When reflecting on my years as a doctoral student, I recall several questions that often came to mind throughout my journey: what is participatory health research? Is such an approach to research truly feasible in the pursuit of a doctoral degree? Is it worth it, or have I inadvertently made things more challenging for myself? My response to these…

Over the past decade, there has been an increased emphasis on tailoring men's health promotion programs. To optimize outcomes, participatory action research that involves and elicits feedback from end-users has been highlighted as important to creating gender-responsive interventions. In this scoping review, we examine (a) how participatory action…

This systematic review examines how preservice teachers' (PSTs) domain-specific epistemological beliefs (EB) are studied and understood within initial teacher education (ITE) with attention to theoretical, contextual, and methodological aspects. Findings from 24 empirical studies published up to 2024 were synthesized. The review analyzed…

During the COVID19 crisis, school closure was a frequent feature of Government responses. "The Children's School Lives" (CSL) national cohort study of primary schooling in Ireland had to be adapted and transferred online as an interim response to the unprecedented impact that the pandemic had on the research environment. Adapting…

This paper offers an argument as to why a focus on 'What is educational?' matters so much in reconstructing education. Living Educational Theory Research is presented as an approach that enables professional, educational-practitioners to contribute to reconstructing education locally and globally. The research is focused on the generation and…

The key problem under interrogation in this case study is how to conduct decolonizing research in education policy in a fast-globalising world where inequalities and injustices are experiencing rapid and exponential growth. I will argue that for research to be decolonizing it needs to be in the direction of emancipation and human freedom and not…

In Ireland, as elsewhere, there has been growing recognition around the importance of using research evidence to inform educational policy and practice at both a national government and individual school level. Despite such importance, there is currently a dearth of empirical, peer-reviewed studies regarding the use of research evidence in the…

Analyzing 28 articles from databases including WOS, Scopus, and ProQuest, this systematic review investigates the application of Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory in education. It reveals a sustained scholarly interest in cultural dimensions with substantial contributions from scholars in China, Japan, Israel, and the UK. The study focuses on…

This research note offers a critical reflection of the process of conducting qualitative research in the Irish primary school setting. The research discussed took place during the school year 2016-2017. It explored primary school children's understandings of citizenship and, the kinds of collective social actions they participated in as citizens…

Intersectionality is a key framework for understanding complex experiences of inequality and discrimination in contemporary societies and specifically in educational contexts. This scoping review examines academic discourse on intersectional pedagogy from 2020 to 2024, following the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. Using…

This paper explores the value in expanding existing compliance-focused approaches to research ethics, to one which facilitates researchers' ongoing ethical reflexivity. The authors explore the use of 'ethical trialogues' -- or technology-mediated reflective discussions -- between doctoral research students as a means of fostering deeper ethical…

The involvement of people with lived experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of services has grown significantly in recent years. In parallel, the evidence base for best practice in peer research, as this approach is described, is also expanding. Sharing two practice examples, the authors reflect on key learning emerging from their…

In this study, we explore the following: a) How do secondary student teachers, engaged in collaborative action research, function as critical friends? b) What challenges do they encounter? How do they mitigate these challenges? and c) In what ways did meeting as critical friends influence the student teachers' learning to conduct collaborative…

YPAR seeks to position youth as experts on their worlds, investigating issues that affect their lives and then taking action to create solutions. As such, one of the key epistemological principles underpinning YPAR is the robust participation of youth throughout the knowledge creation process. A growing body of literature examines what youth…

Research that uses innovative approaches to elicit the views of young children has grown hugely over the last 20 years. Against a backdrop of a greater acceptance of children's rights and sociological approaches to understanding children and childhood, with their combined emphasis on the competences and capacities of children, it is now accepted…