EAT-HE Final

It is well recognised that what teachers do in the classroom directly influence students learning. The SCoTENS EAT-HE project is a collaborative cross-border research study that documents experiences and perceptions of post-primary Home Economics teachers across the island of their execution of food practical lessons at Junior Cycle and Key Stage 4. The project had two main aims. First, to provide a forum for practising Home Economics teachers to share their experiences of conducting practical food lessons with a view to identifying the challenges of combining nutrition theory and culinary skills in a meaningful way. Second, to afford Home Economics teachers the opportunity to debate issues surrounding best practice in facilitating Home Economics food practical lessons and to learn from each other, thus enabling the sharing of best pedagogical practices. The study’s findings highlight a strong level of teacher enjoyment in their teaching of Home Economics Food Practical classes in both NI and ROI. The findings also revealed that the teachers experienced similar challenges, regardless of their location. A key challenge was the issue of time paucity which impacted on pedagogical practices. Other challenges which came to the fore included a decline in learning of life skills in the home and in particular practical culinary skills, and the issue of food poverty which impacted on recipe selection and modification in instances where ingredients were not provided by schools. Consequently, it could be argued that the remit of Home Economics as a mission-oriented field which seeks to apply learning to issues experienced in everyday life has never been so crucial for families across the island as it is today. 5Section 1: Introduction It has been highlighted (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations [FAO], 2019) that school-based food and nutrition education is a key strategy for improving the diets and wellbeing of school children. Lavelle et al. (2016) posits that learning cooking skills during childhood or adolescence is linked to better cooking habits, more positive attitudes toward cooking, and improved diet quality in adulthood. Home Economics classes, within which food and nutrition education is a key focus, are widely regarded as important in educating young people in the key life skill of preparing food for themselves and their families (Lichenstein & Ludwig, 2010; McCloat & Caraher, 2016; McCloat et al., 2017). On the Island of Ireland (IOI), that food education in secondary (post-primary) schools sits firmly within home economics is viewed as a benefit (Mc Cloat and Caraher 2020a). They argue that ‘the pedagogical approach utilised in Home Economics education in both the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI) facilitates the subject to play a key role in developing practical and theoretical food competencies in young people’ (p.8). It is well established that what teachers do in the classroom directly impacts students’ learning (Kolb, 2015). Post-primary Home Economics (HE) teachers on the IOI teach practical food lessons which are an integral element of this second-level subject. The intent is that practical food lessons will integrate knowledge and skills in a meaningful way, in keeping with the remit of Home Economics as a mission-oriented field which seeks to apply learning to issues experienced in everyday life (Smith, 2017). 6 Due to the dearth of information pertaining to HE teachers’ experiences of executing practical food lessons, this project aimed to explore teachers’ perspectives and experiences on strengthening the divide between nutrition theory and practical culinary skills to ensure best practice in teaching practical food lessons on the IOI. Therefore, taking an island of Ireland perspective, this collaborative research project aimed to:‒ Ascertain the perceptions and experiences of Home Economics teachers on their execution of food practical lessons at Junior Cycle and Key Stage 4. ‒ Provide a forum for practising Home Economics teachers to share experiences of conducting practical food lessons with a view to identifying the challenges of combining nutrition theory and culinary skills in a meaningful way.‒ Afford Home Economics teachers the opportunity to debate issues surrounding best practice in facilitating HE food practical lessons and to learn from each other, thus facilitating the sharing of best pedagogical practices. This study adds an IOI perspective to the growing body of work which addresses international best practice in teaching and learning in HE.

