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An inclusive approach to reading in Irish in the higher classes in an immersion primary school
Get PDFIn immersion settings in Ireland, most pupils are immersed in a language that is generally not their home language. In the senior classes, Irish and English reading is practised. But we have very little information on how children in immersion education read in Irish, in both languages, or on the skills and strategies they use when reading. There is a lack of guidance and research on the most effective way to promote dual literacy, or to meet the different needs of children across two languages. In order to promote inclusive practice, this knowledge is urgently needed. This study
uses formative assessments, research articles and new reading material to encourage teachers to reflect on current practice. Focused reading groups are explored as a possibility to meet diverse needs and support teachers to build on their inclusive strategies with 9–11-year-olds
A portfolio of original compositions with commentary
Get PDFThis composition portfolio consists of fourteen musical scores and recordings, supplemented by a written commentary. The analytical commentary details my exploration of an array of compositional styles: some of them follow a more traditional approach and others are more experimental in nature. The latter were created to expand my vocabulary as a composer. The compositions are written for a range of instrumental ensembles, including works for solo instruments, chamber music, unconventional instruments (such as prepared piano, electronics, and a megaphone), and for symphony orchestra. Throughout the PhD, I explored different styles, techniques, and approaches to music composition, working with different types of notation, including graphic notation and text instructions.
Chapter 1 introduces the core themes of the research, detailing the methodological framework that underpins the exploration of tradition versus experimentation in my compositional practice. Chapter 2 highlights a departure from traditional methods in favour of using intuition and experimentation as a source for music composition, emphasising the importance of computer interaction, and showcasing how this departure has resulted in compositions that are both unpredictable and reflective of diverse musical influences and aesthetics, with a focus on the composition Punto de Partida. Chapter 3 explores my approach to translating somatic responses into musical sounds involving meditation, piano improvisation sessions, experimentation with string instruments using extended techniques to evoke specific sensations and feelings. Chapter 4 explores collaboration, improvisation, the use of technology, and a connection to movement and gesture as catalysts for musical creation, using the framework of distributed creativity, and discussing the challenges and adaptations faced during the transition to online collaboration due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapter 5 focuses on the challenges and methodologies of composing for full orchestra, as exemplified by the pieces Discurso y Balbuceos and El Llamado
Understanding Teacher Educators' Quality of Life: Insights from the PERMA Model
Get PDFTeacher Educators (TE) are a specific category of Higher Education (HE) academics whose primary responsibility is the preparation of Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) for the Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary, and Further Education and Training contexts. TEs navigate this important, multifaceted role in addition to growing work pressures and decreased resource allocations. Though these stressors often lead to burnout, negatively impacting TEs’ wellbeing, productivity, and career satisfaction, many persevere in this career despite these challenging experiences. This qualitative study employs the popular PERMA model (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) to explore the protective factors that support TEs’ mental health, wellbeing, and resilience. Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) was applied to a combination of open-ended survey responses (n = 154) and semi-structured interview (n = 14) data from Higher Education TEs in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK). Participants reported that excessive relational demands and the undervaluation and under-recognition of accomplishments in promotion systems challenged their wellbeing. However, findings highlight how positive emotions, vocational workflow, social support, a sense of meaning/purpose, and professional accomplishment can support thriving in the workplace. Our sample further benefitted from general wellbeing practices (diet, exercise, mindfulness), professional collegiality, and boundary setting, which help maintain work–life balance. These findings suggest that HE institutions might consider PERMA-informed initiatives – such as wellbeing programmes, formal recognition of diverse work achievements, and flexible workload policies – to mitigate workplace stress and promote TE resilience. Promoting these factors may improve quality of life outcomes for TEs and enhance outcomes within initial teacher education
Understanding Teacher Educators' Quality of Life: Insights from the PERMA Model
Get PDFTeacher Educators (TE) are a specific category of Higher Education (HE) academics whose primary responsibility is the preparation of Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) for the Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary, and Further Education and Training contexts. TEs navigate this important, multifaceted role in addition to growing work pressures and decreased resource allocations. Though these stressors often lead to burnout, negatively impacting TEs’ wellbeing, productivity, and career satisfaction, many persevere in this career despite these challenging experiences. This qualitative study employs the popular PERMA model (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) to explore the protective factors that support TEs’ mental health, wellbeing, and resilience. Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) was applied to a combination of open-ended survey responses (n = 154) and semi-structured interview (n = 14) data from Higher Education TEs in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK). Participants reported that excessive relational demands and the undervaluation and under-recognition of accomplishments in promotion systems challenged their wellbeing. However, findings highlight how positive emotions, vocational workflow, social support, a sense of meaning/purpose, and professional accomplishment can support thriving in the workplace. Our sample further benefitted from general wellbeing practices (diet, exercise, mindfulness), professional collegiality, and boundary setting, which help maintain work–life balance. These findings suggest that HE institutions might consider PERMA-informed initiatives – such as wellbeing programmes, formal recognition of diverse work achievements, and flexible workload policies – to mitigate workplace stress and promote TE resilience. Promoting these factors may improve quality of life outcomes for TEs and enhance outcomes within initial teacher education
Ethics and end-of-life in pediatric and neonatal ICUs: a systematic review of recommendations
Get PDFBackground Working in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) or pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) entails making difficult decisions about children at the end of their lives that raise significant ethical issues. This review identified the ethical content of the papers containing expert guidelines and recommendations in relation to end-of-life decisionmaking in NICUs and PICUs, by analyzing ethical positions and ethical principles behind them. Methods Systematic search was limited to the period from 1990 to 2023 and encompassed 6 bibliographic databases (Medline, PubMed, CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science Core Collection, and Scopus), grey literature sources and relevant reference lists. The international, national, or institutional papers providing expert guidelines
