Education

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The Queen's College, Cork: its origins and early history, 1803-1858
(University College Cork, 1973) Pettit, Sean F.; McClelland, Alan
This work examines the origins and early history of the Queen's College, Cork. Designedly there is as much stress on the origins as on the early history, for it is the contention of the work that the College was something more than a legislative mushroom. It was very much in the tradition of the civic universities which added an exciting new dimension to academic life in these islands in the nineteenth century. The first chapter surveys university practice and thinking at the opening of the century, relying exclusively on published sources. The second chapter is devoted specifically to the state of learning in Cork during the period, and makes extensive use of hitherto unpublished manuscript material in relation to the Royal Cork Institution. The third chapter deals with the highly significant evidence on education embodied in the Report of the Select Committee on Irish Education of 1838. This material has not previously been published. In chapter four an extended study is made of relevant letters in the manuscript correspondence of Sir Robert Peel - even the most recent authoritative biography has ignored this material. The remaining three chapters are devoted more specifically to the College, both in the formulation or policy and in its practical working. In chapter six there is an extended survey of early College life based exclusively on hitherto unpublished manuscript material in the College Archives. All of these sources, together with incidental published material, are set out at the end of each chapter.
Intellectual development and early childhood education in the Republic of Ireland
(Nafferton Books/ Association for the Study of the Curriculum, 1995) Horgan, Mary; Douglas, Francis G.
This paper examines how the Education Department at University College Cork investigated early years provision in Cork city and county; Junior Infant Classes; Montessori Schools; Playgroups over the past ten years. The study employed an ethnographic research strategy encompassing the Target Child Observation Schedule (a means of evaluating child development through play and activity-based learning), interviews, a study of classrooms, a questionnaire and an interaction analysis system. 367 children were observed during 120 hours of continuous observation. It compares the findings against other similar studies on early years provision carried out in Oxford and Miami and identify ‘good practice’ in Cork. The most striking conclusion of this paper is that the Montessori method of teaching young children surpasses all others with respect to high cognitive challenge. The structure of the curriculum would therefore seem to correlate highly with the enhancement of a child's intellectual development and the teacher's attitude and training would seem to be of vital importance.
Early years education in Germany and Ireland - a study of provision and curricular implementation in two unique environments
(Taylor & Francis, 1995) Horgan, Mary; Douglas, Francis G.
This paper highlights the differences and similarities between a Kindergarten outside Bremen in Lower Saxony, Germany and a Primary School Junior Infant Class in County Cork, Republic of Ireland. Both are concerned with the education of the young child but whereas the Kindergarten is attended by three to six year olds, the Junior Infant Class caters almost exclusively for four to five year old children. A case study account of both groups is given and an analysis of the activities which took place in each using the 'Target Child Observational Schedule' is presented in bar-graph form. The paper concludes that Erzieherinnen, Kinderpflegerinnen and Junior Infant Class teachers need to engage in more interaction with the children in order, in particular, to raise the frequency and quality of linguistic interaction. An increase in the structure of the children's play would help to enhance cognitive development.
The light beneath the bushel - a discussion paper on early years education and care in the Republic of Ireland
(Waterford Institute of Technology, 2000) Douglas, Francis G.; Horgan, Mary
This discussion paper builds on `Where Angels Fear to Tread' in vol. 1, no. 1 of this journal (Horgan and Douglas 1998). It seeks to provide recommendations concerning the way forward which were submitted by the authors to the National Forum for Early Childhood Education in February 1988. These were based on research carried out for more than a decade on Early Years Education and Care in the Education Department of University College Cork. The paper commences with an overview of the `Early Years' in the Republic of Ireland and then considers quality child-centred provision under three headings; structures, training and curriculum. It concludes that the period from zero to six heralds the development of an individual's spiritual, emotional, moral, social, cognitive, linguistic, creative and physical growth. Hence, if we really care about educational standards, educational continuity and the spiritual and psychological well-being of future generations, Early Childhood services must be a priority target. In other words, the main concern should be the care and education of our youngest, and indeed most vulnerable, citizens - the children of this State.
The differences in the social competence of children who attend integrated junior infant classes and children who attend segregated learning environments
(University College Cork, 2003) Butler, Judith E.; Douglas, Francis G.
