The evidence presented in this article regarding policy reforms in the Irish context may suggest that, until now at least, professionalism prevails over performativity when viewed from the perspectives of primary principals. Nevertheless, the article argues that the prevalence of professionalism may indeed be short lived and principals themselves…

Against a general backdrop of an international discourse on educational reform that has focused on accountability, this article provides a detailed and critical analysis of the evolution of accountability policy and practice in Irish primary and post-primary education during the past 20 years. The analysis indicates clearly that national policy…

The primary aim of this article is to identify and interrogate the lay theories of contemporary student teachers and to indicate and illustrate the manner in which these "theories" manifest both continuity and change when contrasted with teaching archetypes and previously articulated lay theories of student teachers in the setting. It is in five…