Suchergebnisse

In March 2020 the Irish government introduced emergency measures to stop the spread of the highly contagious Covid-19 virus. The change was immediate, and the protection of public health was paramount. All citizens were requested to cooperate and adhere to the restrictions. Key features included, restricted movement within the country, all non-essential workplaces to close and where possible move to remote working, the closure of all schools, training centres and universities, education was to be provided by online means. This research focused on a specialised section of the Irish education system - the Standard Based Apprenticeship - and how apprentices experienced the move to online provision during the lockdown periods. A mixed-method research approach of online questionnaire and telephone interviews was used to explore the facilities, supports, wellbeing, teaching and learning materials, and communication. The sample group was apprentices in off-the-job training and education phases during the closure periods (N=3,000). The responses received were - survey N=362 and interviews N=11. From the data, respondents acknowledged the need to move provision online however, they were concerned that normal informal peer learning could not occur in the absence of meeting each other and having practical skills demonstrations in centre/college workshops. Respondents identified the types of supports made available by employers and education/training providers. However, they also noted issues relating to the digital divide and lack of access to IT equipment and broadband. Some respondents reported concerns about isolation and personal wellbeing. A key concern that respondents identified was matters to do with the provision of timely information and communication. The research suggests there is a need to develop a comprehensive communications platform to facilitate up-to-date information flow from all stakeholders, a need to host a repository of technical and learning resources relevant to each trade area, and provision of a mechanism for apprentices to actively engage with each other to enhance informal peer learning. In addition, apprentices' experiences of their studies and work should be regularly gathered and reported.

Within the European Union all organisations and companies which process personal data must comply with the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016 which was transposed into law in 2018. GDPR provides fundamental rights to individuals relating to the protection of personal data, the terms for processing personal data and privacy of personal data. The regulation also requires both data controllers and data processors to take an active approach to ensuring compliance and to promoting awareness of data protection. The regulation includes powers of enforcement, investigation, and sanction. The Data Protection Commission in Ireland is the independent national authority in the EU with responsibility to uphold individual rights relating to the protection of personal data. This research paper provides insights into the level of GDPR awareness of a specific population sample of teachers and lecturers who work in the Irish tertiary education sector and are members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI). The research approach used was 'practice-based' (Eraut 2004) as a professional in the field and informed by 'workers critical research' as a worker in the sector (Kincheloe, McLaren 1994). The method included a questionnaire developed to measure levels of awareness about GDPR, it used closed choice questions and open comments boxes, and risk assessment indicators relating to remote working. The questionnaire was designed as an online survey for safe distribution during the Covd-19 restriction period. The survey items focused on GDPR key principles, rights of individuals, need to gain consent, data breach procedure and training. In addition, the survey explored experiences of GDPR issues while engaged in emergency remote working due to Covid-19 restrictions. The online survey was distributed in February 2021 and was open for two weeks. The survey received N=502 responses, of which 39% were from Second Level Schools, 37% Higher Education , and 22% Further Education and Training. The results demonstrate a general good level of awareness about GDPR obligations, such as processing personal data, requirements for consent and confidentiality and procedures for dealing with matters that arise including data breaches. In addition, respondents indicated risk levels for GDPR concerns while remote working during Covid-19 restrictions The survey results suggest that respondents understood the importance of GDPR to protect individual rights and the necessity to have policies and procedures to achieve this obligation. Respondents indicated that training was required to keep up to date on GDPR matters and that training material should include fact sheets, short videos and online modules. It was suggested that engagement between employers and the union could assist in promoting awareness of GDPR in workplaces including emergency remote working.

