Via diverse content including programmes, songs and child-led social media channels, children are constantly exposed to commercially funded messages encouraging purchase behaviour. While there is no definitive agreement that advertising to children is detrimental to their wellbeing (Rowthorn, 2019), there is an enduring concern over the unintended…

This paper refers to whole school interventions aiming to promote student learning outcomes through improving the functioning of school factors. Evaluation studies of these interventions mainly measure their impact on student learning outcomes. This paper argues for the importance of studying the mechanisms of whole school interventions through…

Given the significant role that academic self-concept plays in students' learning, understanding the psychological processes involved in its formation continues to be an important focus of enquiry. There is strong empirical support for two major models of academic self-concept (ASC) formation: the big-fish-little-pond (BFLP) model and the…

Recent approaches to statistics education situate the teaching and learning of statistics within cycles of statistical inquiry. Learners pose questions, plan, and collect, represent, analyse and interpret data. We focus on the first step -- posing statistical questions. Posing statistical questions is a critical step as questions inform the types…

Science literacy has become socially and economically very important. European countries stress that science graduates are fundamental for economic growth. Nevertheless, there is a declining student participation in science. In response, there has been a call to change the way science is taught in schools, which focuses on inquiry methods rooted…

Internationally and in Ireland, the adoption of inclusive education frameworks have been broadly welcomed, particularly by parents of children with special educational needs (SEN). Mainstreaming these children is generally viewed as positive primarily because of the social factors associated with attending mainstream schools for children with SEN.…

Several gaps exist in the standardised assessment of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in the Irish mainstream education context at the point of transition from primary to post-primary school. These gaps may lead to a lack of adequate focus on the continuity of resources at this timepoint. The current study examined…

This study endeavoured to awaken mainstream teachers' awareness of language, specifically related to teaching emergent bilingual children who are learning English as an additional language (EAL) in the Republic of Ireland. Because EAL learners spend the majority of the day in the mainstream classroom, mainstream teachers' language awareness may…

Schools in Ireland vary in how they introduce reading in the two official languages, Irish and English. There is particular variability within immersion (Irish medium) schools. Some introduce Irish reading first (IRF) and others English reading first (ERF). This study compared the development of Irish and English skills in children attending…

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;…

This paper explores primary to post-primary transitions for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) within mainstream schooling in an Irish context. A questionnaire was distributed to a cohort of sixth class students (n = 58) from four different primary schools in advance of their transfer and results were then compared with a similar cohort…

Objective: This paper reports on the use of child participatory approaches to evaluate the implementation and impact of the "Zippy's Friends" emotional wellbeing programme on children in disadvantaged primary schools in Ireland. Design: As part of the overall evaluation study, which comprised a clustered randomised controlled trial,…

Background: This study addresses the fast developing behavioural issue of cyberbullying in schools and its complex legal context. Purpose: This study set out to investigate teachers' perceptions of the extent of cyberbullying and the extent to which school leaders in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland feel knowledgeable and confident…

The curricular attainment of pupils in Gaelic-medium primary education in Scotland is investigated using surveys of Gaelic-medium and English-medium pupils in the fifth and seventh years of primary school (approximately 9 and 11 years of age) in 2007. The Gaelic-medium survey was essentially a census of pupils. The English-medium survey was a…

Having a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) poses a range of challenges to families, many of which can be addressed through appropriate intervention. A study of parental (n = 95) and professional (n = 67) experiences was carried out in relation to two settings: (a) schools that provided intensive interventions based on the science…