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This discussion paper considers the identification and definition of the ‘characteristic spirit’ of publicly managed schools in the Republic of Ireland. Some international approaches to values in publicly funded schools are introduced along with relevant contextual aspects of Irish education including the cultural diversity and secularisation of modern Irish society. The Irish Education Act (1998) gives ultimate responsibility for school values and ‘characteristic spirit’ to the school ‘patron’, a role legally separate from that of school ownership and school management. The underlying values of privately managed faith-based schools are well established. However, the ‘characteristic spirit’ of publicly managed Education and Training Board schools remains largely undeveloped. Appropriate responses to this challenge are identified and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dissonance between the socialisation experiences of student teachers during their own schooling and practicums and university-based teacher education programmes is indicative of the broader theory/practice dichotomy in education. While this dichotomy is of considerable interest to all teacher educators, studies of students’ pre- and post-placement professional beliefs are rare. The authors availed of the publication of alternative curriculum pathways for Ireland to investigate the curriculum beliefs of student teachers immediately before and after their final school placement. Important contextual aspects of the study including school and teacher culture and the proposed curriculum pathways are introduced. The stark contrast between student teachers’ preferences and their views regarding the feasibility of the various pathways and their commitment to pupil-centred learning are among the main findings of the current study. A positive relationship emerged between respondents’ curriculum preferences and their grades in curriculum studies. These emerging themes are considered from the perspectives of student teachers’ beliefs about pupil learning, the theory/practice dichotomy and the importance of developing school–university partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports a longitudinal study of levels of moral reasoning in a convenience sample of Irish undergraduate university students, using the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2). The study was timely, as higher education institutions are becoming increasingly interested in the promotion of social capital and the development of the whole person. A total of 259 students completed the DIT2 at the beginning, mid-point and conclusion of their degree course. As with similar international studies, increases in levels of moral reasoning over time were statistically significant. However, Irish students' DIT2 scores were markedly lower than their international peers with 62% of graduating students at the pre-conventional and conventional stages. The paper suggests some context-related explanations for the under-performance of Irish students including the instrumentalist nature of Irish post-primary education, the prevailing culture of consensualism, authoritarianism and anti-intellectualism, the conflation of religious and moral education and the emphasis on economic outputs and contractual accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]