On the cusp of the wellbeing wave: Challenges in teaching SPHE according to initial teacher education students
Margaret Nohilly
Over 25 years since the 1999 primary school curriculum was published in Ireland, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is preparing for the redeveloped primary school curriculum specifications to be made available to schools for September 2025. This new curriculum is structured into five broad areas, one of which is Wellbeing and encompasses the subject areas of Social, Personal, and Health Education (SPHE) and Physical Education (PE). Despite many educational policy developments in the area of Wellbeing in recent years, challenges remain in terms of the implementation of the more sensitive content of the SPHE curriculum, particularly in Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). This study draws on questionnaire data from 354 students undertaking the Bachelor of Education programme in a teacher education college in Ireland, highlighting the SPHE content areas they anticipate as most challenging to teach. The findings underscore the importance of teacher training and ongoing professional support in Wellbeing education throughout a teacher’s career.
Mapping Learning in Higher Education: The Embedding Content Across Academic Programmes Toolkit
John Pierce, Mary Beades, and Andrew Shields
The growing diversification of teaching roles in higher education and the siloed nature of semesterised programmes can inhibit quality teaching and learning. This paper introduces the Embedding Content Across Academic Programmes Toolkit (ECAAPT), a practical model for mapping and tracking embedded content across modules, semesters, and years within higher education programmes that can ease the administrative burden of curricular mapping and change on academics teaching in the sector. Originally developed with a focus on tracking student academic literacies, this model has also been adapted and shown value in mapping and tracking other content, such as graduate attributes, feedback, assessment strategies, and learning outcomes (Bloom’s taxonomy). Practical uses of ECAAPT are outlined, such as in the mapping required for programmatic review and in the constructive alignment of module content and/or programmes. Using a resource such as ECAAPT can aid in developing a more coherent structure in terms of planning and development of new modules and courses, tracking existing programme/module delivery over time, as well as allowing for greater ease of coordination of changes and development of courses and programmes under review. One key element of ECAAPT is that it includes guidelines for how to operationalise it for specific local requirements.
A cross-cultural perspective on academic resilience, academic vulnerability, and student attitudes towards mathematics: An analysis of TIMSS 2019 data
Vasiliki Pitsia and Rachel Perkins
The study of academic resilience has received much attention in international large-scale studies of achievement in recent times and can provide insights into why some children coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds do well academically, while others from similar backgrounds do not do as well. Applying definitions of academic resilience that meaningfully operationalise its two core constructs, adversity and successful outcomes, can be challenging. These difficulties become even more pronounced when attempting to apply such definitions across different countries. Considering that and the policy focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) across many countries, this study uses Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data to examine academic resilience in the context of mathematics. Academic resilience is defined as betterthan- expected achievement outcomes among students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The study focuses on four countries that are readily comparable on measures of adversity and successful outcomes: Australia, England, Ireland, and the United States. Academically resilient students are compared to academically vulnerable students, identified as those with similar levels of socioeconomic status but lower achievement. The aim of the study is to examine whether academic resilience in mathematics can be predicted by the extent to which students feel confident in, like learning, and value mathematics, and to examine the extent to which this may vary across countries. Based on the results of the binary logistic regression models, which accounted for student gender, how confident students felt in mathematics statistically significantly predicted academic resilience as opposed to academic vulnerability across all countries. Gender (favouring females) was only statistically significantly associated with academic resilience in Australia. Methodological implications and implications for educational policy are discussed.
Engaging Social Media Influencers to Foster Academic Integrity in Irish Higher Education: A Reflective Analysis and Strategic Action Plan
Charles Alves de Castro
This reflection paper explores the potential of social media influencers (SMIs) to promote academic integrity within Ireland’s higher education sector. It draws upon experiences from previous academic integrity events in Ireland. The paper presents an analysis of the impact of SMIs on the student population in Ireland and advocates for a strategic collaboration between higher education institutions (HEIs) and SMIs to reinforce academic values among students. This innovative approach is underpinned by a target audience framework for SMI communication strategies, highlighting the essential role of multi-stakeholder initiatives in sustaining academic integrity. The paper follows a reflective structure, incorporating personal insights, evaluations, and an action plan to effectively integrate SMIs into academic integrity campaigns within HEIs.
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Exploring the implications of moving the PISA testing period from Spring to Autumn: A multilevel analysis using achievement data in Ireland
Sylvia Denner, Michael O’Leary, and Gerry Shiel
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assesses the performance of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science. In Ireland, information from PISA is highly valued by the Department of Education as a guide to inform policy-making. Between 2000, when Ireland first participated in PISA, and 2018, testing has taken place in the Spring (March/April). Due to school-based preparation activities for state examinations in June, the springtime is a particularly busy time in schools for nearly three fifths of PISA-eligible students who are in their third year of post-primary education. This issue caused policy makers in Ireland to consider changing PISA testing time from the Spring to the Autumn and, consequently, research examining the outcomes of such a move became a priority. Using multilevel modelling, this paper examines the performances of those 15-year-olds in Ireland who participated in the regular PISA cycle in Spring 2018 and another sample that completed the tests in the Autumn of 2018. Results indicated that, overall, there was no statistically significant difference between the two samples in reading literacy, mathematics, or science across the two time periods. However, while controlling for relevant demographic background variables, performance in mathematics in the Autumn was lower for males than in Spring. Of particular note was the statistically significantly higher percentage of low-achieving males in the Autumn administration of the tests (21.4%) compared to the Spring administration (15.7%). The implications of the findings for policy and practice within the Irish and international educational contexts are discussed.
Insights into the process of developing policy and guidance for Transition Year programmes
Paul Behan and Michelle Geraghty
Transition Year (TY) is an optional standalone programme in the senior cycle of post-primary education in Ireland. As part of the redevelopment of senior cycle, a revised Transition Year Programme Statement was published by the Department of Education in September 2024, to be introduced into schools in September 2025. In November 2022, the Council of NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) approved the convening of a development group, comprised of a range of experts and experienced school practitioners in the area of TY. The role of the development group was primarily to support the Council in developing its advice on a revised TY Programme Statement. This article provides a description of the development of the statement by NCCA and how effective aspects of TY programmes shaped the development of the statement. The Council approved a draft TY Programme Statement which went for an extensive public consultation in the second half of 2023. Insights are presented on how the feedback from the consultation findings informed the final development of the TY Programme Statement. A final reflection is given on some lessons learned from the TY process regarding NCCA practice for the subsequent tranches in the redevelopment of senior cycle.