Education Theses

The context for this study is located within two Irish peninsulas, peripherally located on the Western and North-western Atlantic seaboard. Traditionally reliant on maritime and agricultural forms of labour, small coastal communities in rural Ireland have experienced major socio-cultural, economic, environmental and political transitions. Of particular relevance to this research are transitions in relation to the de-valuation of traditional knowledge forms in a shift towards post-industrial service sectors, and subsequent technocratic society with increasing value for credentialism. The mapping of these transitions has been key in formulating the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of this study in terms of historical and contemporary structural influences which are impacting the everyday lives of those living within these communities. This doctoral research has been carried out within the lens of childhood studies and children’s sociologies. The incorporation of an intergenerational approach, which considers both structure and agency across time, and the experiential view of place-based phenomenology, offers a unique approach to the field of childhood studies and children’s sociologies, from the perspective of Irish coastal communities on the peripheral Atlantic fringes. Locating the study within both time and space, life biographies and ethnographic methods capture the changing experiences of learning (formal and informal), identity, belonging and attachment over three generations (grandparents, parents and youth). The use of interpretative thematic analysis has facilitated the iterative use of inductive and deductive analysis in line with the varying methods used across two phases of data collection, occurring over a two-year period. This approach also allowed for the ground-up and exploratory nature of the research. Through generational and place-based lenses, a tracing of processes of both endurance and change has been enabled in this respect. The documenting of these processes has not only shed light on the individual or community experience, but is reflective and indicative of wider socio-political, economic and environmental shifts within the Irish national and broader European context. A core focus has been given to the centrality informal learning as it connects to the social and material world, transferred accordingly along gendered and generational lines to navigate change and mitigate adversity. The effective harnessing of these coproduced knowledge transfers as they relate to resilience and adaptability have emerged as key in terms of the socio-cultural sustainability of these communities. Central within this also is the importance of both place attachment and mobility for the future of young people within these communities. Place-based experiences of coastal childhoods have emerged as imperative in forming these relationships and highly influential in shaping values, belonging, identities and decision-making processes across the life course. Understanding gendered, generational and place-based experiences are therefore argued as key in unearthing experience and change in these communities and what this may mean within a perpetually changing society on local and global scales. This is signalled as especially pertinent in light of global sustainability narratives and policy, and indeed, the current impact of the Covid19 context in everyday lifestyles and mobilities.