Irish Educational Research at Fifty: The Enduring Role of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) in the Legacy and Futures of Scholarship in Irish Education

In 1976, a group of pioneering educators gathered in University College Galway for the first “Meeting of Scholars.” Their aim was to create a critical and collaborative space for reflecting on the role of education in society. Out of that gathering grew the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (the ESAI), which remains, fifty years later, the only all-island association dedicated to educational research. Over that half-century of collaboration and innovation, from which emerged an annual international conference and highly-ranked, quarterly-published international academic journal, ‘Irish Educational Studies’, the ESAI has had a formative, lasting impact on educational scholarship across the Island of Ireland, and beyond. Furthermore, from its very beginnings, and as a generalist scholarly community, ESAI has supported research from across all educational disciplines, methodologies and subjects. ESAI serves as a bridge between teachers, researchers, policymakers, and communities. Its strength lies in its breadth: embracing research across early childhood, primary, post-primary, further and higher education, and non-formal learning. It welcomes methodological diversity, and this pluralism has enabled ESAI to provide a forum where theory and practice meet, where new approaches are developed, and where fresh voices are encouraged. ESAI also has a special remit to support and promote early career researchers (ECRs). This key role has taken on renewed impetus in recent years with an Award for Best ECR Paper at the annual conference; two ECR special issues of ‘Irish Educational Studies’ (2023, 2025); and a forthcoming ESAI Early Career Researcher Network.

ESAI’s annual conferences are central to its role as a dynamic, national and international forum for educational scholarship. They have consistently showcased cutting-edge research and offered a space for dialogue between educators and scholars at all stages of their careers. Since 1981, conference proceedings, alongside the association’s international peer-reviewed journal ‘Irish Educational Studies’ (IES), provide a living record of how educational research in Ireland has responded to critical issues over time. Contributions have spanned analyses of disadvantage and equality (Archer & Shortt, 2003); debates on curriculum and assessment (Gleeson, 2010 and Conway & Murphy, 2013); vocational education (Rami and Lalor (2017) and in more recent times, international IES Special Issues have been devoted to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic (edited by Hall et al. 2021) and educational disadvantage (edited by Harford et al. 2022). Looking outward, ESAI is deeply connected to the international educational research community. It has cultivated strong ties with the Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA), the British Educational Research Association (BERA), the Nordic Educational Research Association (NERA), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). ESAI is also an active member of the European Educational Research Association (EERA) and the World Educational Research Association (WERA). These collaborations ensure that Irish research is represented in global debates while also enabling Irish scholars to learn from comparative contexts (Biesta, 2015). Such links also highlight ESAI’s role as a connector, bringing international perspectives into Irish research and sharing Irish insights with the world. At the National Convention on Education, ESAI therefore brings both a legacy and a mandate. The legacy is of fifty years of sustained scholarly engagement, a record of research that has illuminated key educational challenges and contributed to national and international debates. The mandate is to ensure that educational research continues to play a central role in shaping Ireland’s educational future. Without independent and critical research, policy risks becoming reactive and short-term; with it, education can be strategic, inclusive, and transformative (OECD, 2020).