https://doi.org/10.70092/IJE.50
TITLE – Reading in the Years (1922-2026): Tracing Changes in the National Primary Curriculum for Literacy in Ireland
AUTHORS – Patrick Burke and Conall Ó Breacháin
How reading is positioned and conceptualised in the national curriculum gives insights into the relative priority given to literacy at a given moment in time. This article provides a close analysis of how English reading has evolved during four major curricular epochs in Irish primary schools. Though the focus is the past six decades, the curriculum still in place in the late 1960s dictates that the analysis begins with the National Programme of Primary Instruction instiga ted by the new Free State Government in 1922. We examine the later versions of this National Programme before turning to the ‘new’ Primary School Curriculum (1971), the ‘revised’ Primary School Curriculum (1999), and the Primary Language Curriculum (2015, 2019, 2025). The analysis provides the first account of how key aspects of reading – including word recognition and comprehension – have matured in their presentation over the course of the last 100 years of Irish curriculum. It also details the societal influences that have (and have not) influenced the recommendations for how reading might be taught in schools. The paper concludes with a discussion of how research, politics, and views of teacher professionalism have been presented in this time.
https://doi.org/10.70092/IJE.50.01
TITLE – Standing already in what comes next: Educational research between continuity, responsibility, acceleration and policy needs.
AUTHORS – Christian Christrup Kjeldsen
This paper is a lightly adapted version of a keynote speech that was delivered as part of the 60th anniversary conference celebration of the Educational Research Centre (ERC), which took place in January 2026. It reflects on the role of educational research institutions such as the ERC as custodians of institutional knowledge, and the tension in educational research between being able to contribute to longer-term societal understanding while also delivering insights that effectively support policy and practice in an evolving educational landscape. It also considers the importance of capacity building, standing capacity for flexible deployment, and effective data infrastructure systems to strengthen research responsiveness to emerging policy needs.