The study reported on in this paper is set in the context of a national programme of professional development for primary teachers in the Republic of Ireland which has been in operation since 1999 and finished in 2008. The paper explores the acquisition and interpretation by teachers of the elements of the reform. The authors consider the extent…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of the Stay Safe Programme, a school-based safety skills program, in facilitating the disclosure of sexual abused among 145 sexually abused Irish children and adolescents. More participants, particularly female adolescents, made disclosures of suspected sexual abuse than did 443 non-participants. (Author/CR)

Changes in safety knowledge and skills and self-esteem of 339 Irish children (ages 7-10) who participated in the Stay Safe Programme were compared with those of 388 controls. Trained children showed significant improvements in safety knowledge and skills and these gains were maintained at 5 month follow-up. (Author/CR)

A study examined attitudes of Irish employers toward vocational training (VT) activities, state agencies responsible for administering VT, and the skills that employees would need in the future. Of a sample of 500 firms that were selected as being representative from the standpoints of size, sector, location, and form of ownership, 219 were…

Purpose: The focus of this paper is to highlight the issues impacting technology-enhanced learning (TEL) in an industrial setting in Ireland. The paper uses the output from a community of practice (CoP) set up to identify and discuss these issues. Seven companies participated in the CoP. Their experiences represented the full spectrum of…

Ireland's Industrial Restructuring Training Programme (IRTP) was evaluated to determine its effectiveness as a vehicle for improving the managerial and supervisory skill levels of employees in existing enterprises. Data were collected from the following sources: review of all program-monitoring documents submitted since the IRTP's inception;…

Ireland's program of specific skills training (SST) Objective 1 courses, which are designed to train/retrain the labor force required for implementation of Ireland's Industry and Services Operational Programme, was evaluated by analyzing program expenditure reports and participant profiles, surveying a random sample of 101 employers, and visiting…

This study examines recent initiatives in the Irish Republic to integrate ICT into the primary school system. The study includes an analysis of the social, political and educational background to past initiatives, both government and teacher-led, to make more use of ICT in the general school system over the past 30 years. The government's…