Inclusion and Participation: Policy, Curriculum and Pedagogy Research Centre
Underpinning our education system is a focus on knowledge acquisition and the ‘need to know’ which, historically, have driven assessment practice and determined pedagogy and teaching. The central concerns of members of this group lie at the interface between theory and practice and reflect the inter-relationship between views of learning and of knowledge, and how they relate to policy, pedagogy, assessment and the specified curriculum. Within the umbrella concepts of knowledge. learning, policy, pedagogy, the curriculum and assessment the foci of recent and current research projects of researchers in the group, funded and unfunded in the UK and internationally, include: pedagogies and curriculum effective in responding to the needs of all students, including those who experience difficulties in learning, and those who support them; literacy learning in schools, most especially in relation to those students who experience barriers; approaches to understanding, assessing and addressing behavioural issues in schools; approaches to teacher professional development, in particular as it relates to the training and development of new teachers as well as in-school practitioner research work; learners’ views of what helps and hinders their learning and ways in which these views can support the development of effective pedagogy; policy and practice in special educational needs provision in schools. Fields of knowledge and areas of investigation continue to develop and intersect. Currently conceptual approaches used by research group members include, but are not limited to, socio-cultural understandings of learning and behaviour and the theoretical framework offered by the concept of communities of practice elaborated, most notably by Lave and Wenger.
Recent Submissions
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Addressing the challenges and barriers to inclusion in Irish schools : report to Research and Development Committee of the Department of Education and SkillsThe study addresses the question of how Irish schools seek to overcome the challenges and barriers to inclusion. This necessitated sub questions in relation to identifying the challenges and barriers for the three groups of learners who are the focus of the study and then identifying how schools seek to overcome or mitigate their effects. To address these questions a case study research design was used incorporating multiple methods of data collection across six schools (three primary and three post-primary). Key informants in the Irish education system were relied upon in the selection of schools for the case studies to ensure that the selected schools were endeavouring to operate as inclusively as possible.
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Access to the curriculum for pupils with a variety of special educational needs in mainstream classes : an exploraton of the experiences of young pupils in primary schoolThe study focused on the five key research questions laid out in the tender document: 1. How is the curriculum being implemented and differentiated in mainstream primary school classes (from junior infants to second class) which include pupils with a variety of SEN? 2. How are pupils with SEN and their parents experiencing the curriculum in these settings? 3. What factors contribute to a positive experience of the curriculum and learning outcomes for pupils with SEN in these settings? 2 Access to the curriculum for pupils with a variety of special educational needs in mainstream classes 4. What are the challenges involved for teachers in implementing and differentiating the curriculum in these mainstream primary school classes? 5. What are the challenges for pupils with SEN in gaining access to the curriculum in these settings?
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Adapting to the digital age: a narrative approachThe article adopts a narrative inquiry approach to foreground informal learning and exposes a collection of stories from tutors about how they adapted comfortably to the digital age. We were concerned that despite substantial evidence that bringing about changes in pedagogic practices can be difficult, there is a gap in convincing approaches to help in this respect. In this context, this project takes a “bottom-up” approach and synthesises several life-stories into a single persuasive narrative to support the process of adapting to digital change. The project foregrounds the small, every-day motivating moments, cultural features and environmental factors in people's diverse lives which may have contributed to their positive dispositions towards change in relation to technology enhanced learning. We expect that such narrative approaches could serve to support colleagues in other institutions to warm up to ever-changing technological advances.