Recent migration patterns have had a profound impact on education systems becoming more diverse in their student body but also influencing school climate and resource provision. A multisite case study approach and semi-structured interviews with 13 principals and 17 teachers were used to identify the challenges and opportunities for culturally…

Policy-makers in Ireland advocate teacher collaboration as being a vital component of educational reform and school improvement in inclusive and participatory communities of practice. The objective of this research study was to attempt to achieve a depth of understanding of the role played by principals in the reification of the Department of…

Ireland's cultural identity has transformed significantly in the past few decades as a result of large-scale inward migration. Consequently, the creation of culturally responsive school environments has become a major concern in policy discourses in recent years. Despite the prevalence of such discourses, research on the cultural responsiveness of…

This study investigated the perceived Teacher Self-Efficacy (TSE) of primary school teachers in Ireland who are working in special classes for students with autism. Furthermore, it sought to examine whether these perceptions of TSE were related to special class teaching experience, their engagement in professional development pertaining to autism,…

The research reported in this paper sought to determine the level of awareness among school principals in primary schools in Ireland where homophobic bullying is concerned. International research has previously shown that school leaders as animators of school climate are often lacking in their responses to this type of bullying [Walton, G. 2004.…

The role of the principal is imperative in creating a school climate that nurtures differences and equality at the same time. Policy and legislation in Ireland dictates the responsibility of school principals in preventing and intervening in issues relating to bullying. The current research investigates the extent to which principals consider the…

The broader theoretical frameworks of both Bourdieu (and his concepts of habitus, field, doxa, collusio and capital) and Bernstein (and his concepts of classification, framing and ritual) provide a deeper understanding of the distinctiveness of Catholic schooling. This article presents a model for theorising Catholic schooling in which levels of…

This article seeks to provide an insight into the role of school principals dealing with newly multicultural and multi-faith student populations by drawing on a mixed-methods study on state-funded multi-denominational community national schools in Ireland. The study explores the extent to which school principals address the increasing social and…

The key purpose of this paper is to offer an exploration of the career paths of a number of Irish school principals. The information presented is part of a comparative study in the area, involving three island states: Cyprus, Malta and Ireland. The study provides an insight into how individuals become principals and how they perceive themselves in…

The focus of this study was to examine the leadership role as lived by teaching principals in a selection of small primary schools in the west of Ireland and in particular the implications information and communications technology (ICT) has for that role. The study involved the use of individual one-to-one semi-structured interviews with a…

Investigates the extent to which primary headteachers have become "chief executives" since introducing "market forces" to schooling. Contrasts heads as managers with a more holistic view of heads as leading professionals. To manage current reforms, heads are forced to adopt a managerial approach at the expense of more highly…