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Perceptions of the ‘mainstream’ and the mainstreaming of the far right: from Ed Sheeran to Keir Starmer
Get PDFWhile people use the term ‘mainstream’ on a regular basis, there has been relatively little discussion about what it actually means. Within far-right studies, attempts to define the mainstream often center around party politics and the impact of mainstream party strategies on the far right. While a useful starting point, this focus has led to more rigid conceptions which encourage particular normative assumptions about its identity. Through poststructuralist discourse theory, supported by insights from music studies and critical discourse studies, this article proposes a definition which accounts for its contingency and construction, challenging dominant narratives about its nature. These issues are crucial when we consider the relationship between the mainstream and far right because they encourage us to question their perceived relative positioning. By introducing the concepts of talking ‘with’ and ‘about’ the far right, this piece establishes the need for us to take the role of the mainstream in the mainstreaming of the far right seriously
From ‘Cottage to Crèche’ and Back: An Examination of Childcare and Au Pairship in Ireland.
Get PDFIreland has changed in recent decades with increasing gender equality, women working outside the home, and the ongoing secularisation of society. However, these advances are accompanied by rising costs and a national shortage in access to formal childcare services. This dissertation addresses how Irish families cope and adapt in this context. Through ethnographic analysis, it explores the strategies that families employ to manage domestic and economic circumstances, interrogates how these approaches affect their parental and household needs, and evaluates their success in satisfying the requirements of the domestic unit. Through the specific lens of au pairs and host families in Ireland, this research examines how these relationships are politically and socioeconomically situated. This research considers the impact of childcare choices, such as the decision to employ au pairs, upon the most intimate kinship relations of the family, particularly mothering; it asks how these familial bonds are disrupted, maintained, or reshaped over time by the addition of an au pair into the family unit? This thesis investigates how boundaries and meanings of kinship are negotiated in circumstances where ‘care’ is commodified. I look at the tensions that arise in these interactions and the impacts of crossing or violating boundaries.
This study follows the journey of au pairs and host families from their first expectations through the construction of boundaries and the creation of kinship ties and possible breakdowns of such relationships. I examine the establishment and negotiation of boundaries within the household, by both the au pair and host family, using the theoretical framework of boundary work.
In addition, I address the dynamics of contemporary Irish kinship, focusing on the idea of ‘fictive kinship,’ to investigate the relationships that emerge between au pairs and host families. For both the au pairs and host families, tensions surrounding the experience of familial-like relationships highlights the complex nature of these dynamics. In this thesis, I follow my research participants as they navigate this fragile territory in the nexus of everyday practices, routines, and experiences
Unlocking the Ivory Tower: Exploring the Barriers to Postgraduate Education for Ireland's Older Generation.
Get PDFDespite the growing population of older adults in Ireland and the various initiatives by educational establishments and third-level institutions to encourage more post-retirement engagement of older adults in academic activities, the number that engages in formal postgraduate education is discouraging. Copious amounts of contemporary and worldwide research highlight numerous barriers and other factors that inhibit gerontological access to various learning activities – even at the undergraduate level. Unfortunately, none focuses specifically on the engagement of older adult learners in postgraduate study and statistics for those over retirement age are scant. Using a mixed-method approach employing both quantitative and qualitative analyses, this project sets out to identify why the participation rates of this cadre of older adults are so low and what can be done to address the situation. Findings reveal that the issues involved are multifaceted, with age being one of the major barriers responsible
Empowering Adult Educators: Consideration of How We Can Create Sustainable Communities of Practice for Critical Reflection to Develop Transformative Teaching Practices.
Get PDFThis research explores how critical reflection in community of practices can drive transformative learning, promoting personal development and fostering socially just practices.
The research question 'Empowering Adult Educators: Consideration of How We Can Create Sustainable Communities of Practice for Critical Reflection to Develop Transformative Teaching Practices,' was investigated using Participatory Action Research through collaborative enquiry as part of a CoP. The aim is to co-create knowledge, critically reflecting on our practices leading to action for change.
The cyclical nature of action research was structured around Stephen Brookfield’s four lenses of critical reflection: student feedback, colleagues’ perspectives, personal reflections, and educational theories. The literature review covered theories from prominent scholars like John Dewey, Donald Schon, Stephen Brookfield, Jan Fooks, Jack Mezirow, Paulo Freire, Lave and Wenger, and Barbara Larrivee, focusing on differentiating critical reflection from general reflection and its role in transformative learning.
