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This article provides a timely intervention to debates and scholarship about the professional regulation of social work and social care. In Ireland, the recent commencement of the statutory regulation of social care by CORU – Ireland’s multi-professional health regulator – offers a watershed opportunity for learning. Social work has been separately regulated by CORU for over a decade, while the social care work register opened in November 2023. We conduct a comparative content analysis of the standards of proficiency for social work and for social care work. Albeit with different historical origins, regulation has now provided these professions with distinctive, as well as shared professional ‘benchmarks’, that may shape the trajectories of their future roles and training. We consider the approach CORU takes to regulation, in terms of the standards and how these differentiate or align the two professions. The novel contribution of the paper lies in its key findings. Namely, that: the format of the standards of proficiency framework itself warrants further consideration; insufficient attention is paid to empathy and emotions across standards; there is an absence of a considered approach to the influence of socio-economic factors on practice; there are variations in the emphasis placed on relational versus socio-political dimensions in practice; and finally, there are differences in the importance paid to ‘critical understanding’ across the standards. These areas particularly illuminate how CORU frames and interprets the nature of both professions. It is concluded that the standards of proficiency for both social care work and social work have much shared terrain, interspersed with infrequent but striking differences, indicative of the many commonalities and overlap in occupational spheres for both professions.

The Faculty of Lifelong Learning at South East Technological University's Carlow campus, is one of the largest providers of part-time learning in the Irish Higher Education sector. A large majority of our lifelong learners, 88%, are adult learners over the age of 23, therefore the perspectives of our part-time learners offer us valuable insights into adult learner experiences in the Irish Higher Education sector. The outbreak of COVID-19 saw us pivot our provision to an emergency remote teaching (ERT) model in the first wave of the pandemic. The faculty undertook an extensive study of its learners in 2021 to examine the impacts of ERT on learners, and this article takes a qualitative approach to the findings of this study, looking specifically at learners' comments about success, and the barriers to success which ERT posed. Our study provided an opportunity to learn about our learners' conceptions of student identity, and how they interpret success as part-time learners.

The purpose of this paper is to present a reading of child protection and welfare practice in the recent COVID-19 pandemic, with reference to several popular concepts in social work. The focus is on the relevance of these concepts to the contemporary circumstances in which child protection and welfare social workers often now find themselves. The specific intention is to extract learning from four traditionally popular approaches in social work, namely, resilience-building, systems theory, ACES and trauma-informed approaches. This will be achieved by first introducing, and then explaining key ideas and conventions of each approach. Here, relevant and established literature will be referenced to inform explanations. As the utility of the systemic perspective for child protection work is already well established, the paper considers how this perspective can be extended to assist in work with children and young people in the pandemic who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). In this paper, exploration of the detail of that extension lies in resilience building and trauma-informed practice. Whilst concepts of trauma-sensitivity and resilience are variously embedded in ACEs literature, their mutual treatment tends to be deficient in one regard. Specifically, these concepts are often not thought about in a systemic manner, necessitating the inclusion of a systemic lens. Overall, the case of child protection and welfare social work offers an important focus by which one might question the relevancy of these approaches to contemporary practice in a global pandemic. In concluding, the paper's core proposition is revisited. Specifically, it is argued that the focal approaches, traditionally popular in social work, remain both instrumental and imperative, for understanding the complexities of child protection and welfare unfolding in a global pandemic.

Much has been written about the demands of 'pandemic pedagogy' and the 'online pivot' which have seen educators across the globe move to online teaching. Multiple studies are emerging of these online pedagogies and hasty upskills. Less exploration exists on the educator's own curation of the online self and on the extra workload of teaching online. This paper draws on the work of Zygmunt Bauman and Rein Raud, their work on performativity and 'practices of selfhood', to examine educators' self-curation onscreen. I suggest that educators' work has expanded to include the cultivation of an online self and that teaching online is a feature of the encroachment on the personal space and personal lives of academics. Teaching online, as such, is being weaponized by the neoliberal agendas at play in the education field.

A wide range of literature has already emerged which assesses the sudden closure of Higher Education Institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when many academic institutions turned to ERT (emergency remote teaching) in order to maintain teaching and learning. The Faculty of Lifelong Learning at Institute of Technology Carlow, Ireland, one of the largest providers of part-time learning in the Irish sector, undertook a study of its learners in January 2021, to ascertain their experiences of the online pivot. This article takes a qualitative approach to the findings of this study and it highlights the importance of acknowledging the lived experiences of our learners. We acknowledge that it is necessary to engage with our learners' opinions on the challenges and affordances of online and remote learning, and that the experiences of our learners are key to the future of our faculty and to part-time learning in Ireland. We focus on the normative expectations of learners, and their experiences of learning in the remote context, using a self-selected sample where N = 401 learners.

