Jeffers, Gerry and Lillis, Carmel
(2021)
Responding to educational inequality in Ireland;
Harnessing teachers’ perspectives to develop a
framework for professional conversations.
Educational Studies, 47.
pp. 1-27.
ISSN 1465-3400
Abstract
Aspirations to combat educational inequality and disadvantage in
Ireland feature strongly in policy documents of recent decades.
Teachers and their concerns are not always to the forefront in
such publications or, indeed, in associated research. For this
study, 20 teachers and school principals who work in schools
located in communities with limited levels of economic, cultural
and social capital were interviewed. The interviews were openended,
allowing participants to articulate freely their thoughts
and feelings about their work. Transcript analysis led to the identification
of eight key themes: context; tensions and contradictions;
attendance; the ugliness of poverty; lack of continuity; parents’
expectations; teachers’ expectations; school
leadership. Furthermore, we propose that “relationships” is a crucially
persistent thread linking the eight themes. We conclude that
these themes offer a promising framework for schools to evaluate
their practices and to structure a programme of staff development
and to their understandings of educational disadvantage.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Educational inequality; disadvantage; ireland; teaching as emotional practice; relationships; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Education |
| Item ID: |
14558 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2021.1931043 |
| Depositing User: |
Dr. Gerry Jeffers
|
| Date Deposited: |
23 Jun 2021 11:12 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Educational Studies |
| Publisher: |
Routledge |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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