Books by Tom O'Donoghue

This book examines the radical reform that occurred during the final two decades of British rule in Ireland when William Starkie (1860-1920) presided as Resident Commissioner for the Board.

The authors provide a comprehensive historical background to primary school leadership not only in Cambodia, but in post-conflict environments more broadly: informing school leadership preparation, development and support, and facilitating understanding of the context in which school leaders work.

This book offers the first full-length study of the education of children living within the Gaeltacht, the Irish-speaking communities in Ireland, from 1900 to the present day.

The authors provide a comprehensive historical background to primary school leadership not only in Cambodia, but in post-conflict environments more broadly: informing school leadership preparation, development and support, and facilitating understanding of the context in which school leaders work.

Australia is a vast sparsely populated land and from an early date this created problems in terms of providing educational facilities. As part of the solution the nation has had a long tradition of using distance education methods to provide an education for its isolated primary and secondary school students. Western Australia epitomises the problems inherent in having a large land area with a highly urbanised population and a small but scattered rural one. Initially, the State established a Correspondence School in 1918. There have been various developments since then, culminating in the establishment of the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education (SIDE) in 1995. Since then the staff at SIDE have investigated and developed ways of providing their students with innovative educational materials in an effort to ensure that the best possible services are provided.Despite its innovative nature, very little research has been conducted on SIDE. The research project reported in this book is one contribution to rectifying the deficit. It had three main aims. The first was to develop an understanding of the emergence of SIDE. Secondly, an understanding of the key functions of SIDE was sought. The third aim was to develop an understanding of the issues which present themselves for those working at SIDE. Implications for policy, practice and future research in relation to the education of children in geographically remote regions through distance education are deduced, and not just in relation to the state of Western Australia, but internationally.

Nowadays, lay teachers predominate in Catholic schools throughout the English-speaking world. Yet, for over a century the Catholic teaching force was heavily influenced by the presence of the religious orders. The turning point was the mid 1960s and the opening up of the Catholic Church to the modern world as a result of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). This opening up resulted in large numbers leaving the orders, a major drop off in new recruits and a consequent need to employ ever-greater numbers of lay teachers. This book is concerned with the period 1922-65. The focus is on the situation prevailing in the United States, England and Wales, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand from 1922 to 1965, whereby Catholic schools were used to maximise the possibility of recruiting new members to the religious orders and to minimise temptation to leave the religious life amongst those who had already joined. Four major practices are examined in this regard. First, Catholic schools deliberately set out to encourage pupils to join the ranks of the religious. Secondly, they replicated within the schools the authoritarianism of the religious life. Thirdly, they worked continuously to marginalize lay teachers from decision-making. Finally, they were ever vigilant in their opposition to co-education and sex education. The contribution of the religious orders to Catholic education is recognised in the final section of the book. However, consideration is also given to the darker side of what sometimes took place, namely, the child abuse, both physical and sexual, in which members of various religious teaching orders engaged. Finally, the book closes with a brief consideration of changes in Catholic education with the demise in the presence of the religious orders in the schools. In particular, it focuses on the new role of the lay teachers and the changes in the Church¿s attitude towards them.

Adopting a life story approach, this book explores the memories of those who attended Irish secondary schools prior to 1967. It serves to initiate and enhance the practice of remembering secondary school education amongst those who attended secondary schools not just in Ireland, but around the world.