Ireland is in the grip of a postmodern cultural deconstruction on many levels. The traditional 'grand narratives' are increasingly viewed with suspicion and disenchantment as Ireland struggles to understand its evolving identity. There is a growing need for comprehensive interdisciplinary research that will facilitate teaching and learning in this rapidly changing cultural and societal context. This book brings a fresh approach to Irish educational debates, in which qualified educational specialists engage collaboratively in interdisciplinary reflection on their own teaching and learning. The volume addresses a multiplicity of key issues in Irish education (with a particular focus on the primary sector), including teacher formation, curriculum development, teaching and learning methods, educational policy, philosophy, history, religious education, ethics, special needs education and transformative education. The book aims both to critique new educational policy and practice and to identify the key challenges in providing innovative, imaginative and cutting-edge teaching and learning in contemporary Irish schools.

Gives an overview and critical analysis of some major aspects of a Catholic approach to religious education at the primary level. Themes and topics examined in the book include: the spirituality of the child; the language of religious education; the history of primary religious education in Ireland; the challenge of teaching in a religiously diverse context; the purposes and processes of Christian religious education; a Catholic vision of education; and gender and religious education.The book provides a valuable resource for students at undergraduate or postgraduate level as well as those with a general interest in the area of religious education.