and recommendations comprehensively addressing either withholding/withdrawing of life sustaining treatment, palliative care, and/or intentional life terminating actions in NICUs and PICUs were included in analysis. Also, only papers published in English language were considered. Papers that were not developed by intensive care expert
communities and those that were either too narrow (e.g., dealing with specific issues or specific patient groups) or broad (e.g., addressing issues of interest on general and abstract level) were excluded. The search data were gathered and deduplicated, partly by Mendeley software. Titles and abstracts were screened by three independent reviewers, and full-text papers further reviewed and assessed for eligibility. Subsequently, data of interest were extracted, and
qualitative analysis was performed. Results Initial search retrieved 6784 papers from bibliographic databases and 363 from other utilized sources. Titles and abstracts from 2827 papers were screened. 17 full texts were further assessed resulting in a total number of 9 papers (6 from bibliographic databases and 3 from other sources) which met the inclusion criteria and were included for analysis. The papers were published from 2001 to 2021. Four papers primarily focus on NICU setting, while five on PICU. A total of 38 ethical positions were identified and were grouped under 5 themes according to the content of
the positions, relating to: patients, parents, medical team, decision-making and treatment options. A total of 12 ethical principles were mentioned in the papers. The principle of beneficence emerged as the most prominent one. It was explicitly mentioned in all included papers except one
Mapping Gender Bullying Through the Lens of Intra‑actions in a Private Day and Boarding School
Get PDFThis paper maps a socio-ecological approach to gender bullying as part of a participatory action research project which took place in a private day and boarding school in Ireland. It applies the new defnition of bullying proposed (and recently published in 2024) by UNESCO and the World Anti-Bullying Forum (2022) and explores the networks of relationships in the school and the underpinning social norms and power imbalances therein. The core research question asks: Does gender bullying happen at this school? Through active engagement with students as co-researchers, school staff as steering group members, and two university researchers, this question was explored through a qualitative research design using focus group interviews and a Digital Dropbox. The application of Barad’s (1998; 2007; 2011) concept of agential realism is proffered
to help unravel the entanglement and complexity of gender bullying. We propose that the mapping of the intra-actions of human beings with different discourses, objects, materials, spaces, and time, assists in making sense of the normativity of gender expectations and its complex array of inclusions and exclusions
Challenges for music in initial teacher education and in schools: Perspectives from music teacher educators in Ireland and Northern Ireland
Get PDFThis article examines challenges for music in initial teacher education (ITE) and in schools from the perspectives of music teacher educators across two jurisdictions of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Spanning
primary and secondary music ITE, 17 music teacher educators from across both jurisdictions met to share practice and concerns. Findings from three focus group discussions revealed concerns regarding musical
provision within ITE institutions and on a wider systemic level, acknowledging the diminishing status of music in both policy and curricular discourse, and in schools. In terms of identity, a shared concept of the music teacher educator as both advocate and confidence builder emerged. As music teacher educators predominantly work in isolation within ITE institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland, participants
welcomed the opportunity to share knowledge and experience across jurisdictions. As such, we argue that emerging communities of music teacher education practice are of critical importance to combat the
multiplicity of challenges that music teacher educators face at a time of turbulence in the status of music in state education systems
From Celtic Rock Heyday to “Extended Family”: Changing Legacies and Identities for Horslips and Their Fans
Get PDFThis article interprets the legacy of Horslips in a review of key
periods of the Irish rock band’s activity and reception from the
1970s to the early 2020s. These comprise the band’s heyday in
the 1970s, their relative obscurity in the 1980s and ’90s, two
reunions as a live act in the early twenty-first century, and more
recent fan-organized events. In tandem with an appraisal of the
band’s career and broader artistic contribution, the article examines
interrelated constructions of cultural memory and heritage on the
part of musicians, cultural commentators, aficionados, and fans. It
finds a range of associated identities and legacies that differ according to media-driven or community-oriented initiatives and to changing experiences and perspectives over time
‘Til death do us part: Lacking in love or loving lack
No full textThe death drive, as conceived by Freud and elaborated upon by Lacan can paradoxically be considered as an integral part of the social bond, including the love relation. When considering romantic love, couples are bonded together via their shared ways of deriving enjoyment from missing the object of the drive; that, is, they bond over their shared – or complementary ways of suffering. At the same time, via the structure of extimacy and the repetition compulsions couples repeat instead of remember, many bonds of love – with their resulting complaints – are founded in the hainamoration of one's own jouissance. Finally, contrary to existentialist notions of freedom which depend upon the powers of consciousness, love aligned with the perpetual self-destruction at the heart of the drives can, in fact, be deployed to facilitate someone's freedom. Couples who take the risk of exposing their lack to one another can gain additional agency through seeing the Other as lacking and adopting a position of nonbelonging. Examples of such possibilities for freedom will be given via a consideration of a kind of love operative via the vicissitudes of the relationship between Connell and Marianne in Sally Rooney's 2018 novel Normal People
Technology-mediated self-assessment in higher education: A critical review
Get PDFThis review critically examines empirical evidence from 50 studies over two decades on technology-mediated self-assessment (TMSA) in higher education, providing a comprehensive overview of the tools used, and the benefits and challenges encountered in its application. The findings suggest that TMSA not only retains the benefits of traditional self-assessment, such as enhancing students’ academic performance and fostering long-term learning, but also introduces unique advantages. It amplifies student engagement via interactive and multimedia elements, provides flexibility for self-assessment, and assists educators with data-driven insights while easing administrative tasks. However, it also brings challenges, including technical issues like software glitches, connectivity problems, and compatibility issues with various devices or operating systems. The review concludes with recommendations for optimizing TMSA implementation