[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-589258-105":59,"doc-detail-589258-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","reading-between-the-lines-exploring-the-implementation-of-irish-further-education-and-training-policy-at-practice-level","Reading Between the Lines - Exploring the Implementation of Irish Further Education and Training Policy at Practice Level","","Adult education in the Republic of Ireland has undergone rapid change since 2013, as the Further Education and Training (FET) sector developed and implemented strategies that reshape how adult learners are supported. With 16 Education and Training Boards interpreting FET policy locally, practitioners worry that implementation may diverge from policy intent and weaken adult education philosophies. The article examines policy context, implementation actions, practitioner concerns, and reflection questions to consider risks and alignment.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/reading-between-the-lines-exploring-the-implementation-of-irish-further-education-and-training-policy-at-practice-level/589258/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/reading-between-the-lines-exploring-the-implementation-of-irish-further-education-and-training-policy-at-practice-level/589258.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Đào","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What has driven major changes in Ireland’s adult education since 2013?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The Further Education and Training (FET) sector developed and implemented strategies and policies that transformed the adult education landscape in the Republic of Ireland.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why do practitioners express concerns about FET policy implementation?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Because local autonomy and outcome-linked funding may lead to approaches that misalign with policy intentions, potentially undermining adult-only environments and established educational philosophies and ethos.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which policy strategies does the article draw on to frame its discussion?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It draws on current FET policy and Murtagh’s (2021) policy review of the current FET Strategy, along with practitioners’ concerns about how policy is implemented.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},589258,1792160884,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":46,"preview_page_count":4},1374402968488,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Reading Between the Lines: Exploring the Implementation of Irish Further Education and Training Policy at Practice Level  \naislinn brennan and maeve o’grady  \nAbstract  \nAdult Education in the Republic of Ireland has experienced exponential change. Since 2013, the Further Education and Training (FET) sector has developed and implemented a range of strategies and policies transforming the landscape. Policy implementation is a complex process and as the 16 Education and Training Boards work to interpret FET policy and transform their offerings, practitioners are concerned that policy implementation may misalign with policy intention and compromise philosophies. This article aims to explore implementation inaction. It describes the policy context, actions being taken to implement policy, the concerns of practitioners, and provides questions for consideration and reflection.  \nKeywords: Adult Education Policy, Policy Implementation, Change Manage– ment, Adult Education Values  \nIntroduction  \nOver 10,000 people currently work in the Irish Further Education and Training (FET) sector catering to almost ‘200,000 unique learners per year’ (SOLAS, 2022a, p.14) and in March 2023 the 16 Irish Education and Training Boards (ETBs) celebrated ten years since their formation. Over this period, adult education in the Republic of Ireland has experienced significant transformation and development under the umbrella ofFET. ETBs were established to provide the functions formerly fulfilled by the Vocational Education Committees (VECs) and Fás, the state training authority. SOLAS, the state’s further education and training agency, was created and simplified the context. Since its inception, SOLAS has led out on the development of FET policy and past developments have catalysed substantial gains in the field of adult and further education. More recently SOLAS’s strategy and system development includes a  \nRevised Funding Model for the new Strategic Performance Agreements (SPAs) with each of the 16 ETBs. Each ETB has autonomy around implementation ata local level. At present, there are escalating concerns among FET practitioners that in leading sectoral change ETB management is signalling approaches that threaten to sacrifice adult-only educational environments, programmes, adult educational philosophies, and ethos. This presents a dilemma in that the theory and experiences of best practice in adult education (especially for learners who have experienced disadvantage in their first experience of mainstream schooling) and those gains and learning achieved over decades of development in adult education could be lost, ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’. With funding tied to outcomes, there is a risk of a myopic focus on outcomesat the local level rather than considering the achievement of outcomes within the full context and intention ofFET policy.  \nBoth authors are involved in initial teaching qualifications for adult and further education, and both are active practitioners in the adult and further education sector, both statutory and non-statutory, in Ireland. We have experienced the landscape change from a marginal adult and community education sector to its incorporation into the new further education and training structures, particularly the availability of accessible vocational qualifications for adults and a growing emphasis on FET for labour market activation. A number of assumptions are made in this article. Firstly, we consider that adult education practitioners are open to change that is not in conflict with their adult educational philosophies and ethos. Secondly, we consider adult and further education pathways as offering excellent opportunities for the populace in general and for educationally disadvantaged learners in particular. FET and adult and community education can facilitate transformational learning for adults (Brennan and O’Grady, 2022) . Thirdly we consider that the desire to hold onto good practice is shared by the pr","cbCaigazn6eRTqmK","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigazn6eRTqmK","pdf",95304,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Context","[{\"question\":\"What has driven major changes in Ireland’s adult education since 2013?\",\"answer\":\"The Further Education and Training (FET) sector developed and implemented strategies and policies that transformed the adult education landscape in the Republic of Ireland.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do practitioners express concerns about FET policy implementation?\",\"answer\":\"Because local autonomy and outcome-linked funding may lead to approaches that misalign with policy intentions, potentially undermining adult-only environments and established educational philosophies and ethos.\"},{\"question\":\"Which policy strategies does the article draw on to frame its discussion?\",\"answer\":\"It draws on current FET policy and Murtagh’s (2021) policy review of the current FET Strategy, along with practitioners’ concerns about how policy is implemented.\"}]","Reading Between the Lines - Exploring the Implementation of Irish Further Education and Training Policy at Practice Level | PDF",1792066850]