Irish Educational Studies

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Democratic schooling practices in the Republic of

Ireland: the gaps between the rhetoric and reality

Timothy Murphy

To cite this article: Timothy Murphy (2008) Democratic schooling practices in the Republic of
Ireland: the gaps between the rhetoric and reality, Irish Educational Studies, 27:1, 29-39, DOI:
10.1080/03323310701837848

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Irish Educational Studies
Vol. 27, No. 1, March 2008, 29
39

Democratic schooling practices in the Republic of Ireland: the gaps

between the rhetoric and reality
Timothy Murphy*

National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

Drawing upon the writings of Maxine Greene and Paolo Freire, this article
explores the necessary conditions for the advancement of education for
democracy in the context of modern post-industrial societies, with a focus on
schooling in the Republic of Ireland. The article charts a general topography of
the Republic of Ireland in relation to the democratic project. For that purpose,
particular attention will be paid to the changing influence of ‘theocentric’ and
‘mercantile’ ideologies of education. Educators are keenly aware of the
relationality that exists between particular schooling practices and the flourishing
of education for democracy. Conversely, they are also very conscious of the fact
that certain schooling practices can severely impede the democratic project in
society. In order to situate the study in teacher education practices, the article
examines the potential of ‘service-learning’ to advance the project of education,
especially with respect to its democratic remit.
Keywords: schools; democracy; service-learning

Introduction
This article will attempt to explore the necessary conditions for the advancement of
education for democracy in the context of modern post-industrial societies. In the
course of the article, there will be a particular focus on the schooling system of the
Republic of Ireland (RoI). Many educators are keenly aware of the relation that
exists between particular schooling practices and the flourishing of education for
democracy. Conversely, such educators are also very conscious of the fact that
certain schooling practices can severely impede the democratic project in society.
Throughout this article, reference will be made to two very influential educationalists
who have written extensively on the nature of the educational project, especially in its
relation to democratic citizenship. Both Paulo Freire and Maxine Greene, despite
their differing social contexts, have convergent ideas on the potential of the
educational project to effect human transformation, at both a personal and a
community level.
An effort will be made to elicit what both of these authors consider to be the
cornerstones of the democratic project in education. They also exhibit significant
parallels in thinking, however, concerning the possible reasons that could potentially
lead to an eclipsing of the democratic project. The extent to which the schooling
system in the Republic of Ireland is underpinned by such a democratic scaffolding
will be explored. It is anticipated that this examination will help to unveil what the

*Email: Timothy.Murphy@nuigalway.ie

ISSN 0332-3315 print/ISSN 1747-4965 online

# 2008 Educational Studies Association of Ireland
DOI: 10.1080/03323310701837848
http://www.informaworld.com
30 T. Murphy

author considers to be educational ‘limit-situations’ in the schooling system there.

Freire identifies recurrent poverty and oppression as instances of ‘limit-situations’.
Such situations inhibit persons from realising their full human potential. With
reference to the schooling system, then, it might be possible to inquire about those
aspects of it that may be preventing it from fostering its full democratic potential.
The Freirean pedagogy does not stop with the identification of ‘limit-situations’,
however, as it is in their very naming that their negation also resides. Persons, in his
view, are intrinsically designed to become more fully human, which involves pushing
up against their ‘limit-situations’ and ultimately transcending them. He refers to this
process in terms of ‘limit-acts’, which he defines as acts ‘directed at negating and
overcoming, rather than passively accepting, the given’ (Freire 1970; Freire 1995, 80).
The article will conclude with an outline of potential ‘limit-acts’, from an
educational perspective, which could help to counteract the above-mentioned
‘limit-situations’, so that an understanding of education that ‘incarnates the
permanent search of people together for their becoming more fully human in the
world in which they exist’ can begin to take hold of the educational project (Freire
1973, 96).

