Focusing on the first decade of Ireland's national television service, the book examines its role in challenging the conservative political, cultural, and social norms of the time. It highlights how the emergence of television contributed to significant societal shifts, ultimately reshaping Ireland's landscape and facilitating a departure from longstanding traditions and beliefs.
Opening the Book
A behind-the-scenes look at a large-scale reading intervention trial, exposing the human decisions and real-world challenges that shape educational research. Reading Randomised Controlled Trials presents an illuminating exploration of how large-scale educational trials unfold in real-world settings, displaying the often-overlooked human decisions that shape their outcomes. Using the Flexible Phonics trial--an ambitious study involving nearly 3,000 children in 118 schools across England--as a case study, the authors examine the practical and ethical problems with conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in education. Unlike pharmaceutical trials, educational RCTs operate in dynamic environments where factors such as teacher decision-making and school culture play a crucial role. This book depicts the inner workings of education research and also underlines its broader significance, particularly in the wake of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. By focusing on early childhood literacy and the long-term impact of evidence-based interventions, Reading Randomised Controlled Trials provides important insights for educators and researchers seeking to bridge the gap between rigorous research and meaningful classroom practice. A must-read for those invested in improving educational outcomes, this book contests assumptions about what works in education--and why.
Focusing on the role of television, the book examines how news and information regarding the Northern Ireland conflict reached the public. It highlights the influence of this medium as a vital source for shaping perceptions and narratives during a tumultuous period, emphasizing its accessibility and power in communicating complex issues to a broad audience.
Toward the end of the Second World War, the works of the great German poet Friedrich Holderlin were heavily exploited by Nazi propaganda as a source of spiritual strength for the war-weary German people. Once the fires had burned out, scholars attempted to absolve Holderlin of any responsibility for his wartime (mis)appropriation. Only a few saw that his work would have to be reread in the light of the iniquities that had been said and done in his name. This book examines how Holderlin was taken up by three such thinkers, among the most influential and controversial of their time: Martin Heidegger, Theodor W. Adorno, and Bertolt Brecht. It extrapolates from their writings on the poet three irreconcilable paradigms of reception -- conversation, polemic, and citation -- that are of significance for the broader project of working through the tarnished German cultural legacy after 1945. In each case, Holderlin is examined as the occasion for salvaging that legacy after, from, and in view of the catastrophe. This first full-length study of Holderlin's postwar reception will be of interest to students and scholars working in the fields of German literature, European philosophy, the politics of cultural memory, and critical theory. Robert Savage is ARC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.