Current Research

 

Outreach, Empowerment, Diversity -OED

The OED Research Network has a broad research focus on social inclusion and active citizenship, and more particularly on increasing the active participation of marginalised groups in lifelong learning, promotion of diversity in education and empowerment of the learner’s voice. The EDC, along with the Turkish partner Hydra, will coordinate the evaluation of the project outcomes. The research has a three year timeframe January 2012 to December 2014, and will include a conference scheduled to be held in Brussels in June 2014.

Reintegration into Society through Education and Learning - RISE

The research focus of the Reintegration into Society through Education and Learning – RISE Grundtvig Learning Partnership (2011-2013) is on educational approaches which enhance the transition from prison back to society. Different models of educational networking between the “inside” and the “outside” will be examined. The partnership comprises of prison education personnel and academic researchers with overall co-ordination by FrauenComputerZentrumBerlin e.V. (FCZB). The EDC will host a meeting of the Partnership scheduled for spring 2013.

Jane Carrigan, Research Fellow with the Centre, is conducting the following research as part of her Doctoral thesis, Exploring prisoners’ experience of education in Ireland – a life history approach. The idea of learning within the prison environment raises many complex questions e.g. what purpose does education serve in prisons; what are the motivations to participation, how does a school within a prison operate and can education in prison be understood within the framework of adult education and lifelong learning.

This study asks prisoner students for their views on the impact of learning and education on their lives, using a life history approach. Through this qualitative methodology it is hoped that prisoners’ voices will emerge. 

Catherine Dooley, Research Fellow with the Centre, is conducting the following research as part of her Doctoral thesis, The transition from Educational Disadvantage to Lifelong Learning: the experiences of adults from disadvantaged areas and systems level influences on this transition. This research is on the transition from educational disadvantage to lifelong learning. It looks at how adults from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, in low paid employment, re-engaged with education through involvement in Community run courses to become active lifelong learners. Systems Theory and Activity Theory are used to investigate how areas of their lives, e.g. workplace and home, influenced their return to education and to examine what changes have occurred in their personal circumstances and their viewpoints on the effects of these changes on their family environment and their children’s interest in education.

Anne Marie Byrne, Research Associate with the Centre, is conducting the following research as part of her Doctoral thesis, Education for Juvenile Offenders – process and experience in an Irish Detention School. This research focuses on education in an Irish juvenile detention centre, documenting both the experience of the children and the process involved in providing the education.  Anne Marie has received funding from the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) to carry out this research.

 

Last Updated: Tuesday February 21 2012