Democratic processes and civic engagement in the Republic of Ireland

Before moving on to consider the cornerstones of the democratic project in society,
as elaborated by both Freire and Greene, it might be helpful to comment briefly on
the general topography of the Republic of Ireland in relation to democratic processes
and civic engagement. Dunne, for example, alerts us to the fact that in the early
decades of the state, the question of citizenship was perhaps assumed to be largely
answered by a combination of nationalism and Catholicism (Dunne 2002, 69). Such
a perspective is certainly in tandem with Fitzgerald’s contention that the pervasive-
ness of the Catholic moral code at that time probably restricted the extent to which
alternative codes could also have been woven into the fabric of Irish society
(Fitzgerald 2005, 238). Garvin even contends that the extent of the Church’s
influence, at that time, was comparable to ‘a powerful and autonomous agency
which for many purposes operated like a second government or a state within a state’
(Garvin 2004, 2).
The above-mentioned analysis is also consonant with O’Sullivan’s erudite
analysis of the cultural politics of Irish education, in his recently published work
Cultural Politics and Irish Education since the 1950s (O’Sullivan 2005). In this work,
he distinguishes between ‘theocentric’ and ‘mercantile’ paradigms. The former, in his
view, presents a view of education which is determined largely by unchanging
principles ‘based on a Christian view of human nature and destiny’ (112). There is
ample evidence to suggest that following independence the Churches, both Catholic
and Protestant, moved quickly to consolidate their dominant positions in their
respective educational provenances. Peillon, for example, even contends that ‘they
succeeded in transforming schools which might have been, if not lay, at least neutral
in religious matters into institutions which were directly controlled by the clergy,
divided along religious lines and more and more committed to catechising’ (Peillon
1982, 148). The privileged position accorded to the Catholic Church in the provision
of education in the Republic of Ireland allowed for the exercise of a type of cultural
 Irish Educational Studies 31

hegemony which enabled it to build itself into the very ‘vitals of the nation’ (see
Fuller 2002, 10).

‘Theocentric’ worldview
In the ‘theocentric’ worldview of the time, knowledge was perceived as fixed and
unchanging (Fuller 2002, 12) and the pursuit of it was ring-fenced for the principal
purpose of illuminating the eternal truths. This is evident, for example, in the
depiction of the aims and purposes of education as outlined in the 1971 Primary
School Curriculum: Teachers Handbook, Part 1. It states: ‘the scale of values in a
society inevitably determines its educational aims and priorities. We in Ireland have
our own scale of values. Each human being is created in God’s image. He has a life to
lead and a soul to be saved. Education is therefore concerned, not only with life but
with the purpose of life’ (Department of Education 1971, 12). As previously
mentioned, however, the symbiosis between Church and State was not confined to
the sphere of education alone. The Church’s influence extended into all of the vital
socialising agencies of the State.
The net effect of the pervasiveness of the ‘theocentric’ paradigm, especially
during the first half of the twentieth century, provided a favourable context for the
emergence of a consensual conception of the social order throughout Irish society
(Drudy and Lynch 1993, 50).
Such a view allows for the representation of society as an undifferentiated whole
and educationally, then, according to Drudy and Lynch, this assumes ‘that there is
agreement within all sectors of that whole on what is the ‘‘public interest’’ or
‘‘collective interest’’ in education’ (Drudy and Lynch 1993, 50). Such a representa-
tion has also in their view forestalled the development of a critical structural analysis
of the education system and of society more generally (55). It would also lend
credence to O’Sullivan’s contention that conditions pertaining to the general
democratic politics of the public sphere have been somewhat lacking in the Republic
of Ireland (O’Sullivan 2005, 552). In particular, he points to the absence of any real
‘generative dialogue’ between the state and society that could cultivate ‘a realization
of the complexity, production, situatedness and functioning of interpretive frame-
works in our lives’ (555).
There is a recognition here of schooling systems as sites of inquiry that provide
spaces for the emergence of a learner’s interpretive capacities. Such an acknowl-
edgement would support the view that Educating the ‘Right Way’ (Apple 2001) must
involve developing a learner’s capacity to ask the critical questions about ‘the nature
of ‘‘teachers’’ and ‘‘texts’’ and their relations to larger ideological, political, and
economic dynamics’ (Apple 1986, 180). It would also be cognizant of Lynch’s
insistence that opportunities and spaces must be provided for the traditionally
silenced voices to be heard, those with ‘the day-to-day experiential knowledge of
injustice that is a necessary condition for informed decision-making’ (Baker et al.
2004, 163). In the prevailing climate of the time, however, with the Catholic Church
in such an ascendant position on the educational front, it was difficult to prise open
a conception of the educational project that would accord such a high priority to the
development of a learner’s critical faculties.
32 T. Murphy

