Transmethodology: an innovative research approach for inclusion studies for those with Traumatic Brain Injury

Students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are often marginalized in terms of participation in higher education because of an implicit association of TBI with less academic functioning. The first named author is a Ph.D. scholar who aimed to add her voice to the voices of others and examine the lived experience of students with the same condition to identify possible supports that would enhance inclusion in higher education. This research was driven by the desire to illuminate both the hidden nuances of personal experience (hence the use of autoethnography) and to highlight the lack of research about educational participation of TBI survivors. The analysis was from both professional and personal perspectives. Through an examination via an iterative and interconnected research process, the authors explored the question, what are the supports for participation and access for students with TBI in higher education considering the first author’s experiences. Traditional research might provide generalizable data but may not facilitate deep illumination of experience and voice. This examination transcended traditional research and comprised autoethnographic and interview-based inquiry. It challenged the research team to consider different perspectives and to interrogate their own interconnections in the same engagement while working towards the same goal.  The concept of transmethodology will be discussed regarding the development of multiple perspectives that can assist in transgressing the common divisions in the theory and practice divide and explores knowledge of marginalization regarding participation for students with TBI. This paper argues for the importance of innovations such as transmethodology when researching deeply personal phenomena

Authentic inclusion-utopian thinking? – Irish post-primary teachers' perspectives of inclusive education

This study examines teachers' perspectives of inclusive practice for students with autism spectrum disorders in Irish post-primary schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 teachers nationally. The data were thematically analysed according to Braun and Clarke's framework, employing a deductive, constructionist, analytical approach based on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. Conclusions drawn include: In principle, teachers espoused the value of inclusion however, their practice evidenced little in terms of agency to effect inclusion. They attributed barriers experienced to external factors. Authentic inclusion requires adequate resourcing and attitudinal change in order to effectively transcend rhetoric and positively influence practice

Improving prison conditions by strengthening the monitoring of HIV, HCV, TB and harm reduction. Mapping report Ireland.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Tuberculosis (TB) and Hepatitis C (HCV) – are a major health concern in prisons, evidenced by the fact that prevalence rates tend to be substantially higher among prison populations than in the general population. Prisons and other places of detention are high-risk environments for the transmission of these diseases. This is related to the over-incarceration of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups who carry a disproportionately high burden of disease and ill-health; the criminalisation of drug users and high levels of injecting drug use; overcrowded and substandard prison conditions; inadequate health care; and the denial of harm reduction services. Over the past 20 years, from an Irish perspective, there has been significant improvement in medical services for the prison population. The Irish Prison Service (IPS), responsible for the prisoners and their health, has made significant investment since 1999 in better healthcare facilities for prisoners1. In 2001 the IPS introduced drug treatment plans and healthcare plans, Hep B vaccine was made accessible to prisoners, nurses were employed, drug free units were expanded, and methadone treatment was implemented. In 2006 the IPS published a drugs policy ‘Keeping drugs out of prison’. However, there still remains a lack of information available that would assist public authorities in making decisions with regards to these services. While some progress has been made in the adoption of monitoring mechanisms for infectious diseases in Irish prisons, this progress is arguably less than sufficient or consistent in meeting the standards of human rights-based prison monitoring. As has been acknowledged above, the absence of adequate medical services in prisons can contribute to, or even constitute, conditions that meet the threshold of ill treatment. Presently, to our knowledge, inspection of infectious diseases is not formally included in the criteria for inspection of places of detention. Prison monitoring is often separated from health care inspection guidelines, thus leaving gapsin terms of coherent recording and monitoring. This separation is less than optimal in terms of services being positioned to provide an effective and coherent national response to prisoner need. This report is part of a larger international project that seeks to address this gap

Post-primary school teachers’ knowledge and understanding of autism spectrum disorders

