The purpose of this work is to contribute to the debate on the best pedagogical approach to developing undergraduate mechanical engineering skills to meet the requirements of contemporary complex working environments. The paper provides an example of using student-entrepreneur collaboration in the teaching of modules to Mechanical Engineering…

The movement of people with intellectual disabilities into the community is increasingly endorsed by public policy. Whilst staff are critical to a successful transition to the community, there is only scattered research on their role in supporting people to move. In this study, 32 staff and the 16 people with intellectual disabilities they…

Recent years have witnessed a gradual increase in international research on the effects of parental incarceration on families and prisoners both in the short, medium and long term. However, the rights of children with a parent in prison is a subject which, in the Irish context at least, has been ill considered to date by policy and law makers.…

Purpose: Research on young farmers traditionally focused on the future of the agricultural sector or else compared the innovativeness, efficiency or entrepreneurialism of young to older farmers. By contrast, this paper examines the differences in innovation within young farmers. Methodology: Innovativeness is defined here as the adoption of…

Respect is a fundamental aspect of how human beings relate to each other and, arguably, is a significant factor in the relationship between student and teacher. For incarcerated adults, the relationships they foster with their teachers (and by extension the respect or disrespect cultivated within it) often have a considerable impact on their…

This article is based on a comparative study of working-class students' experiences in English and Irish higher education. It highlights the lack of comparative studies on this topic based on qualitative research and why filling this gap is important in understanding access and widening participation. Drawing on biographical interviews with 139…

This paper is a qualitative consideration of how working-class mothers manage money, daily life, their children's education and, in the process, internalise a particularistic economic position. It is uncommon that educational sociology incorporates a critical engagement of the daily drudge of extending money, and the implications of managing the…

Based in a time of major curriculum reform, this article reports on a qualitative case study of teacher professional development (PD) in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). Five mathematics teachers in an Irish secondary school were introduced to and participated in successive cycles of school-based lesson study (LS) over the course of one academic…

Background: Lámh is a key word signing approach used in Ireland, which can support the communication needs of children with Down syndrome. However, the success of this approach in mainstream schools relies heavily on the attitudes of those within the school environment. To date, two studies have explored the attitudes of teaching staff towards the…

Previous research has highlighted that while involvement in Special Olympics can have benefits for athletes and their families, there can also be many barriers to participation. This qualitative study, which was part of a large mixed-method study, examined the experiences and perspectives of people with intellectual disability, their families and…

School-based studies identify that while 1 in 10 young people engages in self-harm, only a small minority seek professional help. School counsellors and teachers are potentially the only professionals who may be aware of a young person's self-harm; however, little is known about how this impacts on them and how they might be best supported to…

This study examines pre-service primary teachers' first engagement with music education at university level in the Republic of Ireland. Data from focus group interviews and coursework present voices from the students in prolematising their learning journeys with music education. These qualitative research methods are used to investigate student…

The importance of Early Intervention for children with Autism has been established however little attention has been given to the role of the parent and their perspective (Griffin & Shevlin, 2011). Research on Early Intervention has proliferated and innovative research on involving parents as partners has emerged (Carpenter, 2007; Hornby,…

This article is concerned with the macro-cultural ideal or institutional myth of excellence as defined and used in the evaluation of academic staff as part of an institutional logic. Such logics "prescribe what constitutes legitimate behaviour and provide taken-for-granted conceptions of what goals are appropriate and what means are…

This case study investigates the pedagogical leadership role of the Adult Education Officer (AEO) in the area of Vocational Education and Training (VET) to meet the requirements of the Bruges Communiqué (2010). The study found that the AEOs interviewed are working to implement a confused system imported from other countries that has yet to be…