Vision and reality: community involvement in Irish urban regeneration

This article examines the processes and outcomes of community involvement in six Irish urban regeneration case studies, three in Dublin and three in Belfast. The findings are part of a wider study using a Complex Adaptive Systems perspective to analyse public sector decision making. Key points included: (1) the community ‘vision’ of the regeneration as an emergent property, which converged towards the vision held by the implementing agencies in the four most successful programmes; and (2) the identification of three features that contribute to non-linear (unpredictable) behaviour: a history of community involvement; the availability of resources; and the intervention of key individuals at crisis points.

Troubled Geographies: A Spatial History of Religion and Society in Ireland

Ireland’s landscape is marked by fault lines of religious, ethnic, and political identity that have shaped its troubled history. Troubled Geographies maps this history by detailing the patterns of change in Ireland from 16th century attempts to “plant” areas of Ireland with loyal English Protestants to defend against threats posed by indigenous Catholics, through the violence of the latter part of the 20th century and the rise of the “Celtic Tiger.” The book is concerned with how a geography laid down in the 16th and 17th centuries led to an amalgam based on religious belief, ethnic/national identity, and political conviction that continues to shape the geographies of modern Ireland. Troubled Geographies shows how changes in religious affiliation, identity, and territoriality have impacted Irish society during this period. It explores the response of society in general and religion in particular to major cultural shocks such as the Famine and to long term processes such as urbanization.

Complex PTSD, interpersonal trauma and relational consequences: Findings from a treatment-receiving Northern Irish sample

Background:
The relationship between PTSD and complex PTSD remains unclear. As well as further addressing this issue, the current study aimed to assess the degree to which DESNOS (complex PTSD) was related to interpersonal trauma and had relational consequences.

Methods:
Eighty one treatment-receiving participants with a history of exposure to the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, were assessed on various forms of interpersonal trauma, including exposure to the Troubles, and measures of interpersonal and community connectedness.

Results:
DESNOS symptom severity was related to childhood sexual abuse and perceived psychological impact of Troubles-related exposure. A lifetime diagnosis of DESNOS was related to childhood Troubles-related experiences, while a current diagnosis of DESNOS was associated with childhood emotional neglect. PTSD avoidance predicted current DESNOS diagnosis and severity. Feeling emotionally disconnected from family and friends (i.e., interpersonal disconnectedness) was related to all three indices of DESNOS (i.e., lifetime diagnosis, current diagnosis and current symptom severity).

Limitations:
Sample characteristics (i.e., treatment-receiving) and size may limit the generalizability of findings.

Conclusions:
Complex PTSD is associated with PTSD but when present should be considered a superordinate diagnosis.

Maria Edgeworth: Nineteenth century Irish female pioneer of science education.

Maria Edgeworth was a nineteenth century novelist, primarily remembered for her adult and children's novels. Yet her book, Letters for literary ladies discussed the importance of science education for girls and in conjunction with her father, Richard Edgeworth, she wrote several treatises on education. Their book Practical education advocates an inquiry approach to teaching science and also using scientific practices, such as observation and data collection, to examine and plan children's education. They emphasised the importance and the role of experimentation, observation and critical thinking in the development of children's knowledge, skills and attitudes towards learning. However, the history of science education has to date ignored this seminal work and Maria's contributions to women's science education.

Student teachers' prior experiences of history, geography and science: initial findings of an all-Ireland survey

Research into student teachers' perceptions, attitudes and prior experiences of learning suggests that these experiences can exert an influence on practice which can be relatively undisturbed by their initial teacher education. This article is based on the initial findings of an all-Ireland survey of all first-year students on B.Ed. courses in colleges in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. The survey is the first stage in a longitudinal study which will follow the same cohort of students for the duration of their initial teacher education, seeking to map and track the development of their ideas about teaching and learning in primary history, geography and science. Based on an analysis of the quantitative data in the entry questionnaire, the initial findings suggest that subject knowledge remains a problematic issue in initial teacher education and that both location and gender interact with knowledge, attitudes and subject area to produce a complex and challenging context for teacher educators in history, geography and science education.