Current national policy in the Republic of Ireland advocates for the inclusion of students with learning difficulties in mainstream schools. With Asperger’s syndrome (AS) specifically, it is essential that teachers understand the syndrome and are well versed in appropriate approaches to effectively create an inclusive environment for these students in the mainstream classroom. This paper explores teacher knowledge and understanding of AS while also exploring what affects their confidence in educating students diagnosed with the syndrome. Data collection pre-dated changes to the DSM-V and as such AS is used throughout this paper. A survey was distributed nationally to a random sample of qualified post-primary school teachers. The findings revealed that teachers did not appear to possess an adequate level of knowledge and understanding in relation to the syndrome. Continued professional development programmes in the area appeared to have minimal effect, with those completing programmes scoring only marginally better than those who did not (2.85%). These findings are of concern if these teachers are then expected to foster an inclusive environment, particularly when a high proportion of teachers have previously taught a student diagnosed with the syndrome and their knowledge remains limited

Staff Stress and Interpersonal Conflict in Secondary Schools—Implications for School Leadership

The importance of school leadership and workplace stress is a recurring theme in educationbased research. The literature reports that workplace stress in teaching is a difficult matter to resolve, with mixed outcomes from interventions. The aim of this initial scoping study was to report on the experiences of school leaders with interpersonal conflict (IPC), a known cause of this workplace stress. Accordingly, a sample of twelve school leaders working in Irish post primary schools were recruited to participate in this study using semi-structured interviews. All twelve participants reported experiencing workplace stress and linked other people as a source of this stress. Nine out of twelve had experienced IPC as a school leader. School leaders also noted a fear of reporting workplace stress. Half of the participants reported becoming ill from workplace stress and had taken time off from work. Participants also reported ‘balkanisation’ of like-minded cliques that tried to exert control over other groups. None of the participants expressed confidence in organisational strategies to resolve workplace stress or IPC. This study demonstrates that resolutions for IPC were scant. Further research is needed to conceptualise this phenomenon in the school environment and to support school leaders to effectively manage IPC as a cause of workplace stress

School health promotion and teacher professional identity

PURPOSE – Health and education are inextricably linked. Health promotion sits somewhat uncomfortably within schools, often remaining a marginal aspect of teachers’ work. The purpose of this paper is to examine the compatibility of an HP-initiative with teacher professional identity. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – A qualitative research design was adopted consisting of semi-structured interviews. In total, 49 teachers in two school districts in the Auvergne region in central France were interviewed in depth post having completed three years’ involvement in a health promoting schools initiative called “Learning to Live Better Together” (“Apprendre a Mieux Vivre Ensemble”). FINDINGS – Teachers in the study had a broad conceptualisation of their role in health promotion. In keeping with international trends, there was more success at classroom than at whole school level. While generally teachers can be reluctant to engage with health promotion, the teachers in this study identified having little difficulty in understanding their professional identity as health promoters and identified strong compatibility with the HP-initiative. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS – Teachers generally viewed professional development in health promotion in a positive light when its underlying values were commensurate with their own and when the context was seen as compatible with the school mission. The promotion of health in schools needs to be sensitive to professional identity and be tailored specifically to blend more successfully with current teacher identity and practice. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – The promotion of health in schools needs to be sensitive to professional identity and be tailored specifically to blend more successfully with current teacher identity and practice.CIEC – Research Centre on Child Studies, IE, UMinho (FCT R&D unit 317), Portuga

Incivility in higher education: challenges of inclusion for neurodiverse students with traumatic brain injury in Ireland

This paper explores the lived experience of incivility for neurodiverse students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Ireland. The higher education (HE) environment can be challenging for students with TBI. Incivility is common in higher education, and students with disabilities such as TBI are often marginalized within academia, making them more vulnerable to incivility. For this paper, data are drawn from the first author’s autoethnographic study, and is supplemented with semi-structured interviews from a sample of HE seven students also with TBI. Results revealed that participants’ experiences of incivility were common and were linked to the organizational culture of higher education. Our experiences point to a need for better responsiveness when interactions are frequently uncivil, despite there being policies that recognize diversity and equality. This is the first paper of its kind to explore this particular experience in Ireland and the purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of the challenges of neurodiverse students and how they are exacerbated by organizational and interpersonal incivilit

A manual in quality standards in substance use education: evaluation report.

