The Discursive Construction of Irish Early Childhood Education and Care Policy: a Critical Discourse Analysis

Conceptual distinctions between care and early childhood education have influenced and reinforced the construction of knowledge about the early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy area. Discursive constructions in policy texts permeate wider society and become embodied in the broad social domain as “truths”, establishing the status quo about how social issues are perceived. Close scrutiny of the knowledge constructed about key concepts within Irish ECEC policy texts between 1998 and 2008 can shed some light on the ideological perspectives shaping the truths about ECEC in Irish society. This research used a critical discourse analysis (CDA) methodology to investigate policy texts; involving the undertaking of a thorough linguistic textual analysis, while also considering the wider political and social context of these texts. Using the CDA method this thesis aimed to understand the conceptual construction of ECEC policy, focusing in on how children’s rights are both constructed and obstructed within the truths known about ECEC and how this impacts on a rights based construction of policy. Recent ECEC policy in Ireland has developed in a reactive fashion, paying lip service to the rights of children while more often serving the needs of others. Findings show that the key knowledge constructions within Irish ECEC policy shape early education as subordinate to childcare; thus within this notion of childcare, the provision of places is more urgent than reconceptualising the ECEC sector. The concept of parental choice, and meeting parent’s needs and rights, influences policy more so than the rights or needs of children; children are predominantly constructed as in need of early education as preparation for formal schooling. The concept of rights is subordinated to that of needs; targeting has been the favoured policy action as opposed to the provision of universal services. While language of rights, universality and more joined-up policy approaches have permeated the linguistic construction of policy texts, there has been no significant shift within understandings of ECEC or children’s rights in the wider policy realm. Without a shift in the conceptual understanding of ECEC policy, a children’s rights focus will remain underdeveloped

Design of Modular, Shape-transitioning Inlets for a Conical Hypersonic Vehicle

For a hypersonic vehicle, propelled by scramjet engines, integration of the engines and airframe is highly desirable. Thus, the forward capture shape of the engine inlet should conform to the vehicle body shape. Furthermore, the use of modular engines places a constraint on the shape of the inlet sidewalls. Finally, one may desire a combustor cross- section shape that is different from that of the inlet. These shape constraints for the inlet can be accommodated by employing a streamline-tracing and lofting technique. This design technique was developed by Smart for inlets with a rectangular-to-elliptical shape transition. In this paper, we generalise that technique to produce inlets that conform to arbitrary shape requirements. As an example, we show the design of a body-integrated hypersonic inlet on a winged-cone vehicle, typical of what might be used in a three-stage orbital launch system. The special challenge of inlet design for this conical vehicle at an angle-of-attack is also discussed. That challenge is that the bow shock sits relatively close to the vehicle body

Igniting intersectoral collaboration in chronic disease management: a participatory action research study on epilepsy care in Ireland

Models of care developed to improve the lives of people with chronic diseases highlight integrated care as essential to meeting their needs and achieving person (patient)-centered care (PCC). Nevertheless, barriers to collaborative practice and siloed work environments persist. To set in motion some groundwork for intersectoral collaboration this study brought two expert groups of epilepsy care practitioners together to engage in participatory action research (PAR). The expert practitioner groups were hospital-based epilepsy specialist nurses (ESNs) and community-based resource officers (CROs). The PAR highlighted, that while the participants share a mutual interest in caring for people with epilepsy, underdeveloped CRO-ESN relationships, arising from unconscious bias and ambiguity can result in missed opportunities for optimal care coordination with consequent potential for unnecessary replication and waste of finite resources. However, through dialogue and critical self-reflection, a growing emotional connection between the disciplines evolved over the course of the PAR. This allowed for buds of collaboration to develop with CROs and ESNs working together to tackle some of the key barriers to their collaboration

The rhetoric and reality of integrated patient-centered care for healthcare providers: An ethnographic exploration of epilepsy care in Ireland

In line with healthcare reform across the world, the National Clinical Programme for Epilepsy (NCPE) in Ireland describes a model that aims to achieve holistic integrated person (patient)-centered care (PCC). While generally welcomed by stakeholders, the steps required to realize the NCPE ambition and the preparedness of those involved to make the journey are not clear. This study explored the perceptions of healthcare providers in the Irish epilepsy care ecosystem to understand their level of readiness to realize the benefits of an integrated PCC model. Ethnographic fieldwork including observations of different clinical settings across three regions in Ireland and one-to-one interviews with consultant epileptologists (n = 3), epilepsy specialist nurses (n = 5), general practitioners (n = 4), and senior healthcare managers (n = 3) were conducted. While there is a person-centered ambiance and a disposition toward advancing integrated PCC, there are limits to the readiness of the epilepsy care environment to fully meet the aspirations of healthcare reform. These are the following: underdeveloped healthcare partnerships;, poor care coordination;, unintended consequences of innovation;, and tension between pace and productivity. In the journey from policy to practice, the following multiple tensions collide: policy aims to improve services for all patients while simultaneously individualizing care; demands for productivity limit the time and space required to engage in incremental and iterative improvement initiatives. Understanding these tensions is an essential first step on the pathway to integrated PCC implementation

Are patients ready for integrated person-centered care? A qualitative study of people with epilepsy in Ireland

