Tom O’Donoghue

To Medicate or Not to Medicate? The Decision-making Process of Western Australian Parents Following Their Child's Diagnosis with an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

This article examines the decision‐making processes that Western Australian parents utilise when deciding whether to medicate or not to medicate their child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Thirty‐three parents (five fathers and 28 mothers) from a wide range of socio‐economic status suburbs in Perth, Western Australia were interviewed. A grounded theory of “doing right by my child” emerged from the data. In seeking to be doing right by their child, parents move through the three distinct stages of grieving, cynicism, and proactive parenting. During the grieving process, parents come to terms with their child’s diagnosis. The grieving process comprises seven sub‐stages—those of denying the diagnosis, seeking alternative treatments, venting anger, experiencing emotional turmoil, expressing remorse, feeling depressed, and reaching a guarded acceptance. Although their ease of traverse through each of these first six sub‐stages is largely dependent on the level of support they receive, the majority of parents eventually reach a guarded acceptance of their child’s diagnosis and confront the issue of whether or not to medicate their child. In Stage 2 parents express their cynicism about society’s dichotomous attitude towards ADHD and the use of medication as a treatment option, and in Stage 3 they adopt a proactive approach to their parenting.

Educational Leadership and Context: A Rendering of an Inseparable Relationship

ABSTRACT The amount of empirical research on leadership of educational organisations, and especially of schools, which has stressed the importance of being sensitive to context, is not great. This paper seeks to highlight the challenge presented by this situation. First, context is defined. Second, attention is drawn to what can be learned in the area of school leadership from the emphasis in other bodies of scholarship within the broad field of education studies on paying attention to matters of context. Third, an overview is provided of some of the key considerations arising out of the small body of work undertaken in the field by those researchers who have focussed on the broad range of issues that can arise for school leaders in distinctive contexts. Finally, five key and interconnected propositions to guide practice with regard to leadership in diverse contexts that have been generated from an analysis of the latter body of work are presented. In doing so, it is recognised that these are tentative in the absence of a much larger corpus of work. Overall, we hope that, along with providing intellectual sustenance, each of the four areas considered will also stimulate discussion on areas for further research.

A Comparative History of Church-State Relationsin Irish Education

This essay argues for the development of a research agenda on the comparative history of Catholic education internationally from the nineteenth century to the present. This requires, in the first instance, the production of a series of individual-country case studies, concentrating on relations between the Catholic Church and the particular state in question on education over the period. The example of Ireland is provided to indicate one way in which a case might be constructed. Not until a large corpus of such case studies is produced will it be possible to engage in comprehensive theory generation and development in the field.

The primary school’s invasion of the privacy of the child: unmasking the potential of some current practices

Privacy has been defined as “the protective buffer within which people can avoid another party’s taking something from them, keeping watch over them, or entering into their lives in a way that is both unwelcome and undesirable”. It is a premise of this paper that such a position needs to be taken very seriously in contemporary society, and particularly in the case of schools, as school personnel have the capacity to engage in practices which show great disregard for individual and family privacy. This is illustrated in the case of primary school education in the Republic of Ireland. Particular attention is paid to assessment, pedagogical and curricular practices that derive from patterns of systematic and mandatory disclosure that are confessional, performative and public.

Cambodia as a Post-New War Country: Current Concerns of School Leaders

Education can have an influence on conflict either by fuelling violence or reducing the risk of violence (Bush and Saltarelli, The two faces of education in ethnic conflict towards a peacebuilding education for children. UNICEF, Florence, 2000; Davies, J Peacebuild Dev 2(2):42–58, 2005; Hodgkin, J Int Aff 60(1):199–210, 2006; Paulson, Introduction: education, conflict and development. In: Paulson J (ed) Education, conflict and development. Symposium books, Oxford, pp 7–14, 2011; Paulson and Rappleye, Int J Educ Dev 27(3):340–347, 2007; Smith, Comp J Comp Int Educ 35(4):373–391, 2005; World Bank, Reshaping the future: education and post-conflict reconstruction. World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005). Regarding its contribution to violent conflict, education can play a part by reproducing inequality, exclusion and social polarisation, which can intensify ‘social divisions’ and eventually increase tensions in a society (Davies, J Peacebuild Dev 2(2):42–58, 2005). Violent conflict can also have a negative impact on education in a number of ways, including through the destruction of infrastructure and institutions, and damaging the psychological state of children associated with loss of family, physical violence and displacement (Seitz, Education and conflict: the role of education in the creation, prevention and resolution of societal crises – consequences for development cooperation. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit, Bonn, Germany/Eschborn, Germany, 2004). On the other hand, education can also help to prevent and reduce violence and contribute to rebuilding conflict-affected societies through peace education initiatives focused on social justice, equality and inclusive citizenship (Bush and Saltarelli, The two faces of education in ethnic conflict towards a peacebuilding education for children. UNICEF, Florence, 2000; Davies, J Peacebuild Dev 2(2):42–58, 2005). Buckland (Post-conflict education: time for a reality check? In: Couldrey M, Morris T (eds) Forced migration review. Supplement. education and conflict: research, policy and practice. University of Oxford, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford, pp 7–8, 2006), for example, has argued that it can heal psychological effects, address youth unemployment, promote a democratic environment, and contribute to economic and social development in societies.