The study concluded the value of critical reflection for personal and professional growth and development. Effective professional development requires a supporting culture and relevant and engaging strategies. Vital to the success of this is flexible organisational policies. Recommendations include encouraging the understanding of critical reflection through structured models for reflection. Fostering a culture of critical reflection within the work environment through the implementation of communities of practice and professional development programs.
The research underscores the importance of critical reflection in transforming educational practices through enhancing professional development. This will ultimately contribute to more inclusive and socially conscious teaching methodologies
UNITES Project: A National Vision for the Future. A Policy Briefing Paper
Get PDFNational policies such as Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures (2015), First 5 – A Whole of Government Strategy for Parents and Babies (2019) and Supporting Parents: A National Model of Parenting Support Services (2022), recognise the importance of, and reflect a strong and enduring commitment to, supporting early childhood development and wellbeing through the provision of accessible, high quality and evidence-led supports. For instance, a key goal of ‘First 5’ is to develop strong and supportive families and communities, including a commitment to the development of universal parenting supports (also reiterated in the National Model of Parenting Support Services) and, importantly, in the context of the current study, an evidence-led approach to home visiting services across a continuum of need (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), 2022). Indeed, a wealth of both national and international evidence indicates that the home environment, and therefore services provided in the home, provide a crucially important context, and support, for healthy child development and wellbeing (e.g. Bradley & Corwyn, 2008)
Deputy Principals: A Hidden Asset in Schools?
Get PDFThe research team set out to explore how the position of deputy principal is perceived and
enacted in Irish primary and post-primary schools. A review of the literature, national and
international, and the views of 120 deputy principals (49 primary; 71 post-primary), through
online questionnaire responses and 10 (5 primary; 5 post-primary) one-hour interviews, shape
this report.
The literature review highlights a lack of clarity about the role of deputy principal, with
practitioners engaging in a multiplicity of tasks. The extent and range of these often depend on
the practices and preferences of the principal. Recent years have seen movement worldwide
where deputy principals increasingly share in management and leadership as well as
administration within the school. We note, however, that within the discourse of ‘distributed
leadership’, the deputy principal position is rarely discussed. Participants identify significant
job satisfaction in addition to role tensions and frustrations
A Dilemma for Proceduralist Theories of Democracy: Elected Delegates or Elected Monarchs?
Get PDFEmphasizing the intrinsic value of formal political equality, a prominent strand of democratic theory—proceduralism—sharply disassociates democracy from substantive justice. This paper elucidates a resultant dilemma: that proceduralism is either underinclusive in its exclusion of robust forms of representative democracy or overinclusive in its inclusion of elective dictatorship. I show how the horns of this dilemma respectively derive from different conceptions of political equality: the standard view, which foregrounds the choice of legislative text itself, and an alternative view, drawn from Robert Dahl’s model of “procedural democracy,” which privileges the choice of procedure by which to resolve disagreement over the choice of text. Conceiving of democracy in terms of political equality alone leads to a rigid characterization of the elected legislature either as an institution whose structure is entirely open or as a mechanism for enacting citizens’ wishes that denies legislators their intuitive input
A Qualitative Study of Women’s Long-Term Experience of Trauma More Than Ten Years After Exiting Domestic Abuse
Get PDFCoercive control is a global phenomenon that has a serious impact on victims’ mental,
physical, sexual, and financial wellbeing. The aim of this study was to explore
qualitatively the long-term impacts on women who had left coercive control
relationships more than ten years previously. It was carried out to extend the empirical
understanding about the ongoing role coercive control continues to have in women’s
lives years after they exited those relationships and thereby open the possibilities for
policy and procedural changes to prevent long-term harm. Initially a review of the
literature demonstrated that this specific area had hitherto received scant attention.
Initially this entailed a review coercive control through a feminist and trauma focused
lens to support the study of coercive control in both the private and the public domains
and the impact of the dominant hegemonies through a feminist analysis of patriarchy.
