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. Contents include: (1) Foreword (Anne Looney); (2) Introduction: The Changing Face of Ireland and New Educational Horizons (Thomas G. Grenham); (3) Exploring the Nature of Irishness within the 1999 Primary Curriculum (Tony Bonfield); (4) The Identity and Nature of Catholic Schools in the Irish Context (Maurice Harmon and Elaine Mahon); (5) Lifelong Learning: A New Paradigm for Teacher Education (Anne M. Dolan); (6) Classroom Teaching and Formation: Developing Educational Partnership (Sandra Ryan and John Galvin); (7) Teaching the Self: Personal Formation, Emotions and Behaviour in the Classroom (Claire W. Lyons); (8) Teacher Formation: Preparing Pre-service Student Teachers to Meet the Needs of Pupils with Autism in Mainstream Primary Schools (Anne O'Byrne); (9) A Case for the Inclusion of Therapeutic Play in Pre-service Teacher Formation (Coilin O Braonain); (10) Compulsory School Attendance Legislation in Ireland 1892-2000 (Tony Lyons); (11) The Guidelines for Intercultural Education in the Primary School: Evidence of "Deep Change" in Irish Primary Education? (Carol O'Sullivan); (12) Exploring the Spiritual Dimension of the School Curriculum (Daniel O'Connell and Amalee Meehan); (13) Perceptions of Inclusion: Students with Special Educational Needs (Anne O'Byrne and Miriam Twomey); (14) Religious Inclusion and Exclusion in Contemporary Primary Schools (Patricia Kieran); (15) Pluralism in the Primary School: Engaging with and Learning about Cultures and Religions (Thomas G. Grenham); (16) Transformative Education (Aislinn O'Donnell); (17) Raising Hope in Stories of Community Consciousness (Ann Higgins and James G. Deegan); and (18) Conclusion: Igniting the Fires of Creativity and Imagination (Patricia Kieran).