Now in its sixth year of implementation, the TECHFIT approach involves having individuals and teams of middle school teachers successfully complete a week-long, professional development (PD) workshop through which they acquire the essential skills that contribute to the task of innovating an exergame. An exergame is a technology-supported fitness game that can educate/train, assess performance, and/or entertain the player(s). Teachers demonstrate their understanding of concepts and tools taught in the PD by implementing their own functional exergame invention by the fifth day. Then, during the subsequent school year, the teachers teach the same skills they learned in the PD, so their students can innovate their own exergames. Successful completion of the curriculum addresses the majority of standards for technological and engineering literacy identified by the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA, 2020). This article will walk the reader through the process of creating an exergame that will employ externally wired input and output components. Although specific tools are used in the TECHFIT curriculum, the approach and process should be applicable to other tools.

The professionalisation of social care practice in Ireland, after a period of dormancy, has experienced rapid advancement toward statutory regulation and reform. Yet, the limited literature available in Ireland on the subject matter, almost exclusively predates these changes. This paper presents a theoretically informed commentary on the literature related to Evidence-Informed Practice (EIP) and professionalisation of social care professionals who work with children in Ireland. A key proposition of this paper is that rather than being distinct and autonomous, EIP may be most constructively understood as an integrated feature of professionalisation in social care. This is illustrated within themes identified in the body of literature related to EIP. Overall, the literature review in this paper is explicitly subjective, rather than systematic, and declared as operating broadly from a Social Constructionist orientation. The implicit Social Constructionist approach declared from the outset, is later overtly applied through a theoretical framework derived from Burr ([2015]. "Social constructionism" (3rd ed.). London: Routledge) and Gergin ([1985]. The social constructionist movement in modern psychology. "The American Psychologist," 40(3), 266-275), to inform discussion on EIP within professionalisation of social care professionals. The intention is, that discussion will generate learning for practitioners seeking to improve practice with children in the field, by addressing some of the significant challenges and practice concerns identified in the former review. It is proposed that, because of its nature as a historically and culturally unique moment in time, intensifying professionalisation of social care in Ireland provides a valuable opportunity for practitioners seeking to improve practice with children. This opportunity lies in the potential for practitioners to use the process of professionalisation as a platform to compel higher standards for social care in Ireland, including better standards of EIP, through such measures as lobbying and advocacy work.

This article presents critical commentary on the relationship between wider policy in Ireland for children, and the practice of social workers and social care workers who work with children on the ground level. An overview of the current policy context for children is achieved through a focused commentary on the literature. This operates around three broad themes. First, the pervasive influence of a children's rights paradigm on policy in Ireland must be accounted for. Second, policy that is manifest as a feature of regulation, audit, accountability and compliance culture is considered. Finally, an overview of key policy related to specific areas of practice with children in Ireland is mapped out. Following a review of the literature, the utility of a Jansson ([2017]. "Empowerment series: Becoming an effective policy advocate" (8th ed.). Boston: Centage Learning) Framework of Policy-Practice is explored for practitioners who seek to make better links between policy and their practice in the field. The proposition is that the Framework offers one theoretical mechanism for practitioners who are concerned with strengthening policy and practice links. The discussion in this paper is timely and relevant in the context of increasing external regulation defined by a cultural shift towards audit, compliance and accountability, and related processes of professionalisation. To date, development of literature in Ireland for social professionals on the relationship between policy and practice remains broadly neglected.

Disabled children experience increased risk of abuse and neglect. Concurrently, serious concerns and practical impediments persist regarding the capacity of statutory child protection and welfare services to respond adequately to their needs. Specifically, the focus in this article is on the assessment stage of the social work process within child protection and welfare teams in the Republic of Ireland. Within this, critical commentary on the literature in this article sets out barriers to professional assessment. These include those associated with interviewing children with cognitive and linguistic impairments, negotiating resource constraints, and overcoming knowledge impediments. Following a thematic overview of literature, theoretical vantage points associated with ableism and derived from the broad field of disability studies, informs concluding analysis with focus on lessons learned for future practice. The proposition is, that theoretical perspectives associated with ableism may aid practitioners in seeking to overcome knowledge, attitudinal and social equality barriers to effective child protection, that existing literature alludes to.

Intellectually disabled children experience unique vulnerabilities related to poverty. The literature further identifies strong concerns for service delivery and practice with intellectually disabled children in the context of austerity measures arising from economic recession. Statistical data in Ireland are well developed on the equality impacts of economic recession in 2008. Qualitative research is by comparison lacking. This study presents research findings on the impact of recession on intellectually disabled young people and their families in Ireland. It does so to illuminate the meaning of existing statistical indicators which suggest adverse effects of austerity on this population group. A Framework Method of analysis is applied to transcripts produced from a Biographical Narrative Interpretative Method (BNIM) of interviewing. A sample of eight participants is reported on, which includes two intellectually disabled young people, three parents of intellectually disabled young people and three social workers in disability services. Findings take the form of themes and subthemes, which are then used to inform a discussion on key learning for practitioners moving forward. Within this, distinct concerns for practice with intellectually disabled children and young people are identified, such as the potential for practitioners to mis-conceptualise some behaviours that challenge as arising from impairment rather than poverty. Overall a predominantly negative impact of austerity on these families is evidenced. Results indicate that more meaningful partnership between policy makers and service users is required in future periods of economic adversity.