Ethical approval was acquired and a loosely-structured interview schedule was used
for in-depth interviews with seven women who fitted the study criteria. This was
thematically explored in three phases: the relationship; breaking free and their current
lives. The key findings illustrate that the women who experienced coercive control
continue to live with the trauma they experienced with the perpetrators and that it
continues to significantly affect the women’s lives physically, psychologically and
financially. Furthermore, it emerged that the effects of their help-seeking encounters
within the public domain, especially within the judicial and financial sectors,
reactivated and exacerbated the traumas they experienced within the private sphere.
Moreover, they indicated that in their experience public discourse pertaining to
coercive control continues to blame and shame the victim resulting in their only
sharing their experiences of the abuse they experienced with a small trusted group of
friends. It is evident that significant research has taken place leading to substantial
policies in relation to coercive control. However, this study demonstrates that it is
imperative that hegemonic patriarchal discourse that the participants encountered be
addressed for victims of coercive control, and women in general, to ensure a safe
egalitarian society
An Exploration of Pre-Service Teachers’ Journeys in their Development as Socially Just Teachers: An Interpretative Study
No full textIt is widely acknowledged that the development of just teachers, teachers who ensure that all
students have access to a high-quality education regardless of their background, is essential within
initial teacher education (ITE). Teacher bias can significantly impact the educational experiences of
some children and contribute to educational inequality. This interpretative study aims to explore the
experiences of pre-service teachers in the journey of their development as a just teacher. To support
this goal, a professional development framework involving engagement with arts-based workshops
and school placement in a diverse education setting was designed, implemented, and researched to
enable pre-service teachers to confront their bias. Pre-service teachers in this study were enrolled in
year three of a four-year B. Ed program in an ITE college in Ireland.
The design of this interpretative study is subdivided into two phases. Phase One draws on the
reflective journals of pre-service teachers' engagement in arts-based workshops. The workshops
sought to enable pre-service teachers to develop awareness of their bias. Thirty pre-service teachers
took part in phase one. Phase two involves ten semi-structured interviews to explore how school
placement supports pre-service teachers' development as just educators. Data was analysed using
reflective thematic analysis. Findings indicated that the professional development framework
supported pre-service teachers' personal and professional learning. Key conclusions from this study
offer possible implications for pedagogical design and research in IT
Impact of the metal ion-chelating metabolite gliotoxin on bacterial systems.
No full textAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global problem and new ways of identifying
antibiotic targets are essential. Gliotoxin is a potent antimicrobial with broad
spectrum activity produced by Aspergillus fumigatus. The toxicity of gliotoxin was
previously attributed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production resulting from
conversion between the oxidised (GT) and reduced (DTG) forms. However, the
nascent zinc-chelating ability of DTG inspired research into a metallo-centric model
of bacterial growth inhibition. The ROS model has been augmented by work herein
showing gliotoxin is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial whose toxicity is attenuated by
specific metal ion supplementation (zinc, copper). This finding was supported by
unbiased LFQ proteomics revealing gliotoxin induced perturbation of metal, primarily
zinc, homeostasis systems in both Gram-positive and -negative pathogens, including
Adc, Znu, and TonB metal uptake proteins, ribosomal remodelling to zinc free
paralogs, and the activation of the Fur controlled acinetobactin biosynthesis gene
cluster. Pre-formed DTG chelates caused growth inhibition, and promotion in the case
of DTG:Cu, positing DTG as a potential ionophore. This metallo-centric model was
supported by experiments showing DTG ejects zinc, copper, and iron from
chromogens (PAR, Siderotec™ Total, Siderotec™ HiSens). DTG also ejected zinc from
protein extracts in vitro. Despite this, DTG did not cause intracellular zinc depletion.
This multi-metal chelating ability was confirmed using mass spectrometric analysis to
detect DTG:Zn, DTG:Cu, and DTG2:Fe chelates. Thioacetylated DTG was synthesised
which requires future study but may be usable as an attenuated form of gliotoxin
which can be administered alone or in combination with antibiotics. Co-addition
studies using gliotoxin and vancomycin revealed a zinc dependent additive effect.
Proteomic analysis revealed significant alterations due to combination treatment and
perturbation of several key systems including cell wall biosynthesis and several
transcriptional regulators. Overall, this work provides new insight into the Pathfinder
role of gliotoxin in the fight against AMR