‘Mercantile’ worldview
The system of schooling that was existent at the establishment of the new Free State
was to function without change for almost forty years (Peillon 1982, 150). In the
course of the 1960s, however, reform of the education system became a ‘burning
issue’ and such reform was largely inspired by a push toward industrial development
(Peillon 1982). Clancy would contend, for example, that in the wake of the adoption
of a programme for economic development, with its commitment to economic
growth and export
oriented industrialization, ‘the educational system would
henceforth be assessed by its capacity to facilitate the achievement of these new
economic objectives’ (Clancy 1986, 125).
This new phase in the development of Irish education was also marked by the
publication of Investment in Education (Survey Team 1966). This report, which was
prepared in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), highlighted the gross under-investment in education in
Ireland at that time. It also suggested that this situation represented a distinct
disadvantage for Ireland in terms of the country’s potential economic development.
Investment in Education, then, was a wake-up call for the government and thereafter
it was decided substantially to increase investment in education and that the State
would take a more central role in the actual running of the system. Educating the
‘right’ way moved closer to what Dunne later described as ‘education as a business,
students and their parents as customers, and teachers as mere functionaries who
must satisfy the demand of their manager and clients’ (Dunne 2002, 86).
Such a conception of the educational project is certainly congruent with
O’Sullivan’s depiction of the ‘mercantile paradigm’ which contends that ‘what
education is for is a matter for consumers of the system, such as pupils, parents, civic
leaders and business interests, to decide (O’Sullivan 2005, 112). Dunne points out
that in this new climate of mercantilism the civic remit of education becomes
correlated to the contribution that it makes to national economic prosperity (Dunne
2002, 70). In such a climate, it is very important that teachers, according to
Hargreaves (2003), serve as courageous counterpoints. Teaching today, in his view,
‘must include dedication to building character, community, humanitarianism, and
democracy in young people; to help them think and act above and beyond the
seductions and demands of the knowledge economy’ (Hargreaves 2003, 60).
After considering the general topography of the Republic of Ireland in relation to
democratic processes and civic engagement, then, the author would be inclined to
support Fitzgerald’s position on the absence of an elaborate civic morality code
there. It is in evidence that the development of such a code has been significantly
restricted by the pervasiveness of the ‘theocentric’ and ‘mercantile’ paradigms at
various phases in the development of Irish society.

Convergence in divergence: the citizenship constructs of

Paulo Freire and Maxine Greene
In order to elicit the necessary conditions for the advancement of democratic
citizenship in modern society, I have elected to focus on the educational work of
Paulo Freire and Maxine Greene. It would be relatively easy for one to assume that
there could be little in common between these educationalists, as they come from
 Irish Educational Studies 33

differing social backgrounds. Notwithstanding these differences, however, there is a

remarkable congruence between them on the issue of democratic citizenship and
particularly with respect to the pivotal role that education plays. But first, let us look
a little more closely at the respective social contexts of each of these educationalists.
Freire was born in Recife, a part of Brazil that is familiar with extremes of
poverty. In such a context then, it is not at all surprising that in his capacity as a
professional educator, he committed himself toward the elaboration of a pedagogical
approach that would equip the impoverished inhabitants of Brazil to overcome their
‘limit-situations’. In his view, such situations inhibit persons from realizing their full
humanity, an instance of which would be recurrent poverty. The ‘liberatory praxis’
that he developed, then, attempts to provide spaces for learners to come together to
re-create their own lived worlds so that ‘through transforming action they can create
a new situation, one which makes possible the pursuit of a fuller humanity’ (Freire
1970, 29). In this way, the future is perceived ‘not as inexorable but as something that
is constructed by people engaged together in life, in history’ (Freire 1998, 72). By
contrast, Greene, had a privileged upbringing in Brooklyn, New York. As with
Freire, she also decided to commit her life to the pursuit of education. As an
educator, she became increasingly concerned about the manner in which persons,
especially in the context of post-industrial high-tech societies, like the United States,
are inhibited from realizing their full humanity (Murphy 2005). In a manner similar
to Freire, she concerned herself with exploring a pedagogical approach that could
enable the learner ‘to let his consciousness take over, to enable him
in the face of
mechanization and controls
to create himself as a human being, as a teacher
capable of freeing other human beings to choose themselves’ (Greene 1973, 21).