The National Clinical Programme for Epilepsy (NCPE) in Ireland aims to deliver a holistic model of integrated person-centered care (PCC) that addresses the full spectrum of biomedical and psychosocial needs of people with epilepsy (PwE). However, like all strategic plans, the model encompasses an inherent set of assumptions about the readiness of the environment to implement and sustain the actions required to realize its goals. In this study, through the lens of PwE, the Irish epilepsy care setting was explored to understand its capacity to adopt a new paradigm of integrated PCC. Focus groups and semi-structured one-to-one interviews were employed to capture the qualitative experiences of a sample of Irish PwE (n = 27) in the context of the care that they receive. Participants were from different regions of the country and were aged between 18 and 55 years with 1 to 42 years since diagnosis (YSD). Highlighting a gap between policy intent and action on the ground, findings suggest that patient readiness to adopt a new model of care cannot be assumed. Expectations, preferences, behaviors, and values of PwE may sustain the more traditional constructions of healthcare delivery rather than the integrated PCC goals of reform. These culturally constituted perceptions illustrate that PwE do not instinctively appreciate the goals of healthcare reform nor the different behavior expected from them within a reformed healthcare system. Recalibrating deep-rooted patient views is necessary to accomplish the aspirations of integrated PCC. Patient engagement emphasizing the meaningful role that they can play in shaping their healthcare services is vital

Sustained VWF‐ADAMTS‐13 axis imbalance and endotheliopathy in long COVID syndrome is related to immune dysfunction

Background Prolonged recovery is common after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection; however, the pathophysiological mechanisms underpinning Long COVID syndrome remain unknown. VWF/ADAMTS-13 imbalance, dysregulated angiogenesis, and immunothrombosis are hallmarks of acute COVID-19. We hypothesized that VWF/ADAMTS-13 imbalance persists in convalescence together with endothelial cell (EC) activation and angiogenic disturbance. Additionally, we postulate that ongoing immune cell dysfunction may be linked to sustained EC and coagulation activation. Patients and methods Fifty patients were reviewed at a minimum of 6 weeks following acute COVID-19. ADAMTS-13, Weibel Palade Body (WPB) proteins, and angiogenesis-related proteins were assessed and clinical evaluation and immunophenotyping performed. Comparisons were made with healthy controls (n = 20) and acute COVID-19 patients (n = 36). Results ADAMTS-13 levels were reduced (p = 0.009) and the VWF-ADAMTS-13 ratio was increased in convalescence (p = 0.0004). Levels of platelet factor 4 (PF4), a putative protector of VWF, were also elevated (p = 0.0001). A non-significant increase in WPB proteins Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and Osteoprotegerin (OPG) was observed in convalescent patients and WPB markers correlated with EC parameters. Enhanced expression of 21 angiogenesis-related proteins was observed in convalescent COVID-19. Finally, immunophenotyping revealed significantly elevated intermediate monocytes and activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in convalescence, which correlated with thrombin generation and endotheliopathy markers, respectively. Conclusion Our data provide insights into sustained EC activation, dysregulated angiogenesis, and VWF/ADAMTS-13 axis imbalance in convalescent COVID-19. In keeping with the pivotal role of immunothrombosis in acute COVID-19, our findings support the hypothesis that abnormal T cell and monocyte populations may be important in the context of persistent EC activation and hemostatic dysfunction during convalescence

Exploring Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Ireland: Critical Discourse Analysis as a Methodological Tool

The Irish government have invested considerably in the broad early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector over the last decade. However, a distinction persists within Irish policy between childcare and early education, both structurally and conceptually. Early education frequently refers to intervention based pre-school services; conversely childcare frequently refers to the broad spectrum of care services for 0-12 year olds, from family based child care through to centre-based provision (Hayes & Bradley, 2006; NESF, 2005; OECD, 2004). As a result of this, ‘early childhood services in Ireland are fractured across the welfare (childcare) and educational (early education) domains and … targeted in nature’(Hayes, 2008, p. 33). The National Children’s Strategy marked ‘the beginning of a shift towards using rights-based language in policy development … by strongly reflecting the UNCRC’ (Hayes, 2002, p. 49). The ambitious language of Irish ECEC policy documents is not always realised in policy implementation, which leads to a tendency toward rhetoric. Using a children’s rights lens this paper reports on the preliminary findings of a research study which has sampled these policy documents to analyse the extent to which they consider children and are rights-based from a linguistic perspective. A critical discourse analysis (CDA), which involves thorough analysis of the linguistic structure of documents alongside wider consideration of the socio-political culture in which they were created, allows us to find ‘ways into texts’ (Pennycook, 2008). Consequently, this paper aims to use CDA to locate Irish ECEC policy, particularly it’s approach to ‘children’s rights’, in terms of language and ideology

Everyday Neoliberalism and the Subjectvity of Crisis: Post-Political Control in the Era of Financial Turmoil

As the financial crisis has progressed from its immediate origins in 2008 as a US-basedcredit crunch to a global economic emergency, Constructivist IPE scholarship has turnedto social norms and expectations not only as variables explaining its origins, but also asfactors constraining its resolution. In this article I suggest that while such work doesusefully identify the role of 'everyday' values, and struggles, in shaping the game ofcontemporary financial life, it avoids discussing the fundamental role of capitalistpractices of valorisation in sustaining this life. To make my case I invoke Foucault'sdiscussion of neoliberal 'crisis subjectivity' and the closely attendant notion of humancapital, suggesting a need to examine neoliberal technologies of the self. However, Iexpand on Foucault's arguments in this respect to show how his comments onneoliberalism posit not only a 'positive' ontology of subjectification but also make stronghints towards a theory of immanent social control through the market, akin to thatoutlined by Deleuze. In more recent formulations of the crisis, such as in Hardt andNegri's Commonwealth, this mode of control is posed as the only such mode adequate toa regime of capitalist valorisation that is itself premised on the productive potential of thecommon. This move allows Hardt and Negri, rightly, to associate today's crisis with amore profound, ontological crisis, grounded in the relative autonomy of labour fromcontemporary capitalist command

Michel Foucault Dan Hubungan Internasional

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