In the Republic of Ireland, primary school teaching is a very attractive profession with pay being above the OECD average (Heinz and Keane 2018; Hennessey and Lynch 2017). This paper investigates how the Department of Education Inspectorate and the Teaching Council of Ireland position primary school teacher professionalism. The paper presents the…

Purpose: This research seeks to explore the potential of Lesson Study as a vehicle to support professional development (PD) in a rural, Irish primary school. Lesson Study was utilised to design and implement integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) lessons with young children (ages 4-7 years). Design/methodology/approach:…

This paper presents the lived experience of a practitioner researcher working as a teacher educator engaging in action research with primary pre-service teachers (PSTs). Aligning with the work of Cook (2009) ['The Purpose of Mess in Action Research: Building Rigour Though a Messy Turn.' "Educational Action Research" 17 (2): 277-291] this…

Arts partnerships involving teachers, artists and arts organizations continue to be popular as a means of delivering arts education. Acting as an intermediary between schools and artists, arts brokers can be crucial to the successful implementation of these partnerships. Characterized as individuals who can act as channels for innovative practice,…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of the term well-being as conceptualised by parents, grandparents, principals and teachers in the Irish primary education system. Design/methodology/approach: A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted to understand the nature and meaning of the phenomenon of well-being.…

In recent years, we have seen an increased politicisation and objectification of what teachers should know, what teachers should do and who teachers should be while they are doing it. While evident across the continua of teacher education, such politicised constructions are particularly acute at initial teacher education. Given such attention to…

Inclusive education in Ireland has made major advances in the past two decades, with an increasing number of students with special educational needs (SEN) attending mainstream schools. This paper is part of a bigger study which examines the Special Education Teacher Allocation Model (SETAM) (Circular 0013/2017 Department of Education and Skills…

With the inclusion of play as a right, schools are urged to consider whether "all" children can access play opportunities in schoolyards. Refocusing on play as occupation is identified as an important way in which occupational therapists can contribute within schools. Greater knowledges of children's play and teachers' practices, in…

Teachers' engagement with high quality continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities has repeatedly and consistently been linked to an array of positive outcomes for students, teachers, and the wider school community. In light of this, multiple countries have developed and designed frameworks for CPD, such as Cosán in Ireland, the CPD…

The internationalisation of the population of Ireland in recent decades has created a more culturally diverse society. Hence teachers need to have the necessary skills to teach in ethno-culturally diverse classrooms. In addition, teachers need to have required tools and knowledge to teach in increasingly multicultural classrooms. This article…

In this study, we aimed to analyze Irish educators' differentiation practices and their relationship to teachers' sense of efficacy. We examined teachers' (N = 470) reports of their curriculum modification practices and their provision of challenge or choice. When their students had mastered the required class work, more than half of teachers were…

Teacher educators act as a conduit to student teachers of policy and this has an impact on practice. Changes in policy affect how subjects are viewed in terms of their importance. This research seeks to explore the apparent increase in emphasis on wellbeing development in policy which influences the work of arts teacher educators, alongside a…

Recent policy in Ireland enhanced the position of school placement in Initial Teacher Education programmes. This paper considers how care ethics has a vital role in sustaining the goodwill of the cooperation and guidance from professionals who mediate the school placement setting, noting values of reciprocal caring in placement mentor-mentee roles…

Background: Key Word Signing (KWS) is one system that can be used to support the communication needs of children with Down syndrome (DS) who attend mainstream school. The success of KWS in schools is mediated by staff experiences and perceptions of KWS. The current study is one of the first to explore KWS use in mainstream schools. Aims: To…

Injury and illness can occur in children. Since children spend a considerable amount of time in school, teachers must have the ability to assist when required. However, no research to date has examined Irish primary school teachers' experiences, training and knowledge in first aid. An online survey (n = 587) examined Irish male and female primary…