Access And Participation In Irish Higher Education

This book explores the access and participation issues present within Higher Education in Ireland. It examines policy, pedagogy and practices in relation to widening participation and documents the progress and challenges encountered in furthering the ‘access agenda’ over the past two decades. Access has become an integral part of how Higher Education understands itself and how it explains the value of what it does for society as a whole. Improving access to education strengthens social cohesion, lessens inequality, guarantees the future vitality of tertiary institutions and ensures economic competitiveness and flexibility in the era of the “Knowledge Based Economy”. Offering a coherent, critical account of recent developments in Irish Higher Education and the implications for Irish society as a whole, this book is essential for those involved both in researching the field and in Higher Education itself.

This book explores the emergence of the modern higher education sector in the independent Irish state. The author traces its origins from the traditional universities, technical schools and teacher training colleges at the start of the twentieth century, cataloguing its development into the complex, multi-layered and diverse system of the early twenty-first century. Focusing on the socio-political and cultural contexts which shaped the evolution of higher education, the author analyses the interplay between the state, academic institutions and other key institutional actors – notably churches, cultural organizations, employers, trade unions and supranational bodies. This study explores policy, structural and institutional change in Irish higher education, suggesting that the emergence of the modern higher education system in Ireland was influenced by ideologies and trends which owed much to a wider European and international context. The book considers how the exercise of power at local, national and international level impinged on the mission, purpose and values of higher education and on the creation and expansion of a distinctive higher education system. The author also explores a transformation in public and political understandings of the role of higher education, charting the gradual evolution from traditionalist conceptions of the academy as a repository for cultural and religious value formation, to the re-positioning of higher education as a vital factor in the knowledge based economy. This comprehensive volume will appeal to students and scholars of the Irish education system, educators and practitioners in the field, and those interested in higher education in Ireland more generally.

This collection provides the first in-depth, interdisciplinary and over-arching review of higher education in Ireland, situating higher education within the socio-cultural, political and historical context of the country over the past 40 years and the development of European and national policies.

This book brings together research relating to the economics of higher education in Ireland and presents evidence that will help support policy decision making. It provides an analysis of prominent issues within the higher education sector from an economic viewpoint, discussing the relevant theory and offering an empirical analysis. The book examines three broad themes with a specific focus on issues related to undergraduate education: participation and preferences, progression and outcomes, and benefits and financing. Each chapter presents an accessible, non-specialist analysis of the topic of interest, making it relevant to a wider audience. In doing so, the book provides an important addition to our current knowledge and understanding of higher education in Ireland from an economic perspective. Key chapters discuss the factors influencing institution choices, student retention in higher education, and policy debates surrounding student finance. The book will serve as a useful and up-to-date resource for policymakers, researchers, academics and students across a range of disciplines, both in Ireland and internationally.

This review addresses the full range of higher education issues in Ireland and offers recommendations for action within the framework of the government’s ambitions for the sector.

Actionable Research for Educational Equity and Social Justice advances a unique, engaged approach to promoting educational equity and social justice in higher education across China and beyond. Developed as a joint venture of senior and junior scholars in China and the United States, this book documents Chinese, Latin American, U.S., and European examples of engaged scholarship supporting the development of strategies for expanding educational opportunities for low-income families. Drawing from collaborative research, workshops, and field investigations, chapter authors propose and test new methods and practices for reducing educational inequality and provide examples of successful practices that have improved access for low-income students across the globe.

Online learning is an idea whose time has come. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic it was predicted that the global value of the online education market would reach €290 billion by 2025 (McCue, 2018). This figure is likely to have increased significantly in 2020 due to campus closures as teaching continued online. Thus, the demand for online learning is enormous and growing, even though it currently makes up less than 2% of the overall higher education market (HolonIQ, 2020). The Covid-19 crisis has shown policy-makers and educational leaders that new models of online learning provide a means to widen access and participation in higher education. The debate surrounding the development of online learning in Ireland for promoting access and participation in lifelong learning more generally appears to be largely aspirational in the absence of a strong policy commitment and funding model to resource fully online programmes. Set against this backdrop, this doctoral study aims to investigate a perceived gap between rhetoric, policy and practice in promoting wider access to higher education in Ireland. It involves three phases: - Phase 1 (macro-level) consists of an analysis of relevant International policy texts; - Phase 2 (meso-level) involves an analysis of Irish policy texts and institutional online learning strategies and initiatives through publicly available documentation; and - Phase 3 (micro-level) adopts a case study method to "tell the story of the development of online learning" at one Irish university. The main research findings are: - Defining online learning is problematic. The research demonstrates that a clear, universally agreed, definition of what constitutes online learning, understood by the sector and policy makers, does not exist. - Economic factors are the most influential drivers (and barriers) in the adoption of online learning in policy texts. Social and vocational drivers have influence, however, the most important driver is economic. Notably the pedagogical drivers for online learning in policy texts are relatively weak. - Good policy emanates from a collaborative process which is inclusive, transparent, and credible. In order for policy to be effective and successful, all relevant stakeholders must be encouraged to contribute in a meaningful way, through a clear process. Future development of policy for online learning in Ireland needs to be more cognisant of these requirements.