This paper explores the experiences and perspectives of parents from minority-ethnic backgrounds concerning their children's education in primary and post-primary schools in Ireland. Five focus groups were conducted with 20 parents of non-White African and Asian backgrounds. Our findings demonstrate complex interactions and tensions between home…

Education and training board (ETB) schools, previously called Vocational schools, were established in the Republic of Ireland in 1930. At the time of their genesis, these schools were initially prevented from offering students a pathway to upper secondary/university, leading to them being viewed as 'second-rate'. Drawing on interviews with school…

Purpose: One key aspect of European curriculum reforms is to empower students with the skills needed to engage actively in the pluralistic and multicultural global society of the 21st century. This study aims to examine the extent of multicultural education within the national core curricula of three European countries: Hungary, Finland and…

When pupils learn geography they are extending their world view and reshaping it. This paper analyses representations of Africa and African countries and cultures in Irish primary geography textbooks and assesses to what extent these textbook portrayals facilitate or repress multicultural education, specifically critical multicultural education…

The formal recognition of Travellers as a distinct ethnic group by the Irish State in 2017 was arguably a significant step towards redressing the pernicious and endemic institutional racism and marginalisation that Travellers have historically experienced in Ireland. It was announced by the Irish Government in October 2018 that a review of the…

This article presents results of a cross-cultural comparison of trainer and trainee attitudes towards a variety of diversity issues, notably attitudes towards non-national trainees and those from other ethnic, religious and racial groups. Cross-cultural comparisons are made in the six European countries studied: France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,…

In March 2020 when life as we know it changed, we adhered to a new set of rules and a new normal that COVID-19 imposed on not only the population of Ireland but on the entire world. Throughout this experience, the co-authors of this paper engaged in a series of phone, email, Zoom and WhatsApp conversations, reflecting on how their lives changed…

Adolescents belonging to minority or marginalized groups often experience discrimination, which may negatively affect their mental and physical health. Using the dataset of the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study, we analyzed perceived discrimination based on various grounds in four minority groups of schoolchildren in…

Interest in the field of entrepreneurship is at an all-time high; coincidentally, migration is increasingly changing the landscape of employment. Many migrants find themselves facing challenges that entrepreneurial skills can help overcome. However, little remains explored within adult migrant education, especially within enterprises.…

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) recently had its 30th anniversary. Emerging from the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, it has since become the most ratified international human rights treaty ever. Most European countries ratified it and are thus obliged to ensure the implementation of children's rights in practice.…

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of Irish Traveller parents' experiences of their own schooling, and their views on education. An indigenous minority ethnic group, Irish Travellers, historically and contemporaneously, have experienced disadvantage and exclusion in many domains, including education, health, housing, and…

This paper draws on exploratory research with Irish Traveller children. Using photographs taken by the children themselves to foreground both the 'good' things and 'things they would like to change' in their everyday lives, issues of family, home and, connectedness, love, and care emerged alongside deeply embedded (and embodied) experiences…

This article argues that Irish Travellers' ideologies of languageness and their definition of Cant are closely linked to their perceptions of social reality. Cant is a communicative code which Travellers use beside English in Traveller-specific situations. Based on the analysis of focus groups, I take a folk-linguistic and anthropological approach…

Objective: The aim of this evaluation was to determine the cultural and educational appropriateness of a pilot asthma education programme developed for the Traveller and Roma community in Ireland. Design: A participatory multi-stakeholder and qualitative approach. Setting: Prevalence and inadequate control of asthma have been found to be high…

This publication focuses on some of the unique characteristics and challenges concerning the provision of education in prison, including: the emergence of an informal curriculum; language tuition in prison; access to higher education; the availability of library facilities; digital literacy; civic engagement and social (re)integration; and prison…