This paper explores the work of an ongoing research project at University College Cork (UCC) which has sought to further the understanding of students in the BA Early Childhood Studies (BAECS) programme on issues of global diversity, set within childhood contexts. It tracks the process of development of the project thus far, highlighting key…

In many contexts, there has been a rapid increase in the visibility of trans* lives in the public sphere. Much educational research has focused on how to make life better for trans* children and young people in schools. This paper moves sideways from this concern to explore how public discourses around trans* lives and the individual labour of…

As the data in this new edition of the Innocenti Report Card series show, in the past five years, rising numbers of children and their families have experienced difficulty in satisfying their most basic material and educational needs. Most importantly, the Great Recession is about to trap a generation of educated and capable youth in a limbo of…

A growing number of international studies document the importance of regular school attendance. There is a consensus among authors that absenteeism has negative implications for academic achievement as well as the social development of the child and may put them at a disadvantage in terms of their position in the education and labour market. Most…

Labour force participation maybe particularly problematic for single-mothers. By working, mothers increase their family's financial capital and consequently make more money available for educational resources. However, employment often results in the parent having less time to interact with their child and participate in school activities. This is…

Anecdotal evidence suggests that grandparents provide a substantial amount of childcare support to parents of infants in Ireland yet there has been little attention to the provision of grandparent childcare at policy level. Using nationally representative data on childcare provision in the Republic of Ireland, this study examined the prevalence of…

This paper investigates the phenomenon of mothers' emotional labour in relation to children's transfer from first- to second-level schooling: a time that has been shown to pose significant challenges for students and their families. It seeks to break the silence that surrounds the recognition and production of emotional labour in general, and…

The Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society is now running in its thirteenth year. From its modest beginnings thirteen years ago, to its impressive size today, a tradition has been the production of a conference book, consistently launched on the first day of the conference each year. This year, Volume 13 of…

In industrialised Western nations generally, and European Union (EU) nations particularly, immigration is an issue of considerable concern and debate. In the EU, however, discussion of immigration has tended to centre on a number of policy issues, from reliance on welfare provision, to labour force participation, to healthcare provision, to…

This volume contains papers submitted to the 11th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 14-17 May 2013, and papers submitted to the 1st International Distance Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre "Scientific Cooperation,"…