Freire and Greene on the cornerstones of democratic citizenship

Both of these educationalists, then, despite their differing social contexts, have
convergent ideas on the significance of the educational project to effect human
transformation, at both a personal and a community level. Freire refers to this aspect
of the educational endeavour as ‘conscientization’, which he sees as ‘the deepening of
the attitude of awareness characteristic of all emergence’ (Freire 1970, 90). This
deepening of awareness is also evident in Greene’s concept of ‘wide awakeness’,
which she describes as a heightened sense of agency in those we teach, empowering
them ‘to pursue their freedom and perhaps, transform to some degree their lived
worlds’ (Greene 1995, 48). Notwithstanding the evident convergence of thinking
here, it might also be helpful to consider what both of these authors consider to be
the cornerstones of the democratic project, especially from an educational
perspective. As aforementioned, such a consideration will allow for a more informed
critique of the schooling system in the Republic of Ireland.
It is evident from their writings, for example, that they both consider equality,
freedom and social justice to be core, foundational prerequisites of the democratic
project in education. There is also a sense in which each of these elements are
interrelated, in the sense that when one is absent all are affected. Both would
accentuate the public good of the educational endeavour as that space where
students can identify and choose themselves, especially in relation to the aforemen-
tioned characteristics. Greene, for example, states that one of the primary aims of
education is to motivate the young so that they ‘can become principled enough,
34 T. Murphy

committed enough to reach beyond their self-interest and take responsibility for
what happens in the space between themselves and others, what has been called the
public space’ (Ayers, Hunt, and Quinn 1998, xxxiv).
The pivotal importance of the social justice dimension of the democratic project
is clearly evident in Freire’s contention that ‘I cannot be a teacher if I do not perceive
with greater clarity that my practice demands of me a definition about where I stand.
A break with what is not ethically right’ (Freire 1998, 93). The import of this
statement is also echoed in Greene’s clarion call for educators to respond ‘to those
once called at risk, once carelessly marginalized, as living beings capable of choosing
for themselves’ (Greene 1995, 42). Both Freire and Greene would also contend that
the experience of freedom is an essential attribute of the democratic fabric of society.
It is, in Freire’s words, ‘the indispensable condition for the quest for human
completion’ (Freire 1970, 29).

The civic remit of education in the Republic of Ireland
‘limit-situations’

At this juncture, it might be helpful to critically consider the extent to which the
schooling system in the Republic of Ireland is underpinned by such a democratic
scaffolding as that outlined by Freire and Greene above. There is certainly evidence
of significant buckling on the equality and social justice fronts. Walshe (2006) makes
reference to the ‘cherry-picking’ syndrome of some secondary schools. It has not
been unknown, according to Torney (2004), for some schools to request pupils who
were experiencing difficulties with their school work to move on to other schools in
an attempt to secure the best possible profile for their schools in the competitive
league-table rankings (Torney 2004). The net result, however, from an equality and
justice perspective, is all the more contentious when one considers that it is often the
poorest and most vulnerable sections of our communities who are most impacted
from such practices.
Walshe and Donnelly (2006) claim that ‘‘‘education by chequebook’’ pays off as
parents who fork out heavily for second-level education increase their children’s
chances of getting into university’. This is also congruent with Lynch and Lodge’s
contention (2002, 40) that most high-status, academic schools are ‘disproportio-
nately subscribed by upper middle-class students’ (see also Combat Poverty Agency
1998; Youthstart 1998; Lynch 1999; Fleming and Murphy 2000; Lyons et al. 2003).
It is evident, from the above-mentioned ‘limit-situations’, that for some students
a form of predestination exists. It is also evident that some schools in the Republic of
Ireland are being influenced by Thrupp’s (1999) comment that schools ‘which are
able to shut out working class students in one way or another will indeed accrue
advantages. Not only will teaching be easier, but the mean achievement level of
students will probably rise, further boosting the position of such schools in the
academic league table and their subsequent reputations’ (Thrupp 1999, 142).
In the previous section, I also argued that both Freire and Greene consider
the experience of freedom to be an essential attribute of the democratic fabric of
society. It might be helpful, then, briefly to consider the extent to which such an
experience is characteristic of Irish school-going students. In that respect, there is
evidence to suggest that the full development of these students is being inhibited
by the extent to which success or failure in the educational system is being
determined almost solely by the amount of points that one accumulates. This
 Irish Educational Studies 35

