD peer review process in Irish education policy in the 1960s”. Revue Miroirs, 2015 (2), pp. 110-138.
Although much has been written about the Investment in Education report, the 1969 OECD review has not received any detailed attention. As both are part of the OECD peer review process in Irish education in the 1960s, this paper explores the 1965 background report called Investment in Education, the 1969 OECD review and the evolution of the roles of the minister, the department and the bishops and their reactions to the reforms suggested by the OECD review process. The author concludes that despite resistance to change mainly by the Department of Finance and the hierarchy, the OECD peer review process legitimated policies and educational reform that the Prime Minister, the Minister for Education and senior Department of Education officials wanted to implement, for example, a common curriculum and examination (Intermediate Certificate) in all second level schools in Ireland and also the comprehensive school system which included existing secondary and vocational schools and also new comprehensive schools, and. This paper contributes to the historiography of the period by exploring the 1969 OECD Review, archival material and interviews with important actors in Irish education which the author conducted over the last twenty-five years.