According to the UN (2020), almost 1.6 billion people, or circa one-fifth of the world’s population, across 190 countries and all continents, have been impacted in terms of disruption to education globally. To put the scale of this in some sort of perspective, this equates to largely the same number of people as populated the planet during the flu pandemic of 1918–1920. Then, as now, education has been impacted severely by enforced restrictions on society wrought by the onset of a global, indiscriminate pandemic.
Since March 2020, when schools and campuses in Ireland first started to close, the effects of COVID-19 in education have been wide-ranging, from major changes and disruption to state examination systems to large-scale learning online and outside of school. Some of the key questions to arise for all educators in this precarious contemporary moment include: how has education been affected by the pandemic; and where can we go from here?
Furthermore, there has been much discourse around the pandemic serving as a lever for change, potentially opening up new possibilities for learning, teaching and assessment, and alongside this the tentative vision of an improved education system post-pandemic. However, what might be learnt from the current situation, to inform the design of more engaging and inclusive educational futures for all?
In October 2020, to locate and reflect upon the implications for education now emerging, as a consequence of the present pandemic, Irish Educational Studies invited articles for a special issue of papers exploring key aspects of the impact of COVID-19 on education in Ireland, situated in the global context.
Furthermore, while there emerged in the immediate months after the pandemic a body of rapid research on COVID-19 and its implications for education, the aim of this special issue has been to take a longer view of the effects of the pandemic across key aspects of education in Ireland and internationally.
Now in its 40th year, Irish Educational Studies has ab initio always been a generalist educational journal, covering education and its key, constituent concepts, perspectives and theoretical orientations, construed in a broad and inclusive way. As the inaugural editorial board of the journal wrote in 1981: ‘The policy of publishing articles from a wide range of educational studies – psychology, sociology, history, philosophy, curriculum, evaluation, methodology and educational management – is continued in Irish Educational Studies’.
Thus, faithful to the journal’s original and continuing mission, the call for papers for this special issue sought a wide and diverse set of research studies examining the impact of COVID-19 on Irish education and, or comparing developments in Ireland with the wider international situation. The different types of contributions invited, included, for example empirical papers, viewpoints, case studies, conceptual papers and literature reviews.
The call for papers received an overwhelming response, and the Editors are pleased to publish this, our largest ever issue of Irish Educational Studies, comprehensively addressing a wide range of concerns, questions and topics in education in a time of global pandemic. Thus this special issue of the journal includes a comprehensive range of 32 articles focusing on diverse issues, questions and topics, across a salient set of themes, reported from Irish and international perspectives:
Implications for diversity, inclusion and social justice in education;
Governance and leadership in schools;
Changes to academic life and the academic conference at tertiary level;
System leadership and interagency collaboration;
Alternative, novel forms of learning outside school, including schooling at home and outdoor education;
The pivot to increased use of blended learning, and online and distance education;
Mental health and well-being for learners and teachers;
The impact on curriculum, assessment and examinations;
The relationship between formal, informal and non-formal education; and
Critical perspectives on education and school during pandemics: historical, sociological, technological, psychological and philosophical.
Firstly, we thank all authors who submitted manuscripts for consideration for publication, and congratulate those accepted for publication and their colleagues.
We take the opportunity now to thank, as always, the significant review work that was undertaken, and for this issue especially, in an expeditious but considered and thorough manner. It is important to note the additional specialist review input provided by colleagues in Ireland and internationally, in particular Professor Charles B. Hodges, Georgia Southern University and Editor-in-Chief, TechTrends. We also thank Professor Teresa O'Doherty, President of Marino Institute of Education and the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI), and the Executive of the ESAI for their support of this special issue. In particular, we furthermore wish to thank Professor Gerry Mac Ruairc, Head of the School of Education, NUI Galway; Katrina Hulme-Cross, Portfolio Manager, Education for Irish Educational Studies; and our publisher Routledge/Taylor & Francis. For his work with the editorial team, in the original conception of the special issue, and support of its publication throughout, we thank especially our Editorial Board member, former President of the ESAI, Dr Enda Donlon, Dublin City University.
We thank also the President and Executive of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland for their support, and our publisher Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
This issue, published in the 40th year of Studies, represents a most significant, touchstone research publication. It positions the pandemic and its impact on critical aspects of education over the last, almost, year-and-a-half.
Moreover, it helps us to face the future in an informed way and to envision educational structures and futures that are potentially better designed for the challenging and complex world we live in today, and are about to enter, hopefully, post-pandemic.