Suchergebnisse

Reflecting the neglect of childhood disability in transitions research, there is a notable dearth of research on the factors shaping self-determination in post-school decision-making for disabled young adults. To address this gap, we explore how early educational experiences, parental expectations, economic vulnerability, school context, and educational supports shape perceived school support in developing self-determination skills among disabled and non-disabled secondary school students in Ireland. Utilising data from the nationally representative Growing Up in Ireland study, descriptive analyses map post-school decision-making and self-determination skills development among disabled and non-disabled young adults at age 20. Multivariate analyses explore the experiences of students with different disabilities, investigating how family, school, and peer influences shape such skill development. Disparities are found between disabled and non-disabled students, as well as among disabled students in school support for this skills development, with gender, socioeconomic background, cultural capital, and early educational experiences also important in perceived support. Positive school engagement and student-teacher relationships, as well as high self-expectations, emerge as protective factors, indicating that fostering supportive environments and self-concept may enhance students' self-determination skills. The findings underscore the importance of promoting causal agency, providing support for proxy agency, and taking action to create enriching opportunities and choices for all students.

Personal assistance (PA) has long been a key support for Irish people with physical and sensory disabilities, but evidence shows that Ireland lacks national standards for allocation, provision and data collection. Addressing a particular gap in understanding the experiences of disabled people, this paper draws on a large-scale mixed-method study with PA service users which was conducted in summer 2021. Overall, the evidence shows satisfaction among many service users, but suggests that systemic shortfalls have a clearly detrimental effect on the functionings and capabilities valued by the participants in relation to their ability to participate in social and economic activities that many people take for granted. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into what good personal assistance means for disabled people's everyday lives and what Irish PA service users want to see change in the system. The findings are grounded in the Irish context, but they are useful to an international audience in clearly showing the value of PA and the importance of meaningfully including disabled people in its design and regulation.

While it is well established that the structure and organization of the education system affects youth transitions, less attention has been paid to the study of qualitative distinctions at the same level of education over time in the Irish context. Using data from the School Leavers' Survey over the period 1980-2006, this paper considers the hypothesis of effectively maintained inequality in the case of the Republic of Ireland. The data capture young people's transitions during three distinct and remarkable macro-economic fluctuations, and makes a particularly interesting test case for EMI. Over the cohorts under investigation, Ireland had changed from a recessionary economic climate and prolonged economic stagnation for much of the 1980s to a booming economy by the middle of the mid-2000s and one of the most dynamic economies in the world during the "Celtic Tiger" period. The patterns of social-class inequality over a 30-year paper reported in this article suggest that qualitative differences at the same level of inequality represent a persistent barrier to greater equality in the Irish context. Specifically, we find three notable patterns to support the hypothesis of EMI with regard to tracking decisions taken in the transition from lower secondary to upper secondary, subject-level differentiation in the upper secondary mathematics curriculum, and access to university higher education.

This article explores the nature and implications of secondary students' participation in paid employment in Ireland.The analysis draws on a comprehensive survey of one-sixth of secondary schools. Results indicate that working part-time is associated with underperformance at upper secondary level and also leads to increased dropout. In line with research in other countries, part-time employment tends to draw students away from their studies. Such underperformance at upper secondary level persists regardless of the level of involvement in out-of-school social activities. Results hold when propensity score matching methods are employed to take account of possible selection effects.The discussion points to the crucial importance of early educational qualifications in longer-term and lifelong labour market outcomes; and highlights the importance of addressing the issue of student employment given its impact on educational outcomes.

This paper combines data from a government programme providing broadband access to primary schools in Ireland with survey microdata on schools', teachers' and pupils use of the internet to examine the links between public subsidies, classroom use of the internet and educational performance. Provision of broadband service under a government scheme was associated with more than a doubling of teachers' use of the internet in class after about a two year lag. Better computing facilities in schools were also associated with higher internet use, but advertised download speed was not statistically significant. A second set of models show that use of the internet in class was associated with higher average mathematics scores on standardised tests, but that any association with reading scores was marginal. A range of confounding factors is also explored, with results broadly in line with previous literature.