EKARA

EKARA Toolkit

The “Exploring Knowledge and Awareness of Reasonable Accommodations/Adjustments for
ITE Students with Disabilities in ROI and NI -EKARA” project investigated the current levels of
understanding and awareness regarding reasonable accommodations and adjustments (RAs)
available for students with disabilities within initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in
Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI).
Rooted in collaborative practice, the project brought together key stakeholders including
lecturers, placement coordinators, access and support staff, cooperating teachers, and
students, drawing upon their collective expertise and insights. A mixed-methods approach
incorporating literature review, surveys, focus groups, vignettes, and interviews was employed to
gather robust data, identify existing knowledge gaps, and explore prevailing attitudes and
practices.
The research was a joint effort between University College Cork (UCC) — involving lecturers
from the School of Education and a New Avenues to Teaching post-doctoral researcher — and
colleagues from the Education Department at St. Mary’s University College, Belfast (St.
Mary’s).
Conducted over a 12-month period (September 2024 – August 2025), the project unfolded
through several interconnected phases, beginning with mapping existing knowledge and
identification of gaps, exploration of stakeholder attitudes, creation of fictionalized vignettes by
ITE students and finally, the development of a pilot toolkit entry.
The findings from this project were analysed through the application of descriptive statistics
and thematic analysis. Dissemination of insights took place at national and international
conferences (ESAI 2025, ATEE 2025) and at a dedicated stakeholder-focused dissemination
event. The outcomes further informed the development of an open-access online toolkit,
intended to offer practical support to ITE students and key stakeholders across both Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The key outcomes of the EKARA project included:
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• A comprehensive literature review and analysis of existing policies regarding reasonable
accommodations or adjustments;
• A survey report
• 12 fictionalized vignettes created by the ITE students
• A focus group report
• An online toolkit specifically designed to support placements for ITE students with disabilities
in NI and ROI;
• A dissemination conference to present findings and introduce the toolkit to stakeholders.
• Presentations of the conference findings at three major scientific events
Throughout the project, ethical integrity was upheld through rigorous informed consent procedures,
strict confidentiality protocols, the safeguarding of vulnerable groups, and responsible data
management.
EKARA significantly aligns with the objectives of the Standing Conference on Teacher Education
North and South (SCoTENS) by fostering collaboration, inclusivity, and enhancing mutual
understanding across teacher education in both jurisdictions.

AIRED Report

This report investigates what “AI readiness” looks like for student teachers as generative AI has become embedded in routine practices across Initial Teacher Education (ITE), including planning, teaching, assessment and professional reflection. It conceptualises readiness as an ecologically produced profile—captured in the proposed AIRED framework—comprising AI expertise (capability and knowledge), AI acceptance (perceived value and intention to use), and AI anxiety (concerns and unease), shaped by institutional supports, tutor modelling, school placement conditions, and governance. Using an integrated conceptual framing (AI as an ecosystem in ITE; Touretzky et al.’s Five Big Ideas in AI; Luckin et al.’s AI readiness lens; and critical perspectives on teacher identity and autonomy), the study examines student teachers’ attitudes to generative AI, patterns of current use, the relationship between readiness and anxiety, and conditions for ethically defensible practice across university and placement contexts. An online questionnaire was administered across two cross-border ITE contexts on the island of Ireland (PME in Ireland and PGCE in Northern Ireland), yielding 208 responses (approximately 40% response rate). Quantitative measures used adapted validated scales (attitudes to AI/ GAAIS; AI anxiety/ Wang & Wang; behavioural intention to use AI/Chai et al.) and were analysed in SPSS (including exploratory factor analysis and inferential statistics for subgroup comparisons), alongside embedded open-ended responses analysed using qualitative descriptive thematic analysis. Findings indicate uneven self-reported AI capability and tool use (with ChatGPT most commonly used), broadly similar profiles across gender, age, and location, and task-sensitive caution that intensifies for higher-stakes practices such as assessment and AI-as-tutor uses. Qualitative data reveal a pattern of bounded optimism: participants value generative AI for workload reduction and idea generation, but position it as supplementary and contingent on verification, explicit boundaries, and clear ethical guidance. Six concern clusters recur across responses: ethical/regulatory uncertainty, dehumanisation of learning, social–emotional impacts, reliability/misinformation, equity and access, and employment/displacement. These findings align with broader strategic challenges where policy ambition and rapid technological change outpace consistent implementation supports within education systems, underscoring the need for coherent guidance, capacity-building, and placement-aligned governance. The report concludes by outlining implications for ITE design and policy, arguing that readiness should be cultivated as disciplined professional practice rather than tool adoption, and that AIRED offers a practical framework for diagnosing readiness profiles and targeting supports in programme and placement contexts.