In this article the author describes a small-scale study into the role of the special needs assistant (SNA) s u p p o rting the inclusion of pupils with learning difficulties in the Irish Republic. The findings regarding the perspectives of teachers, principals, SNAs, pupils supported by SNAs and their parents on the support offered to three pupils are also described. The actual (as distinct from the prescribed) role of SNAs, including the issue of SNAs working in a general rather than a pupil-specific capacity, and the nature of the SNA-teacher relationship are discussed. The main findings emerging from the data were that the role of the SNA is one of both education and care and that SNAs are a welcome support for inclusion. Issues emerging from the study include the need for effective communication and planning, shared understanding of the role and responsibilities of SNAs and ongoing monitoring of the way in which support is provided.

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the use of social networking tools in higher education teaching and learning. Drawing on data from a larger study focusing on student engagement in the online virtual classroom, this paper is based on research conducted with three separate cohorts of students from the Masters in Special Educational Needs (MSEN) at St. Patrick's College now the Institute of Education, Dublin City University (DCU). Emerging from the first two phases of the research was the use of the WhatsApp social media tool by students as an informal learning space and a means of building connectedness. We explored this finding in more detail in phases three and four by inviting respondents to comment specifically on their use of social media throughout the programme. It emerged that the use of WhatsApp was widespread, offering students an opportunity to forge a sense of connection and the basis for developing a learning community. This paper will present findings around the use of WhatsApp with reference to literature in three areas connected to the online learning experience: online learning as a second class learning experience, fostering connectedness within online learning contexts and social media and learning.

While teaching is increasingly being accepted as a discipline there is a growing emphasis on teacher educators researching their own practice to advance the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) (Loughran & Russell, 2007). This study sought to explore the extent to which self-study contributes to teacher educators' understanding of the SoTL within the discipline of teaching. While self-study is generally accepted as a scholarly approach (Kitchen, 2015) the aim here is to address the call for selfstudy researchers to evince a commitment to a practice-based and theory-building research agenda by linking with public theories (Vanassche & Kelchtermans, 2015), in this case the SoTL (Kreber & Cranton, 2000). Additionally given that self-study is collaborative (Loughran, 2010) findings here may help to somewhat address the dearth of knowledge about teacher educator collaboration (Heldens, Bakx & den Brok, 2015). A self-study approach was adopted to explore a journey of two teacher educators as they designed, implemented and evaluated new modules in special and inclusive education withinaninitial teacher education programme in the Republic of Ireland. Analysis and synthesis of data from 24 student teachers and two teacher educators provide insights and understandings into the collaborative interactions and factors that enabled and hindered these interactions. This may support other teacher educators develop a collaborative pedagogical culture to enhance greater understanding of the SoTL We argue for adopting self-study as a scholarly approach to engage with other theories, such as SoTL, thus contributing to the broader field of teacher education research. .

This paper explores how cross-institutional Peer Observation of Teaching (PoT) provided a stru ctured opportunity for professional conversations by which observers and observees shared and developed their perspectives on teaching experience and skills. Such professional conversations offer opportunities for both parties to gain a perspective on practices that may have been taken for granted. Participants from three Higher Education institutions engaged in cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional PoT, followed by facilitated reflective conversations. This paper captures the factors for success that enabled continuing conversations on teaching and learning and highlights the value of supporting such conversations outside formal, uni-institutional peer observation programmes.

This paper describes the author's experience of using self-reflective practice within an action inquiry in order to improve both her personal practice in engaging in academic writing and her work as a teacher educator. As such, the study could be viewed as an example of simultaneous first-and second-person action inquiry. The focus is on the expression of the author's voice in academic writing with speciflc reference to the use of the passive and active voice and the first person pronoun 'I'. The reflective process illustrates the author's considerable uncertainty about personal voice, while supporting an emerging understanding of her own writing practice and her role in relation to supporting student writing. It is suggested that self-reflective practice can uncover some of the complexities of this writing and educational phenomenon and the social processes in which it is situated. A dual font approach is adopted with italic font used to present personal reflection.