Developing Educators for The Digital Age: A Framework for Capturing Knowledge in Action

Evaluating skills and knowledge capture lies at the cutting edge of contemporary higher education where there is a drive towards increasing evaluation of classroom performance and use of digital technologies in pedagogy. Developing Educators for the Digital Age is a book that provides a narrative account of teacher development geared towards the further usage of technologies (including iPads, MOOCs and whiteboards) in the classroom presented via the histories and observation of a diverse group of teachers engaged in the multiple dimensions of their profession. Drawing on the insights of a variety of educational theories and approaches (including TPACK) it presents a practical framework for capturing knowledge in action of these English language teachers – in their own voices – indicating how such methods, processes and experiences shed light more widely on related contexts within HE and may be transferable to other situations. This book will be of interest to the growing body of scholars interested in TPACK theory, or communities of practice theory and more widely anyone concerned with how new pedagogical skills and knowledge with technology may be incorporated in better practice and concrete instances of teaching

Controlling Greenhouse Gas Emissions by means of Tradable Emissions Permits and the Implications for Irish Farmers

The increasing concern over climate change has led to a number of international agreements to control greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture currently accounts for 28 percent of Ireland’s total greenhouse gas emission and therefore has a major role to play in Ireland achieving its emissions targets. To date research into reducing emissions from Irish agriculture has focused on devising abatement strategies at the farm level such as changes in animal feeding practices. Alternatively emissions could be controlled using market-based emissions abatement strategies such as emissions taxes or permit trading, which are in theory a least cost means of cutting emissions. This paper uses data from the Irish National Farm Survey to construct a farm-level Linear Programming model and to simulate a market for tradable emission permits. The impact on average gross margin of allowing farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by trading permits is compared with a scenario where emissions are unconstrained and a scenario where a command and control approach is adopted to reduce emissions.Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Farm-level Modeling, Linear Programming, Irish Agriculture, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

The Footballing Elephant in the Room? The Irish National Football Teams and Northern Players who declare for the Republic of Ireland

Northern Ireland has struggled to achieve momentum for “toleration, respect and recognition” that would help the society move towards meaningful embedding of the “appropriate normative expectations associated with equal citizenship” (McBride, 2015, p. 249). The society remains divided even two decades after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, as exemplified by the culture and practices that surround support for and endorsement of Ireland’s two ‘national’ football teams. Before the 1980s there appeared to be a greater separation of politics and Association Football in Northern Ireland, with the cross community support for the 1982 World Cup team serving as an example of that. In the late 1980s and early 90s football became increasingly politicised, with loyalist identity becoming synonymous with support Northern Ireland, and an increasingly confident Catholic population finding greater affiliation with the Republic of Ireland (Hassan, 2002). The Good Friday Agreement of 1998, though aspiring to harmonise identities (O’Neill, 2003), has potentially served to reinforce the concept of two distinct communities defined by their political and religious affiliations. On the surface level this appears to have created greater cultural and sporting divisions if analysing the situation through the pronouncements of public representatives on the Unionist side, and in so many young players of a Catholic background declaring adult allegiance to the Republic. However, at a deeper level, there appears to be a greater tolerance on the part of supporters with differing identities to recognise the achievements of the other side. Ultimately though, real harmony may only be attained when the symbols around football become less political and more neutral, in such areas as flags and anthems for example. There seems very little appetite for this though on any side, with each preferring to keep its own distinct identity rather than diluting them down to something more acceptable to those at the other end of the political spectrum

Symbols, Language, and Identity in Northern Ireland

Like a number of divided societies in the contemporary era, Northern Ireland has found it difficult to reconcile differences in the use of symbols, language, and other artefacts of identity, in its movement towards the creation of a stable, post-conflict national state. Historically, Northern Ireland has been socially and politically divided between Protestant Unionists who see themselves as British and Roman Catholic Nationalists who predominantly aspire to Irish unity. Even today, when there is relative peace, following violence that lasted three decades, there is still division between these two communities; each one having their own flags, symbols, sporting allegiances, and national or cultural folklore, which some might see as irreconcilable. This paper then asks the question of whether two such opposing forces can ever be reconciled, and if the two parts of this divided society can come together as one, finding a means of tolerating, if not quite accepting, the symbols of the other, and managing to transcend the idea of communal ownership of such symbols. It goes on to assess the viewpoint that such reconciliation can only occur when the symbols of the two sides are given equal status and legitimacy in the ‘language’ of the State itself, and finds positive voices in the literature to support this stance, drawing on socio-cultural and feminist theory to also re-examine the whole concept of a ‘nation state’ in itself

Simulating a Market for Tradable Greenhouse Gas Emissions Permits amongst Irish Farmers

