In Ireland as elsewhere, the value of putting evidence and scientific advice at the centre of public policy-making, has rarely been more evident. The prominence of the science-policy interface has renewed interest in the prospects for evidence based policy (EBP) in education. Notwithstanding the political rhetoric around EBP in education, little…

This paper presents findings from a review of 19 national curriculum policy frameworks (NCPFs) across the globe and discusses dominant and culturally specific discourses that shape early childhood education (ECE). We combine two frameworks of developmental universality and specificity and culturally contextualised pedagogy to explore whether and…

Student behaviour is a perennial concern for educators, parents, and policy-makers alike. The present study involved an ecological analysis of teacher perceptions of, and responses to, student unproductive behaviour in primary school classrooms in the Republic of Ireland. Online survey data from 1035 primary school teachers revealed that the most…

Teachers are responsible for providing effective education for children with autism, and a range of evidence-based practices (EBPs) have been linked to better outcomes. Teacher perspectives on the implementation of EBPs are essential in understanding why a research-to-practice gap in the field of autism education persists. This study examines…

This article presents the novel Child Attachment Relationship (CAR) Guide for social workers in child protection and fostering. The Guide was created to promote social workers' understandings of children's attachment relationship and to identify the means through which those understandings might be enhanced towards their practice. The research and…