The perspectives of prison educators on the education system in Irish prisons
This research study will aim to examine the Prison Educators perspective on prison education in Irish prisons. It shall explore the perspectives of teachers that work in Irish Prisons. It will examine their views on prison education in a number of areas including benefits of education, the prison curriculum and their professional background. The participants have all worked within the prison environment for a substantial number of years and have worked in a number of the education units such as Male, Female and Juvenile Centres. The study was conducted using qualitative analysis and analysed using thematic analysis. The results show the participants to have positive regard towards their students and overall good feeling towards the education system. However the participants did discuss negative aspect of the career such as the conditions of the prisons, the security issues and disruption to education. This research study supported much of the literature done in the area surrounding prison education although there has been less research done in the area of the educators perspective on education.
Crime, punishment and the search for order in Ireland.
This book surveys the transformation in crime and punishment in Ireland from the late eighteenth century to the present day. It is informed by some of the most recent and influential thinking within criminology and asks whether Irish society has become conditioned by a pervasive fear of crime which fuels a punitive attitude towards offenders. It draws on a wealth of previously unexplored archival, statistical and policy-related material to explain how the Irish criminal justice system has arrived at its present state, and to assess whether rehabilitation has ever really been its guiding principle. It examines how the system has adapted to a long-term increase in the crime rate. A firm comparative and historical perspective is maintained throughout the book, which it is hoped will become a touchstone for future debates in Ireland, and a valuable resource for scholars in other countries.
Initial Teacher Training: the French view
ABSTRACT This paper, against the background of trends in the development of initial teacher training in Europe as a whole, identifies and explains some of the recent, radical reforms which were introduced in France by a socialist government. These include the need to raise the status and the competence of the teaching profession; the creation of new teacher‐training institutions of university status (Instituts universitaires de formation des maitres); the introduction of common entry qualifications at degree level for both primary and secondary levels; the harmonisation and the extension to 2 years of the post‐degree teacher‐training course and the increase in emphasis placed on professional training, both theoretical and practical. These reforms provoked a storm of protest and an examination of the reasons for this reveals a multiplicity of crucial questions which have far‐reaching implications.