Category: Social Lives

Promoting Equal Participation and Eliminating Discrimination: Time to Change the Narrative.

Social Lives

Author: Mohamed Maalim – PhD Researcher, of the ALL Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University

Blue Butterfly with Brown slate background. Zero Discrimination Day 01 March 2021 wording in top right hand corner

The Zero Discrimination day is celebrated annually on the 1st day of March, to reflect on our rich human diversity and the need for equal opportunity to enjoy fundamental human rights, and to fight against discrimination in all its forms and manifestations. This year, above all previous, the ongoing global COVID-19 Pandemic with all its disruptive nature and the misfortune it has brought and caused, has also offered humanity a glimpse of its ‘non-discrimination’ attribute. The advent of COVID-19 reinforced upon us that we are all equal as humans in our susceptibility, our fear and concern for self and others, and indeed in our hope of getting back to as ‘normal life’ as possible or whatever that ‘normal’ means. 

Additionally, with Covid-19, we have adopted a common enemy enforcing upon us an almost military-type operation to fight back. The nations of the world in an unprecedented fashion formed ‘NATO’ type alliances and collaborative networks with the ‘Big Tech’ and ‘Big Pharma’ in a concerted effort to develop digital contact tracing and tracking apps‘ and vaccines, respectively.  Individual governments assumed the role of commanding officers alongside senior health personnel, frontline healthcare workers, and other so called ‘essential’ workers as the foot soldiers of the operation, while the general public’s hearts and minds were won by calls to stay at home to suppress the virus. 

Continue reading “Promoting Equal Participation and Eliminating Discrimination: Time to Change the Narrative.”

Education and Joy

Social Lives

Author: Derek Barter, ALL Institute, Department of Adult and Community Education, Maynooth University

The words ‘Education’ and ‘Joy’ do not sit naturally in the same sentence – at least that is what I have come to find. A few years ago, when our son was about eight or nine years old, I was preparing a PowerPoint slide for a talk on Lifelong Learning and Continuing Education.  He read the slide and looked at me, his eyes brimming with fear and disappointment and said, ‘You mean school goes on forever?’ I reassured him that with luck and time off for good behaviour his sentence could be up in another eight years or so if that is what he wanted.  School and Learning are not the same thing.

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‘You’re a teacher you’re a mother, you’re a worker’: Gender inequality during Covid-19 in Ireland.

Social Lives

Authors: Katriona O’Sullivan, Serena Clark and Amy McGrane
ALL Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University

Mam is in a meeting (online) do not enter - and stay quiet!
My lock-down experience

When the schools closed in April of 2020, I found myself in the most stressful parenting situation of my entire parenting life. I was left to manage the education needs of my 3 sons; all of whom were at very different stages of their education journey. My studious, stressed-out 15-year-old was about to sit his Junior Cert, while the 11-year-old was in 5th class and the carefree 16-year-old in 5th year. As the ‘educated’ parent in our house and the mother, I was suddenly expected to manage much more than I normally would have. I am already in charge of most of the shopping, cleaning etc. and now the home-schooling too. I remember looking at my husband from across the top of my son’s laptop, after several failed attempts to log-in to Aladdin, thinking – we are not going to make it through this unless something changes. I also remember celebrating the night they announced that the Junior Cert was cancelled AND the constant guilty feeling I had because I let them all sleep late so I could get my own work done. As an academic working in education, and researching technology, I really had no idea how much stress education can bring to a family. Likewise about how hard I would find it adding home-schooling onto the other burdens I carry as a women and mother. I know I am not alone. My friends, colleagues and family feel the same. I have chosen to share some of my personal and research observations from the last few months to highlight some of the gender disparities that are being exacerbated by the pandemic in many homes across the island of Ireland.  (Dr Katriona O’Sullivan)

Continue reading “‘You’re a teacher you’re a mother, you’re a worker’: Gender inequality during Covid-19 in Ireland.”
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