The drive for the so called ?knowledge economy? and the expected competitive advantage envisioned, has led to 'power elites' and vested interests applying pressure on nation states to develop and implement policies that push the balance of national education systems towards the economic imperative and away from the social good. This thesis will describe ideas, strategies and objectives relating to the pursuit of current higher education change policy agendas, as expressed in key European Union (EU) Education Commission and Council policy documents and communiques and with national strategies, acts and agreements. It provides accounts of other modernisation advocates or 'policy shapers', such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Bank (WB). This thesis concentrates on the modernisation policy agenda relevant to higher education in general, and to academic work: more specifically how this type of work is organised (the labour process ). Critical considerations are given to the tensions that arise between higher education policy formation and implementation and how this affects the academic worker in teaching, research and career. This gap between rhetoric and reality is linked to the dynamic conflict between structure as authoritative bureaucracy and the social action of the academic worker. ; TARA (Trinity?s Access to Research Archive) has a robust takedown policy. Please contact us if you have any concerns: rssadmin@tcd.ie

This brief issue paper proposes that a coherent approach to tertiary education and training is necessary to enhance lifelong learning opportunities for citizens, in order to develop capacity and capabilities to deal with the challenges posed by the new world-of-work. To achieve this type of approach compatible systems and processes need to be introduced which facilitate communication between existing structures particularly in the areas of recognition, access, transfer and progression. The paper reviews key European Union education and training policy initiatives, citing them as examples of the construction of a meta-framework of systems and processes that support the move towards the emergence of a European tertiary education area. Finally reflections from a practitioner perspective are presented detailing some of the major policy reform initiatives in Ireland.

This is the second in a series of three papers which explore and describe 'quality' as a tool in the Irish Higher Education sector. This paper reviews macro, mesco and micro issues relating to quality assurance within the context of European Union Education Ministers' communiqués and in Irish national policy. A micro perspective is then undertaken pertaining to the Technological University Dubin describing how quality assurance systems and procedures emerged in the Institute. It also includes the Institute's response to provisions made in the 1999 Qualifications (Education and Training) Act with reference to the necessity of carrying out quality reviews. The European University Association philosophy as the agency chosen to carry out one such review is outlined. The broad purpose of this paper, and of the previous related paper, is to provide a policy map from macro European to micro institutional level which will aid postgraduate students and those interested in quality assurance in higher education to identify important developments and pursue further research. The inquiry approach utilised is interpretive, descriptions are detailed and meaning is constructed: this is a subjective process firmly located in the broad field of qualitative research. The paper offers a general review of policy documentation together with some critical commentary and personal reflections.

The Technological University Dublin is one of the largest multi-level higher education providers in Ireland, catering for over 22,000 students annually. Under the 1999 Qualifications (Education and Training) Act, DIT became an awarding body in its own right. Programme provision covers apprenticeships, short continuous professional development courses, taught undergraduate and postgraduate, research MPhil and PhDs. While the Institute's traditional mission1 was focused on teaching and learning in the field of advanced technical vocational education and training (TVET), over the last decade the importance of developing a research informed culture has become prominent in the strategic policy development of the Institute. Within this new emerging research agenda substantial achievements have been made in specific fields such as; science, engineering, ICT, tourism & food. However the research potential of a large portion of staff who work in the apprenticeship and craft area has been underdeveloped. This paper reviews some contextual information relating to the emerging research agenda as expressed in documents produced by the Institutes of Technology in Ireland and the DIT. It sign-posts significant Irish national strategies and notes some European Union initiatives that have relevance to research policy in this sector of higher education. The research then applies a 'single case study' (Yin 1996) to describe a new initiative which seeks to unlock the research potential of staff in the apprenticeship and craft area in DIT. Reporting the findings from a pilot Research Capacity Building project, which was run in DIT in 2008. This was a collaborative project between the Head of Department of Construction Skills and the Project Manager of the Skills Research Initiative, offered to Assistant Lecturers in the Wood Skills area. The paper details the emergence of this project and utilises '4th generation evaluation' methodology (Guba & Lincoln 1986) to access the effectiveness and future potential of this type of initiative. Further by adopting a participatory 'insider' research approach the 'lived experience' and 'voice' of staff who participated in the project is captured through in-depth ethnographic interviews. The research demonstrates a willingness of staff working in the apprenticeship and craft area to engage in, and develop skills, competencies and knowledge relating to research 'praxis'. However there seems to be a 'cultural gap' and mismatch between the high level national and sectoral research policy narratives, and the direct research capacity and capability needs of apprenticeship and craft staff. The research recommends that in order for this staff cohort to gain a footprint in the research domain, there is a need for localized and flexible research capacity building initiatives. This type of proactive research capacity building intervention can facilitate the unlocking, production and dissemination of the rich expert knowledge, experience and skills inherent in the apprenticeship and craft areas.

