The Church of Ireland primary school in an expanding educational marketplace: the use of school websites to promote school identity and ethos

Church of Ireland primary schools account for 5% of the total of primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. With the growing demand for non-religious schools in the educational marketplace it is becoming more important that each one of this small cohort of schools looks at its self-identity, and wh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Irish educational studies 2021-01, Vol.40 (1), p.71-85
Main Author: Wilkinson, Jacqueline
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Church of Ireland
Content Analysis
Elementary Education
Elementary Schools
ETHOS
Foreign Countries
Identification (Psychology)
Identity
Institutional Mission
patronage
primary school
Religious Schools
School Policy
Self Actualization
Web Sites
website
Websites
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Summary:Church of Ireland primary schools account for 5% of the total of primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. With the growing demand for non-religious schools in the educational marketplace it is becoming more important that each one of this small cohort of schools looks at its self-identity, and what it offers in terms of a distinctive ethos to students and parents. This paper is based on desk-based research conducted in 2018, focussed on the websites of 74% of Church of Ireland primary schools. The study found that 35% of these schools do not make it clear that they are Church of Ireland schools on the home page of their websites. By using content analysis methodologies to analyse ethos statements on the school websites, it was found that schools were very dependent on a sample ethos document issued in 2003, and beyond that there was little consistency in the narrative of what the ethos of a Church of Ireland primary school might look like. The study, whilst noting that all schools are unique, recommends conversation about ethos so that schools are equipped and supported in the development of their distinct identity as Church of Ireland primary schools within a changing educational marketplace.
ISSN:0332-3315
1747-4965
DOI:10.1080/03323315.2020.1779110