The Republic of Ireland has witnessed a transformative reform agenda in teacher education, stemming from internal trends, increased emphasis on supranational ranking indicators, and recommendations from national and international reviews of existing teacher education. As part of this reform agenda, the Teaching Council of Ireland has espoused…

The use of individual tutoring as a method of educational instruction has been prevalent for several decades. One popular tutoring practice is Paired Reading, a reading support technique specifically designed for non-professionals. The accessible nature of Paired Reading makes it an attractive option for schools who wish to capitalise on support…

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…

This paper explores the experiences and professional learning of a group of in-service primary school teachers, participating in a STEM education programme in Ireland. Four primary teachers from the same case school engaged in a two-year project to explore STEM teaching and learning. This STEM project was structured as a multi-tiered partnership…

The number of children diagnosed with autism both nationally and internationally is increasing dramatically. Development of social-communication abilities is a major difficulty for those on the Autism Spectrum (AS). Research highlights the positive impact of supporting parents to adopt facilitative communication strategies when interacting with…

This report, authored by Graeme Atherton, examines how universities who are seen as leading internationally and/or in their own national contexts are supporting greater access and success for learners from low-income and other marginalised groups. What can English universities learn from global institutions? By looking at how they work with…

Current international policy documents on teacher education are peppered with the word partnership and there seems to be an assumption that there is a common agreement regarding understandings of 'partnership'. Traditionally the university has been the decisive voice in educational partnerships which has often led to a power differential as well…

Inquiry learning pedagogies have not only been proposed as a successful teaching methodology to draw students into science, they are also rich with possibilities for creativity. The particular focus on investigations and problem-solving provides opportunity for educators to embrace this. The primary curriculum explicitly values creativity in this…

Team teaching as a concept and approach has long been advocated at a policy level both internationally and in Ireland. However, there is very little focussed research on the use of team teaching as an approach in post-primary schools in Ireland or on its potential as a medium of teacher professional development. This article presents the findings…

The integrated STEM activity described in this article incorporated two investigations that sought to develop children's understanding of fair-testing: (1) the first parachutes: how does the angle of a parachute frame affect the speed of descent?; and (2) modern parachutes: how does the size of the parachute canopy affect the speed of descent?…

Various constellations of school-university partnerships (SUPs) have long been part of the initial teacher education (ITE) landscape in Ireland. This situation is especially true in the context of ITE school-based work. While SUPs have been largely informal and unsystematic, recent policy changes have introduced structured roles and…

Face-to-face outreach activities with scientific researchers provide schools with tangible role models, real world context for the curriculum, and a unique shared experience for groups of students. Moving from face-to-face to online engagement at short notice represents a unique challenge for the continuation of many outreach activities. The…

Initial teacher education (ITE) programmes have been critiqued widely for failing to connect educational theory with everyday practices in schools. More meaningful collaborations between schools and teacher education providers have featured prominently among key recommendations addressing the traditional theory-practice divide. This paper traces…

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…

In Ireland, at present, the roles and responsibilities of the educational partners regarding initial teacher education (ITE) are in transition. ITE routes have been extended allowing for additional focus to be placed on the central component of school placement. This material change, as well as policies promoting collaborative practice, teachers…