concern with respect to the one-dimensional conception of excellence in the

current schooling system of the Republic of Ireland is clearly articulated by
Sheelagh Drudy in an article entitled ‘Crude league tables are no measure of
results’ (Drudy 2003).
There is also evidence of a strong economic undertow to that same prevailing
conception of excellence. O’Brien, an Irish second-level teacher, for example, recently
commented that the social and personal development capacity of the Irish schooling
system is being undermined by the extent to which it is currently being orchestrated
by economic motives (O’Brien 2005). A similar concern was echoed in the 1994
Report on the National Education Convention when it stated that an over-emphasis
‘on economic and instrumentalist considerations in educational policy-making could
have distorting effects, with deleterious consequences’ (9).
My argument, thus, is that, especially in light of educational philosophies of
Freire and Greene, aspects of the current schooling system in the Republic of Ireland
are being inhibited from realizing their full democratic potential. The question still
remains, however, as to how it might be possible to ameliorate the distorting effects
of those same ‘limit-situations’, so that an understanding of education that
‘incarnates the permanent search of people together for their becoming more fully
human in the world in which they exist’ can begin to take hold of the educational
project (Freire 1973, 96).

The civic remit of education in the Republic of Ireland
‘limit-acts’

Freire and Greene exhibit an important convergence of thinking concerning the
possible reasons that could potentially lead to an eclipsing of the democratic
capacity in education. What is significant about their work, however, is that neither
of them stops at the mere naming of the said reasons. Instead, they invite learners to
reach beyond their ‘limit-situations’ toward the untapped possibility of what can be.
Such an understanding of the educational project is characteristic of the existentialist
tradition in education, one which obviously had a very significant influence on the
pedagogical orientations of both of these educationalists. Each of them would
certainly resonate with Sartre’s contention that it is ‘on the day that we can conceive
of a different state of affairs that a new light falls on our troubles and our suffering
and that we decide that these are unbearable’ (Sartre 1956, 435). Such a conception
of the educational project prompted me to explore teaching and learning
opportunities for pre-service teacher educators that could allow for greater clarity
and depth of understanding regarding the nature and meaning of the educational
project in society, especially with respect to its democratic remit.
In the context of lifelong learning, Coolahan (2002) highlights the need for
teacher educators to have such informed understandings. Such understandings are
even accorded a greater urgency in the context of a recent policy document from the
OECD called Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective
Teachers (Directorate for Education, OECD 2005a). Its Executive Summary
acknowledges that there is widespread recognition ‘that countries need to have clear
and concise statements of what teachers are expected to know and be able to do, and
these teacher profiles need to be embedded throughout the school and teacher
education systems’ (Directorate for Education, OECD 2005b, 12). At a time,
however, when our education is preoccupied with the acquisition of points, it is very
36 T. Murphy

important that such statements provide our students with learning opportunities that
will equip them ‘to step into their future as well-rounded and well-adjusted people’
(Valarsan-Toomey 1998, 52). Our current students ought to be provided with
learning experiences that will encourage them to become the next generation’s
architects of the democratic project for society, paying particular attention to its
equality, justice and freedom aspects.
In the academic year 2004
2005, I invited pre-service teacher-education students
to engage in service-learning activities, in partial fulfilment of their requirements for
the ‘Education and Society’ foundations module. Service-learning1 was defined as a
teaching/learning method that connects meaningful community service with
academic learning, personal growth, and civic responsibility, so as to gain further
understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an
enhanced sense of civic responsibility (see AACTE 2002). Each of the participating
students submitted a reflective essay and the examples provided below illustrate
how engagement with such activities can help to nurture the core democratic
capacities of persons.