There are a number of reasons why this researcher has decided to undertake this study into the differences in the social competence of children who attend integrated Junior Infant classes and children who attend segregated learning environments. Theses reasons are both personal and professional. My personal reasons stem from having grown up in a family which included both an aunt who presented with Down Syndrome and an uncle who presented with hearing impairment. Both of these relatives' experiences in our education system are interesting. My aunt was considered ineducable while her brother - my uncle - was sent to Dublin (from Cork) at six years of age to be educated by a religious order. My professional reasons, on the other hand, stemmed from my teaching experience. Having taught in both special and integrated classrooms it became evident to me that there was somewhat 'suspicion' attached to integration. Parents of children without disabilities questioned whether this process would have a negative impact on their children's education. While parents of children with disabilities debated whether integrated settings met the specific needs of their children. On the other hand, I always questioned whether integration and inclusiveness meant the same thing. My research has enabled me to find many answers. Increasingly, children with special educational needs (SEN) are attending a variety of integrated and inclusive childcare and education settings. This contemporary practice of educating children who present with disabilities in mainstream classrooms has stimulated vast interest on the impact of such practices on children with identified disabilities. Indeed, children who present with disabilities "fare far better in mainstream education than in special schools" (Buckley, cited in Siggins, 2001,p.25). However, educators and practitioners in the field of early years education and care are concerned with meeting the needs of all children in their learning environments, while also upholding high academic standards (Putman, 1993). Fundamentally, therefore, integrated education must also produce questions about the impact of this practice on children without identified special educational needs. While these questions can be addressed from the various areas of child development (i.e. cognitive, physical, linguistic, emotional, moral, spiritual and creative), this research focused on the social domain. It investigates the development of social competence in junior infant class children without identified disabilities as they experience different educational settings.
The Parent and Family Involvement Project: skills for early years educators
(OMEP Ireland, 2004-04) Murphy, Rosaleen; Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences
The importance of parent and family involvement is generally acknowledged by early years educators, but many of them feel that they lack the appropriate skills. The challenge is to find new ways of working with families in a changing world. The aim of the PFI Project (beginning in October 2003) is to meet this need, to develop a model for the training of early years educators in developing these skills and to provide them with a bank of resources which may be adapted to local needs. A training module is currently being piloted in collaboration with a group of experienced people from a variety of early years services. This paper outlines the aims and methodology of the project and presents some of the ideas which we have already discovered
Laptops initiative for students with dyslexia or other reading and writing difficulties: Evaluation report of early implementation, 2002-2003
(National Centre for Technology Education (NCTE), 2005) Conway, Paul F.
This evaluation report presents findings from the early implementation of the Laptops Initiative for students with dyslexia and other reading and writing difficulties during the period December 2000 to September 2003. The report situates the Laptop Initiative in the context of the national and international focus on how best to integrate ICTs into the daily fabric of teaching and learning with a concurrent policy move toward providing support for students with learning difficulties in mainstream settings. These three themes - early implementation, ICT/technology integration, and provision of learning support for students in mainstream settings - are the central themes in the report. The overarching project goal was to identify how laptops and other portable ICT equipment can best be used to support students with dyslexia or other reading and writing difficulties in a manner that facilitates learning, and access to learning, in an inclusive environment.The first phase of the evaluation work on the early implementation involved orientation to the personnel, scope and developments to date in the project (January- March 2003). This phase involved meeting with relevant NCTE and DES personnel (the Director of the NCTE, the Project Coordinator, NCTE's National Coordinator for Special Needs, NCTE's Project Officer for Special Needs, and the DES Inspector providing advice to the project coordination team), meeting teachers in two focus group meetings in March 2003, review of some relevant literature on laptop and ICT initiatives and planning the case study phase of the evaluation. The second phase (April-July 2003) of the