Social innovation education (SIE) is a student-led collaborative process of creating unique solutions to challenges within the community. Through an analysis of pre- and post-surveys completed by 94 post-primary school students in Ireland, the current study looked at how prior wellbeing (measured using the EPOCH model) influenced change in…

This paper investigates the role of teacher agency for those who were trained in using an innovative Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach and incorporated GIS into their teaching. While national curricula increasingly emphasise STEM and sustainability approaches, there has been limited analysis of how teachers can bring new software,…

A rising crisis of confidence has been noted amongst teachers of poetry in recent years. Amplified by external factors such as high-stakes testing regimes, performance indicators, standardisation and accountability measures, teachers are increasingly challenged to provide immersive, imaginative and engaging encounters with poetry while developing…

This article reports on a case study conducted in an urban post-primary school setting, which investigated a teaching and learning group, called a T&L Club, as a model of sustainable professional development for teachers. The group consisted of 18 members from a whole staff of 90 teachers and had been in existence for four years at the time of…

This analytical report was prepared by the OECD Higher Education Policy Team as part of the Education and Innovation Practice Community (EIPC), an action of the European Union's New European Innovation Agenda, flagship 4 on "Fostering, attracting and retaining deep tech talent". EIPC seeks to bring together peers from policy and practice…

The impact of the COVID-19 school closures on children and young people has been significant, with research suggesting that it has disproportionately negatively affected students from areas of socio-economic disadvantage. With the move to remote schooling, the focus on ensuring classes continued to 'cover the curriculum' left little space for…

When does a community create and sustain a truly innovative "next generation" high school that not only remains innovative, but also relevant? According to the Carnegie Corporation, this means seizing the opportunity to redesign schools to promote personalized learning. So far, much work has gone into retooling many of these (reform)…

As burgeoning twenty-first century technologies have enabled new ways of reading, writing and communicating, conceptions of literacy have changed -- and English curricula internationally have been modified to include "new literacy skills." Second-level English teachers, however, report needing more guidance in incorporating the teaching…

This study examines the concerns of Irish secondary school teachers to the introduction of three reformed curricula, namely: English, mathematics, and Design and Communication Graphics. Major changes have been introduced in each of these subjects at different time periods over the past 12 years. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire was selected by…

Alternative education provision in Ireland is under-researched. This paper is a qualitative investigation of the perspectives of a purposive sample of ten teachers on curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in their respective alternative settings of a voluntary education centre, a Youthreach centre and a post-primary special school. 'Funds of…

This paper examines, ''transformative pedagogy'' in post-primary, language teacher education in Ireland from philosophical, psychological and social perspectives. Links are made, where appropriate, to findings from a study at the National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. The construct supports teacher and pupils in developing their identity…

This article outlines the a educational design for Digital Ensemble, an innovative approach to English assessment integrating drama pedagogy with mobile computing (e.g. ad). a represents the key themes that framed and informed the research: ensemble, narrative, collaboration and technology. Starting with a as a prototype concept design for the…

This research investigated the creativity capacity across the levels of education in Ireland, involving 702 participants. Creative capacity was investigated through a comparative analysis of creativity quotient (CQ). A divergent thinking task comprising the "how many uses" activity was assessed using the criteria for determining CQ;…

The study in this article involved a critical discourse analysis of five policy documents in relation to a curriculum reform proposed for lower secondary education in the Republic of Ireland. It examined the (re)positioning of governance in relation to curriculum and teacher education. Findings indicate a predominant clinical discourse closely…

This research study explores peer teaching and learning without a domain expert teacher, within the context of an activity where teams of second level students (~16 years old) are required to create a learning experience for their peers. The study looks at how participants would like to be taught and how they would teach their peers if given the…