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Irish-Teachers-Journal-2019 Irish Teachers’ Journal Volume 7, Number 1 November 2019 Irish Teachers’ Journal Volume 7 Number 1 November 2019 1 —————————— CONTENTS —————————— 2 3 Editorial 7 Author Notes 11 The power of primary schooling in children’s lives – considering rights, equalities and children’s lived citizenship. Dympna Devine 25 Supporting the development of wellbeing and resilience in schools: The role of non-cognitive skills. Shane Owen, Sinéad McGilloway, Jonathan Murphy 42 Challenges in implementing wellbeing in Irish primary schools. Margaret Nohilly, Fionnuala Tynan 57 The impact of policy on leadership practice in the Irish educational context; implications for research. Fiona King, Mary Nihill 74 “I love doing AfL and I would like to continue doing it”: Irish primary students’ perspectives on the affective impact of using assessment for learning in mathematics. Ann Marie Gurhy, Zita Lysaght, Michael O’Leary 91 Using collaborative teaching and storybooks in linguistically diverse junior infant classrooms to increase pupils’ contributions to story-time discussions. Aoife Merrins, Sylwia Kazmierczak-Murray, Rachel Perkins 113 The role of intergroup contact initiatives in promoting reconciliation and educational opportunities for children and young people in Northern Ireland. Shane Bowe 129 Lesbian and gay teachers and Ireland’s marriage equality referendum: Rainbow recognition or rancour redux? Orlaith Egan, Rory McDaid Irish National Teachers’ Organisation x Cumann Múinteoirí Éireann EG Parnell Square EG Cearnóg Parnell Dublin C Baile Átha Cliath C Telephone: BC JBF IIBB Fón: BC JBF IIBB Email: [email protected] Ríomhphost: [email protected] Web: www.into.ie Gréasán: www.into.ie General Secretary: John Boyle Rúnaí Ginearálta: Seán Ó Baoill IrIsh Teachers’ Journal, Volume 7, Number 1, November 2019. ISSN: 2009-6860 (Print). ISSN: 2009-6879 (Online). The Irish Teachers’ Journal (www.into.ie/media-centre/publications/the-irish-teachers-journal) is a peer-reviewed journal published annually by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, Vere Foster House, 35 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. The journal is distributed to all primary schools in the Republic of Ireland and primary and post- primary schools in Northern Ireland. It is also available as a free download from the publications section of the INTO website at www.into.ie/media-centre/publications/the-irish-teachers-journal . Copyright information Copyright © 2019 Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transmitted, or disseminated, in any form, or by any means, without prior permission from the INTO, to whom all requests to reproduce copyright material should be directed. The INTO grants authorisation for individuals to use copyright material for private research activities, classroom or organisational instruction and related organisational activities, student assignments or as part of a scholarly, educational or cultural presentation or workshop. The INTO allows use of links to facilitate access to the online version of the Irish Teachers’ Journal . The journal may be downloaded to view, use or display on computer or personal digital device. Enquiries to Education Section, INTO, Vere Foster House, 35 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. Email: [email protected]. Tel: 00353 (0) 1 8047700. For more information please visit: www.into.ie/media-centre/publications/the-irish-teachers- journal . Submitting a paper to the Irish Teachers’ Journal For information about writing an article, preparing your manuscript and general guidance for authors please contact the Education Section of the INTO at tel: 00353 (0) 1 8047700 or email: [email protected] or visit: www.into.ie/media-centre/publications/the-irish-teachers-journal. It is a condition of publication that authors assign copyright or licence the publication rights in their articles, including abstracts, to the INTO. Authors themselves are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources. Disclaimer: The INTO make every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the ‘Content’) contained in our publications. However, the INTO make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by the INTO. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. The INTO shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. IRISH TEACHERS’ JOURNAL Vol. 7, No. 1, November 2019 1 Editorial 2 The seventh Irish Teachers’ Journal is published at a time when teacher workload is receiving increased attention at a policy level. Following many requests to the Department of Education and Skills, a Primary Education Forum has been established to consider the issue of teacher workload, including the workload of principal teachers. To date, there has been little coordination of education initiatives with requests for participation, engagement, responses and involvement in a variety of initiatives or programmes or projects landing on principal teachers’ desks at an alarming rate. While each project or initiative is worthwhile in itself, the accumulated effect on teachers in schools is a sense of being overwhelmed with change. The purpose of the Primary Education Forum is to consider all initiatives with a view to assessing their impact on schools and deciding on the sequencing and timing of their introduction. The problem of workload is exacerbated by the increase in the number of ed - ucation agencies, all communicating directly with schools with their own demands and re - quests for engagement, involvement and responses. In addition to participating in the Primary Education Forum, the INTO is engaged in its own research on teacher workload. A focus on workload provides an opportunity to revisit our priorities in education. Change is a natural part of teachers’ lives. Teachers constantly engage in change in order to inspire their pupils on a day-to-day basis, learning from each other and seeking out new ideas to enhance their teaching. Supportive leadership, flexibility to innovate and trust in teachers enables change both at school and system level. The pace of change, however, can determine whether developments in curriculum or other education policies are positive experiences for teachers. A new primary language curriculum has recently been introduced in all primary schools in the Republic of Ireland, a review of senior cycle education has commenced, and a new junior cycle curriculum is being gradually phased in to post-primary schools. Children can now avail of two years of state-funded pre-school prior to starting primary school. INTO members in Northern Ireland continue with their industrial action, which is primarily focussed on workload. At a time of significant change it is imperative that teachers are supported in terms of resources and time – time for professional development, time for collaboration and time for reflection and learning. Attracting high calibre students to become teachers, and retaining them in the profession must always be a policy priority. Ireland is fortunate in the quality of its teachers and teaching continues to be considered an attractive profession. The professional work of teachers should never become burdensome, because of an undue focus on bureaucracy and accountability at the expense of professional autonomy, trust and teacher wellbeing. Articles in this edition of the journal address some of today’s priorities in education such as wellbeing and leadership, in addition to assessment for learning, oral language development for children with English as an additional language, a cross-community education initiative in Northern Ireland and the experiences of gay and lesbian teachers in the Republic of Ireland. The INTO is delighted that Professor Dympna Devine of UCD accepted the invitation to write a guest article for this edition of the journal. Professor Devine, a former primary teacher, is the lead researcher on the longitudinal study of children’s school s Email: [email protected] ISSN NLLR-OQOL (Print) NLLR-OQPR (Online) © NLMR Irish National Teachers’ Organisation www.into.ie Editorial lives, commissioned by the NCCA. Her article on The power of primary schooling in children’s lives – considering rights, equalities and children’s lived citizenship , captures many aspects of children’s lives in primary schools today, and raises many questions about their experiences of education. Writing from a sociological perspective, she argues that having a right to education is not the same thing as experiencing rights in education. She refers to international studies that highlight persistent differences among children in their progression and completion rates through education that are clearly related to social class, gender and ethnic/ migrant backgrounds. She then explores how schooling impacts on children’s identities and how understandings of child development shape schooling and reflect how adults relate to children in a school setting. Professor Devine’s article is timely because the INTO has recently commenced a campaign to highlight social inequalities within
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