evaluation focused on gathering case study data in four selected schools, preparing an initial draft of sections of the report summarising data gathered during the March Focus Group meetings and outlining a framework for the school case studies. The third phase (August-November 2003) of the evaluation involved revisiting the case study schools and the development, administration and analysis of a school survey which was sent to principals. The subsequent report on the early implementation of the Laptops Initiative documents the development of the project from its inception in December 2000 to various strands of development at national, school and classroom levels until end of September 2003. The various interview protocols, survey instruments and other data collection guidelines are contained in the report as appendices.This evaluation of the Laptop Initiative reflects the early development of the project. In many respects the Laptop Initiative could be seen as the SIP of SIPs, (SIP being the acronym for the School Integration Project, one of the three strands in the Schools IT 2000 initiative). That is, the Laptop Initiative provides an opportunity to examine a large-scale school integration pilot project across thirty-one post-primary schools, with a number of supporting conditions such as: the freedom given to each school to design and craft the project according to its locally identified needs and strengths, funding for substitute teacher cover to support participating teachers, an experienced seconded project coordinator supporting the schools, with additional support provided by local ICT advisors, NCTE personnel overseeing and providing further expertise to the project, involvement of principals in national project meetings, in-service days and further training for teachers and principals, and a Laptop Initiative newsletter designed to support teachers in sharing their Laptops Initiative-related teaching practices. There are a number of very positive developments and overarching observations worth reiterating at this point: Teachers, principals, and students alike are generally very positive about the project and see it as having made a worthwhile contribution to literacy learning. They identified significant successes to date, real obstacles to its fuller implementation, as well as areas for future development. Over a thousand students have been using the laptops across the thirty-one schools. Students were positive about their laptop-related learning experiences. The 2002-03 year marked a turning point during which many teachers and principals moved from being somewhat skeptical about the initiative to being strongly committed to its actual benefits and further potential. The Laptops Initiative is well rooted in almost all participating schools. Schools made very significant progress during 2002-03 in purchasing, organising, planning, developing awareness of the project in other schools and distributing the laptops for use across different class and year groups. The dominant approach to provision of support for students with learning difficulties in literacy is withdrawal. Consequently, to date, the laptops have fitted into rather than transformed provision for students with dyslexia and other reading and writing difficulties. As such, dominant organisational and cultural patterns tend to exert a significant and powerful assimilationist pressure on innovations such as the Laptops Initiative. Significantly more boys than girls are involved in the project. The fixed model of laptop deployment (allocating laptops to one location) has been the dominant model for laptop management to date. However, many schools have also used the floating model (allowing students to bring laptops around the school) and a small number have allowed students to occasionally bring a laptop home, that is, use of the fostered model.
The changing face of pre-school services: a case study
(OMEP Ireland, 2005-04) Murphy, Rosaleen; Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences
There have been major changes in pre-school provision in Ireland in the last ten years. This paper will present a snap-shot of how these changes have impacted on one community pre-school located in a high-priority area of Cork and the consequent effects on the quality of the service provided. The factors influencing its development include the introduction of the Preschool regulations under Section VII of the Child Care Act 1991, the capital and staffing grants it has received, and the changes in the population it serves. The paper also documents how the introduction of the High/Scope curriculum, coupled with an on-going commitment to improving the quality of service, has influenced practice in the pre-school.
Foundations of a socio-cultural perspective on teacher performance assessment
(Routledge, 2005-04-06) Conway, Paul F.; Artiles, Alfredo J.; Peterman, Francine P.
In this chapter, we are concerned with the theories of learning underpinning models of assessment for preservice teachers in urban contexts. One fundamental premise in this chapter is that teacher performance assessment ought to document teacher learning. In outlining this perspective, we draw specifically on the sociocultural perspectives on learning and development that have grown primarily out of the work of Russian psychologists Vygotsky, Leont’ev, and Luria.
