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…

Using data from a nationally representative sample of 5-year-olds in the Growing Up in Ireland study (N = 9001, 51% male), this research investigated the role of factors in the neighborhood environment on levels of active outdoor play in young children. Primary caregivers (98% mothers; 81% Irish) responded to questions regarding their child's…

This qualitative research explored 9- to 12-year-old children's citizenship participation at primary school in the Republic of Ireland. During 2016-2017, 160 children from 6 co-educational primary schools participated. Through a process of grounded analysis, children are identified as active "citizen-peers" of their peer groups. As…

This article argues that making dance performance is a resourceful means of self-production that is an aspect of resilience, through interrelationship, and that making dance is an act of resilience in the context of the social, cultural, and historical struggle that continues in the lives of people with learning disabilities. The argument is made…

This study investigates and explores post-primary teachers' perceptions and attitudes towards wellbeing in Irish schools, identifying the enabling activities, factors, and barriers to promoting wellbeing using the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) Junior Cycle Wellbeing Guidelines. Using mixed-method design, self-report…

This study responds to calls for more research on motivations for learning languages other than English (LOTEs) in the new era dominated by global English. In particular, it focuses on the role of societal contextual factors surrounding the status of English and the status of the LOTE as an L2/L3, as factors which may offer a more nuanced…

The article addresses the issues surrounding the importance and impact of 'hinterlands' in the construction of European higher education systems and in the formation of sectoral policy. It draws on studies of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom to illustrate different policy approaches and shows how in some countries…

This paper draws on an Irish government-commissioned study of parents' views about the sexualisation and commercialisation of children. We examine how parents understand 'sexualisation' qualitatively, through their evoking of past, present and future images of childhood. The data underlines how sexualisation becomes rationalised as something to…

This paper assesses the role of shadow education (SE), i.e., organised learning activities outside formal schooling, in the lives of secondary school students of different social backgrounds and in different school settings, in a high-stakes context. It draws on multilevel analysis of longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland data, alongside narratives…

Many researchers and authorities have recognized the important role that sports clubs can play in public health. In spite of attempts to create a theoretical framework in the early 2000s, a thorough understanding of sports clubs as a setting for health promotion (HP) is lacking. Despite calls for more effective, sustainable, and theoretically…

This article reports on a teacher-researcher's efforts to understand tensions and dilemmas encountered during a doctoral narrative inquiry research project with eight children in an urban, multidenominational primary school in the east of Ireland. Using a narrative inquiry framework and focusing on the teacher-researcher's experiences, this…

Background: One would assume that infection outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic have a deleterious effect upon the physical, mental, and/or social functioning of people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Methods: A systematic search of four databases produced 18 articles. General information pertaining to the topics under consideration,…

Research suggests that empathy and positive social values are important drivers of youth prosocial and civic action. However, theory and research indicate that young people's civic behaviors are also shaped by their socio-contextual experiences. Drawing on a sample of 533 adolescents from public secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland, this…

Spirituality is a phenomenon which continues to attract much interest in the Western culture. Throughout the years, it has changed in form and developed in understanding. It has become unprecedentedly broad and embraced by many people, even those who do not consider themselves to be religious. Indeed, spirituality is a subject of debate within…

Pregnancy may pose a number of physical and healthcare-related challenges for autistic people, who experience differences in sensory processing and can face barriers to accessing healthcare. However, little research has explored autistic pregnancy experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 autistic and 21 non-autistic women…