This study examines the context in which Irish outdoor ECEC learning is situated and examines insights from outdoor education practitioners. Using a qualitative lens, we look at 'quality' interactions and the scope which outdoor learning offers for impactful teaching and learning. Research was conducted during the first stages of the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020, involving participants who worked in outdoor and forest school settings. The results of this study indicate the major role that the physical environment and the educator play in the construction of quality interactions outdoors, and it examines the potential future growth of outdoor ECEC in Ireland as a result of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of utmost concern for effective child protection and child and family services is evidence-based practice. There is an onus of accountability on providers of therapeutic services to establish the merit and cost efficiency of their work. Developing standardised evidence-based outcome measures for children and families, towards which the service provider can strive, is assuredly required as a yardstick against which progress can be measured and modified. Yet, outcome measures will only work in conducive organisational conditions. Specifically, to operationalise a suite of outcome measures into a complex organisation, from administrative policy to grassroots practice, requires understanding of barriers and facilitators of implementation. Through funded research, we investigate these factors within the implementation of a new outcomes framework in a European child and family service. Following a literature review exercise, qualitative research findings from two focus groups targeted, respectively, at the managerial and front line practitioner level, illuminate complex conditions and underlying mechanisms, as well as attitudinal, resource and knowledge factors upon which implementation is predicated. We conclude with recommendations around establishing sustainable conditions and arrangements in organisations, to ensure outcome measures act as effective instruments, rather than costly and dispensable paper exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abuse of children with disabilities occurs at significantly higher rates than for their majority population peers. Compounding this are complex barriers to effective professional safeguarding. Rather than viewing this as a matter exclusively about childhood, maltreatment ought to be conceptualized as occurring across a wider life course trajectory for children who are victimized. To achieve this broader perspective, lifespan effects will be understood through the critical application of seminal developmental lifespan theories. Moving forward, the complexity that underlies persistence, in disproportionately higher rates of maltreatment of children with disabilities, should be considered relevant across a long and varied life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although peer sexual health education is a common form of sexual health promotion for youth, systematic reviews of these programs are relatively rare. In this study we interviewed youth peer educators to inquire about their experience of program evaluation and their perception of what is needed to develop effective evaluation practices. Data were collected from eighteen participants in semi-structured qualitative interviews of youth (aged 16-28 years) sexual health peer educators in Ontario, Canada. Community-based research principles were employed throughout the project with youth involved in all stages of the research. Analysis of the data revealed four key themes relating to youth sexual health peer education evaluation: i) varied program goals; ii) benefits to peer educators; iii) diverse evaluation methods; and iv) challenges in conducting evaluation. We discuss the relevance of our findings for evaluation practices of peer sexual health education programs.

The Kick, Stroke and Swim (KSS) program can be used to engage students in swimming-skill acquisition and fitness training using a variety of modalities, strategies and techniques on dry land. Practicing swim strokes and techniques on land gives all levels of swimmers--from beginner to competitive--a kinesthetic awareness of the individual components of each stroke that will enhance skill development and refinement. The KSS program assists with assessing the fundamental techniques of each skill component, may be used with peer assessments, and is a helpful tool to demonstrate proper technique for parental assistance. The swimming strokes executed on a variety of equipment such as a physioball, playground ball, therapy roller, therapy half-roller and BOSU ball, can address the skills of swimmers at different levels. Practicing these skills and techniques on the pool deck and in other land-based spaces during physical education class or at home, may assist students with retention and skill development. In addition, KSS training may enhance stroke acquisition and improvement of a student's overall fitness level, and land training could offer students an opportunity to build a confident skill base before entering the pool. This article will provide techniques, strategies and ideas for physical educators and swim instructors to engage swimmers at all levels.

Disabled children experience unique vulnerabilities in the context of child protection and welfare services. Current research alludes to strong concerns about social inequality, professional responses, judgement, knowledge and awareness limitations, and practical constraints. This article presents a focused commentary on the literature pertaining to child protection and disabled children. It does so through the lens of a broad affirmative non-tragedy approach. Within this, consideration is given to the distinct experience of disabled children within the broader child protection and welfare system, including experiences of being in care and of leaving care. The matter of children's rights is explicitly addressed with a particular focus on the right for children to have their voices heard. Core themes are drawn from the body of material, which are then used to inform a discussion on the key points of learning for practitioners and policy makers moving forward. The article concludes with the recognition that, to date the matter of supporting disabled children and their families within the child protection and welfare context remains both critical and broadly neglected. It proposes that the affirmative non-tragedy model offers an effective theoretical lens to progress an assertive children's rights approach within the child protection and welfare context.