Writing and using learning outcomes: a practical guide
(University College Cork, 2006) Kennedy, Declan; Higher Education Authority
The overall aim of the Bologna Agreement (1999) is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education in Europe. One of the main features of this process is the need to improve the traditional ways of describing qualifications and qualification structures. As a step towards achieving greater clarity in the description of qualifications, by 2010 all modules and programmes in third level institutions throughout the European Union will be written in terms of learning outcomes. International trends in education show a shift from the traditional teacher-centred approach to a student-centred approach, i.e. the focus is not only on teaching but also on what the students are expected to be able to do at the end of the module or programme. Statements called learning outcomes are used to express what the students are expected to achieve and how they are expected to demonstrate that achievement. Learning outcomes are defined as statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand and/or be able to demonstrate after completion of a process of learning (ECTS, 2005). When writing learning outcomes it is helpful to make use of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. This classification or categorisation of levels of thinking behaviour provides a ready-made structure and list of verbs to assist in writing learning outcomes. Most learning outcomes describe evidence of learning in areas like knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. This area is known as the cognitive domain. The other two main domains are the affective domain (attitudes, feelings, values) and the psychomotor domain (physical skills). In general, when writing learning outcomes begin with an action verb followed by the object of that verb. This handbook contains a list of action verbs for each area of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Sentences should be kept short to ensure clarity. Learning outcomes must be capable of being assessed. When deciding on the number of learning outcomes to write, the general recommendation in the literature is about six learning outcomes per module. The most common mistake in writing learning outcomes is to use vague terms like know, understand, learn, be familiar with, be exposed to, be acquainted with and be aware of. It is important to link learning outcomes to teaching and learning activities and assessment. This may be done with the aid of a grid to assist in checking that the learning outcomes map on to the teaching and learning activities as well as to the mode of assessment. The advantages of learning outcomes for teachers and students are well documented in the literature in terms of clarity, effectiveness of teaching and learning, curriculum design and assessment. In addition, learning outcomes assist greatly in the more systematic design of programmes and modules.
Law without limit: discipline and young children
(OMEP Ireland, 2007) Douglas, Francis G.
Firstly, this paper presents a number of methods which have been shown to be effective in the control of young children. Secondly, it looks at the different types of child-rearing practices and their implications for discipline. Thirdly, the sense is further twisted by giving consideration to the views of young children concerning the various methods of adult control. Finally as the only real discipline can come from “within”, the remainder of this paper is devoted to the development of the child’s conscience within the context of the family, society and the spirit.
Children’s voices in the Framework for Early Learning – a portraiture study
(Ireland, 2007) Daly, Mary; Forster, Arlene; Murphy, Rosaleen; Sweeney, Avril; Brennan, Paul; Maxwell, Margaret; O'Connor, Emer
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is developing a Framework for Early Learning to support adults in working with children from birth to six years. The Framework is premised on an understanding of children as being active in shaping and creating their own lives. This perspective supports the inclusion of children’s voices in decisions which affect them. The NCCA is using a portraiture study to facilitate children as partners in developing the Framework. The portraits will provide a detailed description of individual children’s experiences and reflections on their time in early childhood settings and will provide an important benchmark for the NCCA in developing a national framework for early learning and development which is grounded in an Irish context. This contextualisation will help to ensure that the Framework is relevant and helpful to adults in working with children in Ireland.
Blondel et Sénèque sur la divinisation
(Peeters Publishers, 2007-01) Long, Fiachra; Leclercq, Jean
Ce chapitre détaille les parentes entre les philosophies de Sénèque et Blondel et surtout les tensions qui existent et les résolutions possibles entre les aspects nécessaires de l'action concrète et ceux qui sont contingents.
Improvement of school based assessment
(USAID/Macedonia, 2007-01) Shiel, Gerry; Kitching, Karl; USAID Secondary Education Activity; USAID Human and Institutional Development Project
An exploratory study on the impact of an early years' preschool intervention programme in the Republic of Ireland
(University College Cork, 2008) Martin, Shirley; Douglas, Francis G.