Service-learning’s role in fostering an understanding of democratic schooling

One of the pre-service teachers who elected to complete the service-learning option
decided to reflect on her involvement with the ‘The Outreach Society’ programme
while completing her studies at the University of Limerick. As part of this
programme, students from the university travel out to a community school in South
Hill, a disadvantaged area of Limerick city with considerable socio-economic
problems, and engage students for one-to-one tuition in English. The aforemen-
tioned student benefited greatly from her participation in this initiative, especially
given that she is from a rural middle-class background which did not bring her into
significant contact with persons from lower socio-economic backgrounds. She
acknowledged that she initially possessed an element of the ‘cock-eyed’ optimist
when she became involved with the various outreach projects. The experience that
she gained as an educator, however, through her involvement with service-learning,
allowed her to arrive at a richer understanding of what is involved in the educational
project. In her own words, she came to realise that
the principal aim of these projects was not to radically improve the students
academically but to change their attitudes to education and the usefulness of it to
them in their futures, something I didn’t appreciate at the time and perhaps to enable
them, as Maxine Greene suggests ‘to see beyond the actual to a better order of things’.
On reflection the experience for me was a formative one and had a significant impact on
my decision to enter the teaching profession. According to Greene teachers should
‘challenge that which is taken for granted, the given, the bound and the restricted’.
Teachers should also be taught ‘to educate our children to take responsibility for our
collective well being’, aims I very much believe in and aspire to. To me teaching is about
more than educating the child for our economy, which is of course important but it has
become the central focus of our education system.
Another pre-service teacher opted to complete her reflective essay on the
experience that she had as a voluntary tutor with the Galway Adult Literacy
Organisation. As with the previous service-learning participant, she also indicated
 Irish Educational Studies 37

that her involvement with the aforementioned organisation forced her to re-assess
her comfortable middle-class views on the efficacy of our current education system
and that it also made her think more seriously about the processes involved in
learning to read and write, something which most of us take for granted. She
commented:
In order to become a successful tutor I had to put myself in the shoes of the student, and
each student was unique. Did they prefer to process information visually or aurally or
spatially? Was it possible to use their experience as a foundation for learning? I think
this is why William Ayers’ musings on teaching struck such a deep chord
‘to reflect on
the process of learning and teaching by consciously being in the role of one who doesn’t
know’. What service learning did for me was to remove the scales from my eyes and see
that education should be about individuals and ensuring that each individual maximises
their potential as a human being.
It is evident, then, that this student benefited greatly from her involvement with
service-learning. The transformative potential inherent in the project of educating,
for example, is clearly evident when she describes what service-learning did for her,
which she likened to removing the scales from her eyes. This vivid imagery, in my
estimation, goes to the heart of the educational project. I am reminded of Greene’s
concept of ‘wide awakeness’. Such a conception of the educational endeavour is
extremely important, especially in the context of an educational system that is
increasingly expected to process the young (seen as ‘‘human resources’’) to perform
acceptably on some level of an increasingly systematized world’ (Greene 1988, 12).

Conclusion
This article has attempted to outline a few cornerstones of the democratic project in
society, especially from an educational perspective. A review of some important
merits and shortcomings of the Irish educational system was also carried out in the
light of the incisive arguments on democratic education advanced by Freire and
Greene. Such an analysis helped to identify some of the ‘limit-situations’ in the
current schooling system, which effectively inhibit the full flourishing of its
democratic potential. The article concludes with a consideration of a specific
instance of a ‘limit-act’ which, in the author’s view, has the potential to ameliorate
some of the more negative consequences of the above-mentioned ‘limit-situations’.
In that regard, the reflective essays of two participating pre-service teachers are cited,
so as to illustrate the potential of service-learning as a ‘limit-act’ to break open our
conceptions about the nature and purpose of the educational project in society,
especially with regard to its democratic remit. If such learning is mainstreamed into
our schooling system, it is possible that we might begin to arrive at a conception of
the educational project that releases the creative imaginations of learners ‘in the
imaging of their own preferred futures and the kind of social order that might make
such futures possible’ (Reardon 1994, 39).

Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge the Community Knowledge Initiative, which is part of
the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at NUI Galway, for their support in the
38 T. Murphy

preparation of this article. A debt of gratitude is also due to the two reviewers whose insightful
comments helped to prepare the manuscript for publication.

Note
1. Over the past fifteen years, service-learning has become an integral part of the educational
experience in the United States, from first to post-compulsory levels. It is a relatively new
entrant into the Irish educational context. The Community Knowledge Initiative at NUI
Galway initially pioneered the educational potential of this particular approach. Their
website describes it ‘as a pedagogical tool which encourages students to learn and explore
issues vital to society, inside and outside the classroom. Students learn from engaging with
communities by active participation. Academic staff guide students through this process
through structured reflection and the integration of theory and practice’. Available online
at: http://www.nuigalwaycki.ie/menu.asp?menu3. Additional information about service-
learning is available from the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. Available online at
http://www.servicelearning.org/welcome_to_service-learning/history/index.php.

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