Educational Leadership in Developing Countries and in Post-New War Countries

While only a limited amount of research has been undertaken on education in conflict-affected societies, even less has been undertaken on leadership at the individual school level in such contexts. Certainly, a wide range of research projects on educational leadership has been conducted, but much of it has concentrated on well-established and relatively stable contexts (Bush, Educ Manag Adm Leadersh 42(6):787–791, 2014; Nawab, Int J Acad Res Bus Soc Sci 1(3):181–189, 2011; Oplatka, Comp Educ 40(3):427–448, 2004). The main investigations have been on issues relating to school improvement and effectiveness (Bush, Leadership and management in education. Sage, Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore, 2008; Educ Rev 61(4):375–389, 2009; Comp J Comp Int Educ 41(6):785–800, 2012; Rhodes and Brundrett, Educ Rev 61(4):361–374, 2009), school leadership and student learning achievement (Jacobson and Ylimaki, Comparative perspectives: an overview of seven educational contexts. In: Ylimaki RM, Jacobson SL (eds) US and cross-national policies, practices, and preparation: implications for successful instructional leadership, organisational learning, and culturally responsive practices. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 1–16, 2011; Leithwood et al., Leadership and other conditions which foster organisational learning in schools. In: Leithwood K, Lousis KS (eds) Organisational learning in schools. Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, pp 67–92, 1998; Leithwood and Massey, Developing leadership to improve student outcomes. In: Davies B, Brundrett M (eds) Developing successful leadership. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 77–98, 2010; Louis et al., Sch Eff Sch Improv 21(3):315–336, 2010), school leadership and change (Cravens and Hallinger, Peabody J Educ 87(2):157–161, 2012; Fullan, Leading in a culture of change. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2001; Hargreaves and Fullan, Understanding teacher development. Continuum International Publishing, New York, 1992), and school leadership and culture (Dimmock and Walker, Comp J Comp Int Educ 30(3):303–312, 2000; Sch Leadersh Manage 20(2):143–160, 2000; Hargreaves, Sch Eff Sch Improv 6(1):23–46, 1995). However, there are very few empirical studies that can be drawn upon in an attempt to understand the context and nature of school leadership in post-conflict settings at an international level (Clarke and O’Donoghue, The case for studying educational leadership at the individual school level in post-conflict societies. In: Clarke S, O’Donoghue T (eds) School level leadership in post-conflict societies: the importance of context. Routledge, London/New York, pp 1–8, 2013).

Historical Background and Recent Developments in Relation to Primary School Leadership in Cambodia

This chapter is in two main parts. The first part addresses the first aim of the study being reported in this book, namely to generate an understanding of the historical background to primary school leadership in Cambodia from the colonial period until 1998. On this, it will be recalled that the current history of Cambodia has been characterised by colonialism, civil war, and poverty. Shortly after gaining independence from France in 1953, the country descended into political turmoil. Later, between 1975 and 1979, a brutal genocide took place, resulting in a considerable loss of human life, destruction of physical infrastructure, destruction of socio-cultural and economic structures, and extensive poverty. While the genocide ended in 1979, conflict was still active in some parts of the country until 1998.

Cambodia as a Developing Country: Current Concerns of School Leaders

This chapter and the next one consider issues currently of concern to Cambodian primary school leaders. The present chapter examines this in relation to three sets of issues that relate to Cambodia’s status as a developing country. They are issues relating to administration, to teaching and learning, and to curriculum (the sub-issues treated in relation to each of these are outlined already in the book’s Table of Contents). The next chapter then considers issues that arose as a result of Cambodia’s status as a post-new war country and how this compounds the situation for leaders at the primary school level.

The Broad International Context

An understanding of school leadership at the primary school level in Cambodia, especially in relation to the historical background to primary school leadership, recent developments relating to primary school leadership, and current concerns of primary school leadership in the country needs to be based upon an appreciation of the broad international context within which these areas sit. Accordingly, this chapter explores a number of associated issues. It begins with an overview of colonialism and education, and of colonial legacies on education systems in postcolonial nations internationally. It then sheds light on the nature of wars, with an emphasis on ‘old wars’ and ‘new wars’. The chapter concludes with an overview of the literature concerning the complex relationships between education and conflict.

Stanley’s letter: the national school system and inspectors in Ireland 1831–1922, by Patrick F. O’Donovan

At the same time as schooling in Ireland became an instrument of the Tudor conquest, loyalty to Catholicism strengthened, despite being subjected to threat as a result of the passing of a series of...