Employability has become an area of interest among the general public and policy makers alike, with an increasing number of reports in the general media regarding the need for workers in certain sectors to up-skill due to the possible threat of job 'displacement'. In addition, there has been an increase in education and training policy documents emphasising that citizens should pursue Lifelong Learning /Life Wide Learning to address the increased job-related uncertainty attributed to the globalisation process and the concomitant competitive threats. Academics such as Barnett (2005) claim that we are living in an era of 'super complexity' and rapid change where even trade unions are beginning to come to terms with the notion that in the present employment climate 'change is a given rather than an exception'. Within this framework of change, of global economics, of mobility of capital and labour, and of social flux, the Irish economy has outperformed many of her fellow European Union (EU) member states in terms of both GDP and GNP (see note 4). However, the pertinent question now posed is how will Ireland maintain this competitive advantage moving forward? While the answer to this question is multi-dimensional and complex, requiring expert input from various academics, professional bodies and other interested parties, there is nonetheless a growing acceptance that education and training are fundamental to the development of a sustainable solution. This working paper presents a conceptual framework and signposts a research process presently being utilised by a research team to explore employability and a social construct. As such, the reader is presented with emergent work and invited to contribute to this early stage of the research process.

Prolonged seizures (status epilepticus, SE) may drive hippocampal dysfunction and epileptogenesis, at least partly, through an elevation in neurogenesis, dysregulation of migration and aberrant dendritic arborization of newly-formed neurons. MicroRNA-22 was recently found to protect against the development of epileptic foci, but the mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the contribution of microRNA-22 to SE-induced aberrant adult neurogenesis. SE was induced by intraamygdala microinjection of kainic acid (KA) to model unilateral hippocampal neuropathology in mice. MicroRNA-22 expression was suppressed using specific oligonucleotide inhibitors (antagomir-22) and newly-formed neurons were visualized using the thymidine analog iodo-deoxyuridine (IdU) and a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing retrovirus to visualize the dendritic tree and synaptic spines. Using this approach, we quantified differences in the rate of neurogenesis and migration, the structure of the apical dendritic tree and density and morphology of dendritic spines in newly-formed neurons.SE resulted in an increased rate of hippocampal neurogenesis, including within the undamaged contralateral dentate gyrus (DG). Newly-formed neurons underwent aberrant migration, both within the granule cell layer and into ectopic sites. Inhibition of microRNA-22 exacerbated these changes. The dendritic diameter and the density and average volume of dendritic spines were unaffected by SE, but these parameters were all elevated in mice in which microRNA-22 was suppressed. MicroRNA-22 inhibition also reduced the length and complexity of the dendritic tree, independently of SE. These data indicate that microRNA-22 is an important regulator of morphogenesis of newly-formed neurons in adults and plays a role in supressing aberrant neurogenesis associated with SE ; This work was supported by funding from Science Foundation Ireland (13/SIRG/2098, 17/CDA/4708 and 16/TIDA/4059 to TE, 13/SIRG/2114 to EJ-M, 17/TIDA/5002 to CR, 13/IA/1891 and 16/RC/3948 to DH and co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund and by FutureNeuro Industry partners) from the Health Research Board (HRA-POR-2015-1243 to TE), from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement n◦ 602130 (to DH), from the H2020 Marie Skłowdowksa-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (753527 to EB), from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement (No 766124 to TE), S2013/ICE-2958 from Comunidad de Madrid to MM-P, from Fundación ''La Caixa'' to JM-R and from Areces Foundation C-XVIII and the Minister of Science and Universities of Spain BFU2014-53654-P to MM-P