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From January 2017 until January 2020, the Stormont assembly in Northern Ireland was suspended, with the Irish language being cited as the main stumbling block to the restoration of government. The continued debate around the necessity of an Irish Language Act (ILA) for Northern Ireland is bound up with more general divisions in society surrounding national identity, and as such, it divided political parties and the nationalist and unionist communities from which they draw their support. Through the analysis of ethnographic interviews conducted in various language learning centres across Belfast, I explore how this debate around legislating for the language impacted on the engagement of learners with the language in the city. By considering the role played by the media in the engagement of interview participants with the Irish language in Belfast, I aim to examine how the policy delay and political discourse affects those engaging with the language. This paper aims to address changing attitudes to the Irish language in Belfast in a period of political crisis, and what it means for those who use the language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines attitudes to classism in Irish education using a thematic analysis of social media conversations about social class between 2018 and 2022. Previous research indicates that Irish education systems are designed by and favour the dominant and ruling classes. However, few studies use the voice of the lived experience to explore the phenomenon. This article investigates Irish people's communication of class inequalities in education via the social media platform Twitter (X). Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis was employed to analyse and group the Tweets, with Dean's framework on communicative capitalism to guide the findings. This study indicates that social media has become a legitimate platform to challenge hegemony in education by creating online communities or collective identities in struggles against social inequalities in Ireland. Findings reveal that classism continues to prevail in Irish education, with working-class Tweets on the lived experiences of discrimination providing novel insights on emerging themes such as elitism, inequality of access and symbolic violence. Future research in this area needs to focus on the effects of social class on educational attainment, access, and participation in Irish settings. In particular, examining weaknesses in current structures to support working-class students, and possible grassroot interventions and policies to mitigate the impacts of social class on education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 18 000 special needs assistants (SNAs) are employed in Irish schools. According to the Department of Education (DE), their primary function is to support the care needs of students with additional needs, assist teachers, and ensure that students can access education. Recently, SNAs have been campaigning for greater recognition of their contribution to the Irish education system. This campaign has highlighted several critical issues that impact SNAs working in Ireland, including entry-level training and qualifications, ambiguity regarding their role and responsibilities and a need for access to ongoing professional development. Recognising the genuine contribution of SNAs to the Irish education system and addressing some of the known inequities they experience is of particular interest to the author of this paper. The author works in a special education setting where forty-one SNAs comprise 80% of the staff. Hiring graduates for the role and investing heavily in their professional development has been transformative for this school. The contribution of SNAs in this setting is extensive and has enabled the school to thrive whilst serving a student population with highly complex learning and behavioural needs. This paper begins with a brief examination of the history and current interpretation of the SNA scheme. This is followed by a critical analysis of some of the key issues concerning the employment of SNAs and a consideration of how SNAs are uniquely recruited, deployed, and supported in the author's setting. It is argued that by addressing the critical issues impacting the current SNA scheme, we can advance the broader cause of inclusion in the Irish education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how power and solidarity in family relations are negotiated along linguistic lines, and in particular, the role of a third language in this negotiation process. It takes as its case study a transnational family in Ireland who practise a strongly pro-Polish FLP and where the parents are seen as authorities in Polish and their daughters are seen as authorities in English, the dominant societal language. The paper takes a microinteractional approach to analysing excerpts where family members engage in language-learning activities using Irish, the national autochthonous minority language. The paper demonstrates how in many ways, Irish operates as a neutral, third space for family members to negotiate power/solidarity alignments, and thus contributes to the family's maintenance of the power/solidarity equilibrium. The paper also demonstrates the polysemy inherent in how these negotiations play out at an interactional level, especially vis-à-vis the family's pro-Polish FLP, as well as the polysemy of Irish-as-a-language within the scope of the family's interactions as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, Ireland's post-primary schools have experienced considerable social, cultural, economic and technological change. As a result newly qualified teachers are entering an increasingly diverse and rapidly changing school environment. Studies indicate a diversity gap between the profile of pupils, and of teachers in post-primary schools; whereby a homogenous population of teachers, teach a heterogeneous population of students. Consequently, efforts have been made to better understand the diversity, and profile, of those entering the post-primary teaching profession. This paper contributes to this body of knowledge, through an investigation of the profile of entrants to concurrent (post-primary) initial teacher education programmes (ITE) in Ireland 2009–2020. Previous studies have investigated the profile, and diversity, of entrants to consecutive (post-primary) ITE, while less is known