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Home-school partnership has often been lauded as a key contributor in raising educational attainment. However, the level of partnership experienced by parents who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) can be limited by poor English-language proficiency and other unique challenges. This paper is concerned with a systematic review and analysis of the evidence of home-school partnership for learners with EAL in primary schools. It identifies international research trends, and gaps in research in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The analysis demonstrates that there is a dearth of literature pertaining to home-school partnership interventions in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It also identifies a global necessity for interventions aimed at instigating attitudinal change among teachers and systemic institutional change.

In recent years, arts partnerships have gained increased popularity as a means of delivering arts education and art-in-education in schools. Creating opportunities for both teachers and artists alike, arts partnerships can enhance a shared sense of purpose and mutual respect, while also developing creative skills, knowledge and expertise. Although many studies on both national and international levels have identified the successes and challenges of arts partnerships in schools, a gap in how these partnerships can enhance teachers' professional development regarding arts education still exists. Therefore, this article discusses the potential impact of arts partnerships and whether these collaborations can act as a professional development initiative, to potentially enable and support teachers in their enhancement of arts education. The evidenced impacts, possibilities and indeed, challenges of such arts partnerships in schools are explored while arts partnerships approaches, policies and directions on a both national and international level, are also discussed. Literature is also critically reviewed regarding the facilitation of, and teacher professional development in, arts education.

Questions of gender equality pervade our culture, particularly in the world of work, where about three quarters of leaders are men. This paper draws on 60 interviews with women in the UK, in senior leadership roles, in a variety of fields. The research questions address the interviewees' perceptions of three areas: career challenges (or barriers) for women who wish to access leadership roles; the main facilitators of career progress for women and changes they have seen and anticipate seeing for women leaders at work. The main challenges or barriers were perceived as a masculine work culture; discrimination and the glass ceiling; gendered stereotyping; and the difficulties of combining work and family life. Facilitators were their own determination and agency, mentoring and networking, with little mention of support through places of work. With regard to change for women at work, they saw the glass ceiling as moving gradually upwards, although some more 'masculine' industries were more difficult for women to navigate. With the exception of the women in higher education, they did not support feminism or an affirmative stance towards women's progress and in the private sector were accepting of the prioritisation of business motives over equity issues.

Higher education systems globally have seen major increases in women's participation and the overall trend in OECD countries has been a transition from the traditional male majority in enrolments to a substantial female majority. Prompted by a recent reversal of this trend, this paper explores gender differences in participation in higher education in 27 OECD countries between 1971 and 2015. While increased participation by women was thought to be part of the solution to persistent gender inequalities we argue that this is not an inevitable outcome. Our argument is based on an analysis of changes in the gender composition of the student population, using available secondary data. We explore how changing gender differentials are linked to the concurrent massification of HE, changing distribution of enrolments by field of study, changes in sex segregation by field, features of national education systems and wider social structural differences related to gender. Our analysis examines the complex interaction between discipline-specific levels of sex segregation and overall levels of gender parity. We argue that that sex segregation needs to be considered alongside women's long-standing higher participation rates to understand why the latter has not triggered a transformation in the gendered division of labour.

In the context of an impending global educational recruitment crisis, together with the recognition of the critical impact of effective leadership on educational outcomes, leadership preparation has become a focus of educational reform worldwide. The design and delivery of pre-appointment programmes for school leadership has significance for school effectiveness. In many countries, a leadership qualification is now mandatory for aspiring principals. In the Republic of Ireland, Tóraíocht, a non-mandatory accredited programme of preparation for school leadership was introduced in 2008, adding to the various diplomas and degrees available through higher education institutions. Adopting a narrative-informed qualitative methodological approach, the aim of this research study was to examine whether Tóraíocht makes a difference to the perceived leadership competencies of the novice primary school principals (n = 12), six of whom had participated in Tóraíocht and six of whom had not. The main findings indicate certain favourable conclusions regarding the impact of the programme on graduates subsequently appointed to primary-level principalship positions, and positive attitudes towards the proposed introduction of a compulsory pre-appointment leadership qualification in the near future.

Home-school partnership has often been lauded as a key contributor in raising educational attainment. However, the level of partnership experienced by parents who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) can be limited by poor English-language proficiency and other unique challenges. This paper is concerned with a systematic review and analysis of the evidence of home-school partnership for learners with EAL in primary schools. It identifies international research trends, and gaps in research in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The analysis demonstrates that there is a dearth of literature pertaining to home-school partnership interventions in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It also identifies a global necessity for interventions aimed at instigating attitudinal change among teachers and systemic institutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the existing studies on academic writing were conducted in ESL/EFL university settings. Further research targeted at other educational settings such as primary schools, for students in different stages of their studies, will advance our understanding of student writing broadly. The study aims to investigate the impact of writing instruction on students' engagement, using the activity theory. Participants were five grade four teachers teaching English and their grade four Singaporean students in five classrooms in a local primary school. The observation data and field notes were coded, using Dȍrnyei's (2007) qualitative data analysis scheme and NVivo. Findings show that preparing mediated tools, arranging division of labour in executing the tasks, setting rules and objects, and having communities that teachers involved in are crucial factors to consider in the activity system. Before discussing student activity system with their own objects/motive, it is important to understand what types of activity system the teachers bring to the writing classroom. Our study contributes knowledge to research on writing instruction and students' engagement by analysing grade four writing lessons from an activity theory perspective. The findings may also be useful pedagogically for educators outside Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the potential for engaged learning among final-year undergraduate Education Studies students at a new, post-1992. It discusses a case study analysis of a ‘Directed Experiential Learning’ (DEL) intervention in the final year of an education studies degree designed to engage and motivate students and emphasise the links between theory and practice for them. Implementation took place in 2012–2013 with a cohort of 37 students and quantitative and qualitative analysis was performed afterwards to investigate the perspectives of students (online questionnaire and interview with 2 students) and tutors (4 individual interviews) on the DEL approach applied. The study described should be of particular interest to those teaching on and designing third level education studies programmes as well as related disciplines that might participate in integrated working arrangements in practice (e.g. nursing, social care). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2011Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sectorpresented Ireland with an opportunity to rethink the issue of patronage in Irish primary schools, as well as to consider how ‘religious education’ might be approached in such schools in the future. This paper suggests that, for the first time since 1831, Ireland had an opportunity to provide ‘state schooling’ for all children, regardless of their religious beliefs or lack thereof. The paper proposes educatingallchildren in the state in non-denominational secular settings, leaving faith formation to the private domain of parents and communities. Although the concept of ‘secularism’ has negative connotations for those who belong to a religious community, this paper suggests that it provides a framework for inclusive and egalitarian education, offering children and young people the opportunity to learn alongside their peers, irrespective of religious backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The status of school placement in the Republic of Ireland has recently been elevated in importance within a reconceptualisation of initial teacher education (ITE). This paper shares the findings from one case study of a school–university partnership enacted in this regard. The partnership involved a researcher-in-residence at the school championing the concept of a structured authentic democratic partnership. The findings show the impact of a champion at the school site in developing professional conversations among a multiplicity of policy actors. An unexpected finding was the depth of higher order peer cooperation achieved in this first iteration of a structured setting by student teachers. However cultural and contextual challenges abound in seeking to build the trust required to enact authentic partnerships in this regard. The findings have significance for the Teaching Council as they build capacity for new and innovative models of the practicum in ITE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]