Early years’ education has increasingly been identified as a mechanism to alleviate educational disadvantage in areas of social exclusion. Early years’ intervention programmes are now a common government social policy for addressing social problems (Reynolds, Mann, Miedel, and Smokowski, 1997). In particular, state provided early years’ programmes such as Head Start in the United States and Early Start in Ireland have been established to combat educational disadvantage for children experiencing poverty and socio-economic inequality. The focus of this research is on the long-term outcomes of an early years’ intervention programme in Ireland. It aims to assess whether participation in the programme enhances the life course of children at-risk of educational disadvantage. It involves an in-depth analysis of one Early Start project which was included in the original eight projects established by the Department of Education and Science in 1994. The study utilises a multi-group design to provide a detailed analysis of both the academic and social progress of programme participants. It examines programme outcomes from a number of perspectives by collecting the views of the three main stakeholders involved in the education process; students who participated in Early Start in 1994/5, their parents and their teachers. To contribute to understanding the impact of the programme from a community perspective interviews were also conducted with local community educators and other local early years’ services. In general, Early Start was perceived by all participants in this study as making a positive contribution to parent involvement in education and to strengthening educational capital in the local area. The study found that parents and primary school teachers identified aspects of school readiness as the main benefit of participation in Early Start and parents and teachers were very positive about the role of Early Start in preparing children for the transition to formal school. In addition to this, participation in Early Start appears to have made a positive contribution to academic attainment in Maths and Science at Junior Certificate level. Students who had participated in Early Start were also rated more highly by their second level teachers in terms of goal-setting and future orientation which are important factors in educational attainment. Early Start then can be viewed as providing a positive contribution to the long-term social and academic outcomes for its participants.
Learning outcomes and competences
(EUA, European University Association, 2009) Kennedy, Declan; Hyland, Áine; Ryan, Norma
There is wide variation in the literature regarding the interpretation of the meaning of the term competence. This interpretation ranges from a description of competence in terms of performance and skills acquired by training to a broad overarching view that encompasses knowledge, understanding, skills, abilities and attitudes. Due to the lack of clarity of the concept of competence, assessment of competences can be very difficult. Some authors warn against associating competence exclusively with skills, others distinguish between the terms competence and competency whilst others treat these terms as being synonymous. The essential problem appears to be that these terms are liberally used as general terms to refer to various aspects of job performance without any attempt being made to give precise definitions of the terms. While various efforts have been made to arrive at a single definition of the term competence, no agreement has been reached and there is still wide variation of meaning between various cultures and between different professions. This is in contrast to the clear definition of the concept of learning outcomes found in the literature. It is recommended that if the term competence is being used, the definition of competence being used in the particular context should be stated and also that competences should be written using the vocabulary of learning outcomes.
Making programme learning outcomes explicit for students of process and chemical engineering
(Elsevier, 2009-07) Fitzpatrick, John J.; Byrne, Edmond P.; Kennedy, Declan; University College Cork
There is a global shift from solely content-driven teaching to learning outcomes driven engineering education which underpins much of the educational reform. In engineering education, degree programme learning outcomes are more commonplace as more and more professional accrediting bodies require fulfilment or compliance with prescribed learning outcomes. However, the students may not be presented with these learning outcomes as they are often “hidden” in application for accreditation documentation and not divulged to the students. This is the context of this thesis study. Undergraduate students (2006-2008) taking the BE degree programme in Process & Chemical Engineering at UCC were first surveyed to assess their level of knowledge of the learning outcomes concept and of the degree programme learning outcomes. The contents of two application documents for accreditation documents submitted to professional accreditation bodies along with Institution guidelines were reviewed to formulate the degree programme learning outcomes and these were presented to the students. These students were then surveyed after the presentation. The results of the questionnaire demonstrated a major improvement in the knowledge of the learning outcomes concept and the degree programme learning outcomes amongst the students. It also showed that the students found the session to be beneficial.
The effect of calcium supplementation on fat metabolism during recreational exercise
(School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork., 2009-09) Bradley, John L.; Woods, Trevor; Murphy, S.; Keane, L.; O'Brien, Nora M.
Evidence has emerged suggesting dietary calcium can modulate energy metabolism. Studies have linked whole body fat oxidation during free living activities to both acute and habitual calcium intake. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between acute calcium intake and whole body fat oxidation during simulated recreational activity. Thirty min following ingestion of 800mg calcium supplement or placebo, fat metabolism was monitored during 45min of treadmill walking. Expired air was sampled throughout by online metabolic spirometry (Cosmed CPET, Italy) and analysed for metabolic fuel using indirect calorimetry. The results showed a single, acute calcium supplement of 800mg had no effect on fat metabolism compared to the placebo condition during walking. Contrary to findings from 24 hour studies monitoring calcium intake and macronutrient oxidation, this suggests single acute calcium supplementation protocols are not enough to increase energy metabolism or influence fat metabolism. Evidence suggests that calcium intake increases energy metabolism via whole body systemic changes. Increased energy metabolism and fat oxidation may only occur when recreational exercise is combined with habitual calcium supplementation.