about the profile and diversity of entrants to concurrent (post-primary) ITE programmes. Data from the Higher Education Authority is used to compile a profile of entrants to concurrent (post-primary) ITE in Ireland from 2009 to 2020. The results indicate that these entrants have a more diverse profile than entrants to concurrent (primary) and consecutive (post-primary) ITE. This paper finds, therefore, that concurrent (post-primary) ITE, contributes to the overall diversity of the teaching profession in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precision Teaching (PT) presents as a systematic educational approach used to monitor and evaluate pupil performance, as underpinned by data-based decision making. As part of the implementation process, PT emphasises the importance of frequency-building to promote behavioural fluency for the learner. This article seeks to critically examine the potential application of frequency-building and PT in Irish mainstream primary schools to support pupil intervention in foundational curricular learning. Particular focus is placed on core academic subjects, in light of the national governmental drive to increase literacy and numeracy standards for all. This article provides an overview of the PT approach to intervention, with reference to recent Irish developments in the field spanning research and practice. The application of frequency-building and PT within a special education context is considered, particularly for pupils struggling to move beyond the 'acquisition' stage of the learning hierarchy. The author critically considers the alignment of PT with key tenets of the guidelines from the Department of Education and Skills (2017a) for supporting pupils with special educational needs in mainstream schools. Finally, limitations of PT-related research are forwarded, with reference to applied research in the field. Based on cumulative findings, the author advocates for a balanced and contextualised approach to fluency-focused instruction within schools, in light of the learning hierarchy and alternate, non-behaviourist approaches to teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2020, Irish schools reopened following their emergency closure due to the COVID-19 crisis. Measures were put in place to minimise the risk of transmission of the virus within schools and communities. However, these measures were likely to impact on teachers' capacity to facilitate learning in science, particularly the practical and investigative aspects of the Irish curriculum. This research explores the impact of the measures in place to limit virus transmission on teaching and learning in science, particularly on practical activities. The period of focus is the three months (September to November 2020) following the school closures. The research aims to highlight the implications of the COVID-19 crisis on science teaching and learning in Irish schools. The research will also provide recommendations to lessen the impact on primary and second-level science education to improve student learning and engagement in science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, a new form of inspection was introduced to post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. It represented a complete change from the previous light touch pattern and reflected the New Public Management approach to policymaking and implementation then becoming fashionable in the jurisdiction. Around the same time, a new policy for tackling educational disadvantage was adopted. Recent case-study research into the effectiveness of this policy elicited views from six school communities on a wide range of issues. One was the experiences of teachers and school leaders in dealing with the impact of the new inspection regime over the last fifteen years. The picture that emerged is a cause of serious concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symbolic of the rise of neoliberal principles in Irish education policy, there is now a move towards advancing school autonomy and decentralizing decision-making to individual schools, possibly emulating the academy model that has become widespread in England. Increasing the freedom and independence of schools may involve using private actors to provide what has traditionally been the service of the state, but it will most definitely involve schools behaving more like private sector organizations. While some of the new powers that would be devolved to schools might seem attractive, especially in how they are presented at an official level, this paper highlights how features of autonomous schools that may initially seem appealing are, in practice, likely to be unsuited to the Irish context. In this regard, this paper advises that school autonomy should not be advanced in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on role of ideology in the creation of a conflict and a case study of a child forced to enroll in a Catholic school although his parents' ideological preference would have been the Educate Together model. It mentions consequences for the parties involved as a result of their ideological differences and the inevitability of such conflict in an Irish education system. It also mentions rise in number of school places and newly-acquired multi-culturalism.

Complex ethical and methodological issues can sometimes arise when conducting research into sensitive topics. By employing an autobiographic approach to explore the personal dilemmas that arose for the author while undertaking doctoral research on workplace bullying in Irish education, this article highlights potential difficulties and tensions which may arise for researchers (particularly those at the beginning of their careers) when conducting sensitive research. Specific attention is paid to the importance of protecting the researcher from harm, the exiting of the research relationship in an appropriate manner, and the necessity of anticipating potential problems before they become manifest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint of the article "First Commissions of Inquiry," by Harriet Martineau, which appeared in the previous issue of "Daily News." It discusses the ancient Irish schools and their political circumstances. It is stated that the school policy was baffled by the mismanagement of the Parliament and the King together.

A correction to the article "Introducing Farouk's process consultation group approach in Irish primary schools" is presented.