This report set out to evaluate the training provided by the Drug Education Workers Forum (DEWF) on the manual in Quality Standards in Substance Use Education as well as the efficacy of the manual itself. The evaluation was undertaken in three distinct parts. The first stage was the analysis of the one day evaluation data. The one day training took place over five years, 2008 - 2012 and across Local and Regional Drug Task Forces nationwide. In total, 521 participants took part in the training, with 481 evaluations collected in total. From these, three hundred and eighty two evaluations were included in the survey, with another 99 being received by the DEWF co-ordinator after the research was underway and are therefore not included in the analysis. The second stage was the analysis of the two day training evaluation data. This training took place over five years, from 2007 - 2011 and across four clusters of RDTF regions around the country. In total, 104 participants took part in the training. One hundred and three participants returned a questionnaire, on the day of training. The final stage of the evaluation comprised the creation of an online follow up survey focused on participants’ experiences of using the manual since the training. This questionnaire was sent to both one and two day participants. Ninety eight people responded to the follow up questionnaire. Recommendations: •Given the overwhelmingly positive responses to the training and manual, it clearly signals the need for further continuation and expansion. •Production of a further edition of the manual is recommended and attention given to simplifying the language used and making it more user friendly. •Further expansion of settings targeted for participation in training would be of benefit nationally. •The potential of the manual and training in the building of policy development capacity and competencies is clearly of merit. •Scope remains within the manual and training to extend the specific section on travellers, parents and service users to include other target groups such as individuals with intellectual disability, minority groups, prisoners and sex workers. •A follow up/refresher session could be conducted six months after undertaking the training. This can be done online, if resources are limited. This would potentially sustain and deepen engagement and understanding of participants. •Should training be continued it would be desirable to send out a follow up survey one year after training, in order to continue to gain insight into its efficacy and impact. •The partnership model and inter-agency planning that underpinned the development and implementation of QSSE partnership can serve as a model of good practice for similar programme development initiatives

Bullying and incivility in higher education workplaces: Micropolitics and the abuse of power

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the lived experiences of workplace ill-treatment of administrative and technical staff in the higher education sector, with a particular focus on organisational response.Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative interpretative phenomenological research design was employed. Using non-random, purposive sampling strategies nine self-selecting participants from three of the seven universities in the Republic of Ireland were interviewed in person. Data were analysed thematically employing the Pietkiewicz and Smith's (2012) four-stage data analysis model.Findings - Thematic analysis yielded four main themes: micro-political nature of bullying, cynicism about the informal response, the formal procedures exacerbate the problem and significant and adverse health impact. Participant narratives engender the lived experience for the reader.Research limitations/implications - As participants were self-selecting respondent bias is acknowledged.Practical implications - The findings of this study add to the accumulating evidence that organisations are failing to address workplace bullying.Social implications - In failing to protect employees, the adverse health difficulties experienced by targets of bullying are further exacerbated.Originality/value - While the literature yields much in terms of types of behaviours and impact, and argues for anti bullying policies and procedures in the workplace, what is evident is the selective organisational use of policy and procedures and inherent biases in place which expose a reluctance to effectively protect dignity and respect in the workplace.peer-reviewe

The Dark Side of School Culture

The extant literature evidences the link between incivility and workplace culture. Both have a symbiotic relationship whereby a change in one influences the other. When workplace cultures develop dysfunctional values and beliefs, negative traditions, and caustic ways of interacting, they have become “toxic cultures.” This study examined Irish post-primary school teachers’ experiences of incivility and toxic culture in the workplace through in-depth interviews with forty-two participants. Results show that toxic work culture had a negative impact on both the personal and professional lives of the participants. We conclude that antecedents in toxic school culture are linked to epistemological assumptions, group dynamics, and deficiencies in leadership, and we suggest that they act as causes and/or facilitators of workplace bullying