In recent times, the role of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), as a public service within Irish society has been illuminated. In the twenty-first century, although crises may unfold on a global scale, the response from society is galvanised at local level. Amongst other functions, ECEC is ideally positioned to form part of a local…

The early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce is foundational for providing high-quality learning, development and well-being experiences for young children. Policies can support the development of this workforce by addressing requirements for initial education and continuing professional development, as well as the working conditions of…

This article employs five teacher autobiographies in an attempt to examine their contribution to the history of teaching in Ireland. The article argues that such autobiographies provide significant insights into the history of the classroom and often represent subversive and disruptive narratives. As such they represent a valuable but overlooked…

Problematic policy constructions of the purpose of education implicate professional identities and working conditions of professionals working with the youngest children. This paper builds on our earlier writing, to contest teacher professional identities in Australia, Ireland, Denmark and the United States of America, to illustrate the crucial…

The United States does not guarantee families a wide range of supportive workplace policies such as paid maternity and paternity leave or paid leave to care for sick children. Proposals to provide such benefits are invariably met with the complaint that the costs would reduce employment and undermine the international competitiveness of American…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore graduate training through SME-based project work. The views and behaviours of graduates are examined along with the perceptions of the SMEs and academic partner institutions charged with training graduates. Design/methodology/approach: The data are largely qualitative and derived from the experiences of…