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…

When reflecting on my years as a doctoral student, I recall several questions that often came to mind throughout my journey: what is participatory health research? Is such an approach to research truly feasible in the pursuit of a doctoral degree? Is it worth it, or have I inadvertently made things more challenging for myself? My response to these…

YPAR seeks to position youth as experts on their worlds, investigating issues that affect their lives and then taking action to create solutions. As such, one of the key epistemological principles underpinning YPAR is the robust participation of youth throughout the knowledge creation process. A growing body of literature examines what youth…

The involvement of people with lived experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of services has grown significantly in recent years. In parallel, the evidence base for best practice in peer research, as this approach is described, is also expanding. Sharing two practice examples, the authors reflect on key learning emerging from their…

In this study, we explore the following: a) How do secondary student teachers, engaged in collaborative action research, function as critical friends? b) What challenges do they encounter? How do they mitigate these challenges? and c) In what ways did meeting as critical friends influence the student teachers' learning to conduct collaborative…

This article explains how teachers can use educational vlogging as a tool to facilitate students' reflective practice in primary schools. Vlogging is a short duration video recording that engages the learner in critical self-reflection. The widespread accessibility of digital devices in Irish schools offer primary teachers opportunities to use…

Food and sustainability are intrinsically linked, yet the majority of food education in the Republic of Ireland focuses solely on health, and this form of education fails to address the complicated nature of the modern food system and its negative impact on biodiversity. Using the capabilities approach as a framework, this article argues that the…

In the past decades, society in general has become strongly diverse. This change also affects schools. As a result, learning groups cannot be seen as homogeneous and taught in this way. One of the challenges is students' linguistic skills. Dealing with different linguistic competencies should not only be a focus of formal education in schools but…