Research into Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from Irish agriculture has focused on two main themes (i) projecting future emission levels and (ii) devising abatement strategies at the farm level such as changes in animal diet, better waste management and or changes in farm management practices. These abatement strategies will have costs associated with them some of which, such as capital investment or reducing livestock numbers, may be substantial. However economic theory indicates that market based solutions such as tradable emissions permits (TEP’s) are the least cost means of achieving desired reductions in emissions. To date within Europe a regulatory approach has been favoured when trying to curtail emissions from agriculture, the Nitrates Directive being a recent example. This paper seeks to compare the impact on farm incomes of a regulatory approach to emissions abatement with a TEP’s approach. In order to do this data from the Irish National Farm Survey is used to construct a farm-level Linear Programming (LP) model for each farmer within the dataset. Firstly a baseline scenario with no constraint on emissions is run. We then enforce a 20 percent reduction in emissions and the impact on farm incomes is measured. The LP model is then used to determine each farmers shadow value for a TEP. These shadow values are then weighted up to estimate the supply and demand and used to simulate a market for TEP’s and the farm income is re-estimated. Finally the implications for farm incomes of both abatement strategies are compared with the baseline scenario.Farm level modelling, greenhouse gas emissions, tradable emissions permits, Q12, Q52,

Letting Go and Letting the Angels Grow: Using Etienne Wenger's Community of Practice Theory to Facilitate Teacher Education

This paper describes a small-scale qualitative research study conducted within a community of English Language teachers, and explores how teacher development workshops can be used to foster or cultivate Communities of Practice. The study was situated in a Language Centre within the domain of UK Higher Education where there was an institutional drive to better integrate the use of new technologies with traditional approaches to pedagogy. Data was collected through focus group sessions with a team of English Language teachers before, during and after a series of teacher development workshops on the use of technology in the English for Academic Purposes classroom. These focus group sessions were then followed up with individual interviews, drawing on a framework of stimulated recall. The data was then analysed through an established discourse analysis framework in the early stages, followed by a more inductive approach of thematic analysis in the later stages; triangulated by classroom observations of all participants. The purpose of the paper is to understand the functioning of a Community of Practice in terms of its contribution to teacher development The core argument within this paper is that Communities of Practice theory can contribute much to the fields of EAP (English for Academic Purposes), and teacher development in both theoretical and practical terms. It advocates a loosening of the reins on the part of organisations so that teachers are allowed to develop at their own pace and in a manner that is self-directed and tailored to their individual needs. It draws on Vygotskian-based theories of teacher cognition which suggest that in order for development to occur in a teacher education programme, participants need some form of prompting to move from within their "zone of proximal development" (Manning & Payne, 1993, p. 361). This prompting or scaffolding, as described in Vygotsky's own work (1934), generally takes place through a combination of support from more experienced practitioners in the first instance and then "situated engagement and negotiation" with peers and practitioners within a teaching community (Samaras & Gismondi, 1998, pp. 715-733)

An Intramuscular Approach to Teacher Development in International Collaborative Higher Education

This chapter looks at a practical example of staff development and considers how professional development of teachers should be an essential component of enhancing provision within higher educational institutions not just in terms of pedagogy but also in respect of developing programmes and marketing those programmes. Set within the specific context of English Language teaching for international students, the research is based on a case study of two trainee teachers on a DELTA programme (Diploma in English Language Teaching for Adults). These teachers have been interviewed at two different stages of their development, firstly whilst doing the DELTA course, and then one year later, by which time they have completed the course. Through analysing their responses in a qualitative fashion, the author examines whether teacher development has a positive impact on the higher educational institution as a whole, and whether it leads to an improved student experience or a heightened consciousness of that student experience on the part of teachers. At the heart of this chapter, there is a metaphor taken from Medical Science to define the best approach to teacher education and development, namely, what the author labels an intramuscular approach. The author takes this term from a medical process of giving injections that are placed deep within muscles so that the particular drug or medicine is released slowly over a period of time rather than in a standard one-shot manner. There is no quick fix solution to teacher development, and having a long-term vision contributes far more to organisations in terms of the ultimate student experience

Bursting the bubble and bringing the real world into our classrooms to increase student engagement

This article examines ways in which pathway students on Foundation courses can be supported in a manner that will help them to engage more with their studies. Based on research carried out in a post-92 university with both domestic and international students, the paper argues for more of a real world focus to our teaching. In support of this, ideas are offered on the basis of responses from students themselves. The purpose of this is to give a stronger voice to students in the shaping of pedagogic approaches on pathway courses, hopefully leading to better engagement with studies

Book review of The 1916 Irish Rebellion by Bríona Nic Dhiarmada with foreword by Mary McAleese

This timely work, published by Cork University Press, offers a powerful illustration of how the 1916 Easter Rising served as the focal point for a reconstruction of Irish identit (ies) that then became crystallized on all sides and defined the decades and possibly century which followed

Situating observations as part of a teaching portfolio.

This opinion piece draws upon research in the field of teacher development and educational development to argue for the use of teaching portfolios as a developmental tool into which observations and observational data can be integrated. Looking at observations from developmental perspectives rather than for the purposes of appraisal allows teaching professionals and practitioners to feel more comfortable about the very idea of observations. Furthermore, the use of portfolios can serve as a means of presenting vignettes of practice that tell the story of teachers' journeys on a professional continuum that is "a process of becoming" and one that is never finished (Mann, 2005)