Ní Chinnéide, Bláthnaid (2013) Practitioners' reflections on the benefits of and obstacles to Integrating Literacy. Masters thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.

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Abstract

This paper reports on a small scale research study on the reflections of vocational educators who have been working to integrate literacy support and development with other teaching and learning on accredited vocational education and training courses. The overall purpose of this study was to learn from the insights and experience of the practitioners in order to inform the development of supports for teachers and centres in implementing inclusive, learner-centred approaches to integrating literacy and vocational learning. Semi-structured interviews were held with seven vocational teachers and one centre manager. The research question that framed this study was: What are the benefits of and obstacles to integrating literacy with vocational teaching and learning in further education and training, in the perception of practitioners who have been working to do so? The study focused on practitioners’ accounts of practices in integrating literacy into their vocational programmes, the benefits they perceive from the approach, and the perceived obstacles to implementing the approach. Interviews were transcribed and the resulting data analysed using a thematic approach. The study was informed by a review of research on embedding or integrating literacy with vocational learning, and by a literature review focusing on theoretical perspectives on literacy and on literacy learning as elaborated by Paulo Freire, by writers in the New Literacy Studies (NLS), and by Thomas G Sticht’s model of Functional Context Education (FCE). The interviewees identified a range of benefits to learners from the integrated approaches they had used. The perceived obstacles to integrating literacy included some at practitioner level and centre level, both of which were bound up with factors at the institutional level. Most of the practitioners interviewed identified as obstacles factors related to the implementation of the (then) new FETAC Common Awards System and to forms and frameworks of evaluation and assessment. The findings and analysis from this study have informed the development of a set of guidelines on integrating literacy and the design of professional development programmes offered by NALA.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Keywords:	Practitioners; reflections; benefits; obstacles; Integrating Literacy; M.Ed. in Adult and Community Education; M.Ed.;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Adult and Community Education
Item ID:	9591
Depositing User:	IR eTheses
Date Deposited:	27 Jun 2018 09:50
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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