The sports science of curling: a practical review [with radio interview]
(Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2009-12-01) Bradley, John L.
Curling is a sport played on ice in which two teams each deliver 8 granite stones towards a target, or 'house'. It is the only sport in which the trajectory of the projectile can be influenced after it has been released by the athlete. This is achieved by sweeping the ice in front of the stone to change the stone-ice friction and thereby enable to stone to travel further, curl more or stay straight. Hard sweeping is physically demanding. Different techniques of sweeping can also have different effects on the stone. This paper will review the current research behind sweeping a curling stone, outline the physiological demands of sweeping, the associated performance effects and suggest potential strategies of sweeping that can be used by both coaches and curling teams.
Learning to teach (LETS): developing curricular and cross curricular competences in becoming a 'good' secondary teacher: executive summary
(School of Education, University College Cork, 2011-03) Conway, Paul F.; Murphy, Rosaleen; Delargey, Michael; Hall, Kathy; Kitching, Karl; Long, Fiachra; McKeon, Jacinta; Murphy, Brian; O'Brien, Stephen; O'Sullivan, Dan; Department of Education and Skills, Ireland
The aim of this research, the Learning to Teach Study (LETS), the first of its kind on the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in Ireland, funded by the Department of Education and Skills (DES), was to develop and implement a study of initial teacher education in the PGDE in post-primary education, in the School of Education, University College Cork. Its aim was to identify the individual and contextual dynamics of how student teachers develop curricular and cross-curricular competences during initial teacher education (ITE). Within an overall framework that explores how student teachers develop their skills, competences and identity as teachers, it focuses on curricular competences in mathematics, science and language teaching, and on the cross-curricular competences of reading and digital literacy and the development of inclusive teaching practices. LETS is the first programme level research on the PGDE, familiarly known to generations of student teachers and teachers as ‘the Dip’ or ‘the HDip’. Drawing on research on teacher education both in Ireland and internationally, the LETS report is divided into six sections encompassing thirteen chapters. Section 1 includes the review of literature and study aims in Chapter 1 and the research methodology in Chapter 2. Adopting an interpretive approach, LETS involved the collaborative development of three interviews protocols and a survey by the research team. Seventeen (n=17) students were interviewed three times over the course of PGDE programme, and one hundred and thirty three students completed a detailed survey on their learning to teach experience (n=133, i.e. response rate of 62.7% of the 212 students in the PGDE 2008/09 cohort). The four chapters in Section 2 focus on professional identity as a central dimension of learning to teach. Among the dimensions of learning to teach addressed in this section are the role of observation and cultural scripts in becoming a teacher, the visibility/invisibility of PGDE students as learners and the relationships between emotions, resilience and commitment to teaching. The three chapters in Section 3 focus on mathematics, modern languages and science respectively in the context of conventional and reform-oriented visions of good teaching. A number of common as well as subject-specific themes emerged in this section in relation to subject matter teaching. Section 4 focuses on PGDE students’ experience of inclusion (chapter 10) and reading literacy (chapter 11) while learning to teach. Section 5 focuses on a key aspect of initial teacher education, namely, the school-university partnership. The final section provides a summary of the findings, identifies seven key issues emerging from these findings, makes Learning to Teach Study (LETS) recommendations under four headings (system, teacher education institutions, partnerships in ITE and further research) and discusses some implications for research, policy and practice in initial teacher education. Among the main findings emerging from the study are: (i) schools provide valuable support for PGDE students but this typically does not focus on classroom pedagogy, (ii) PGDE students typically felt that they had to be ‘invisible’ as learners in schools to gain and maintain authority and status, (iii) inherited cultural scripts about what it means to be a ‘good’ subject teacher shaped teacher identity and classroom practice, and (iv) as PGDE students begin to feel competent as teachers of maths, modern languages and science, this feeling of competence typically does not include their capacity to teach for inclusion and reading literacy within their subject teaching. In the context of research on teacher education, many of the findings are not unique to the PGDE or to UCC but reflect perennial dilemmas and emerging challenges in initial teacher education. This fact is important in setting a context for the wider dissemination2 of the Learning to Teach Study.

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