Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs) are uniquely positioned at the intersection between Deaf and hearing communities and often act as interpreters for their parents and hearing individuals. Informed by previous research which has highlighted language brokering as a core element of CODAs' experiences, along with the research which identifies the risk…

Given recent large-scale reform of school leadership and management policy with implications for leadership preparation, the Republic of Ireland is an interesting context in which to explore leadership preparation. Although policy reforms have influenced the preparation and development of school leaders at all levels in the system, there is little…

Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) often experience co-occurring psychosocial difficulties, the developmental trajectories of which are still not fully understood. This study sought to explore the manifestation of such difficulties during childhood, through first-hand accounts of those with DLD and their close relatives.…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the experiences, attitudes and expectations of higher education managers in relation to the increased use of metrics. Specifically, the authors examine a system of metrics which was introduced as part of the process for establishing Technological Universities in Ireland. Design/methodology/approach: A total of…

Background: There is continual support for teacher educators to play a more significant role in equipping teachers with the skills necessary to undertake practitioner research (Ellis, N., and T. Loughland. 2016. "The Challenges of Practitioner Research: A Comparative Study of Singapore and NSW." "The Australian Journal of Teacher…

This study focuses on how self-selecting Muslim women navigated Irish maternity services and uncovers ways in which their care was shaped by often unconscious but nonetheless harmful discriminatory policies and practices. We share examples of overt racism, negative attitudes and a failure to support often basic cultural needs. Some healthcare…

Available research suggests autistic mothers experience greater dissatisfaction with maternity care compared to non-autistic mothers. Limited research exists exploring autistic mothers' experiences of maternity care, and no research to date has considered maternity care professionals' experiences of delivering care to autistic mothers. This…

Thirty-one participants engaged in this oral history research study aimed at exploring the lived experience of intellectual disability nurses and healthcare assistants' knowledge of the trajectory of intellectual disability nursing over the last 30 years in the Republic of Ireland and England. This paper documents some of these experiences…

Globally it is estimated that Down syndrome occurs in 1 in 800 live births (Bull 2020). It has also been estimated that the incidence of Down syndrome occurs in 1/444 live births in the Republic of Ireland. Given the prevalence of Down syndrome births in Ireland and the fact that care is provided by the majority of parents at home, this…

There is a dearth of qualitative research concerning deaf people's experiences of participating in the Irish Sign Language (ISL) recognition movement, and this limits our ability to understand the opportunities and constraints they encountered as they negotiated their way toward the passing of the ISL Act 2017. While ISL is unique to Ireland, it…

The quality of life of autistic children and their parents is impacted by the stress they experience, their coping strategies and the availability of professional health, social and educational support services. Recent changes in the structural organisation of child disability professional supports in Ireland mean that in-depth knowledge about…

A purposeful sample of 15 mothers of children with severe and profound intellectual disabilities participated in this hermeneutic phenomenological study through interviews and completion of a diary. The aim of the study was to explore mothers' lived experience of 'giving medicines' to children with severe and profound intellectual disabilities.…

School leadership and school self-evaluations (SSE) have emerged as central to school improvement and effectiveness. In Irish policy, SSE has had a challenging history as several attempts to embed SSEs have been met by poor clarity around roles of responsibility, a moratorium on middle leadership appointments and more laterally, a global pandemic.…

This paper explores my role as co-convener of the Network for Educational Action Research in Ireland (NEARI). NEARI is a network where action researchers convene and engage in critical reflection and dialogue around their practice. They examine how they might enhance their practice and, in doing so, seek a way in which they might improve their…

This paper draws on an Irish government-commissioned study of parents' views about the sexualisation and commercialisation of children. We examine how parents understand 'sexualisation' qualitatively, through their evoking of past, present and future images of childhood. The data underlines how sexualisation becomes rationalised as something to…