Academic biography

Dr Una McCabe is Head of the School of Arts Education and Movement at DCU Institute of Education. She lectures in drama education on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and is Programme Chair of the Masters in Arts Education Practice. Her research focuses on the potential of drama and the arts as catalysts for learning and development and she has supervised doctoral students to completion in this area.  She takes a praxis oriented approach to her research and her national and international publications, presentations and projects are in the areas of drama pedagogy, sociodramatic play training, early years drama, play frameworks, interactions in arts rich classrooms, youth theatre, arts based research methods, creativity and education, and arts curricula.

Una was awarded a DCU Institute of Education Research Fellowship in 2019. She is a member of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Primary Arts Education Development Group; the European Network of Observatories in Arts and Cultural Education; DCU's Civic Engagement Committee; and the (National) Arts and Culture in Education Research Repository committee. She is the Thematic Coordinator for Arts and Social Inclusion in Education for the Educational Disadvantage Centre at DCU and in this role is currently leading commissioned research on the poverty and inclusion aspects of the work of the national arts organisation Fighting Words. She sits on the editorial board of NJ: Drama Australia.

Una holds a degree in Drama Studies, and a H.Dip.Ed., from Trinity College Dublin. She also completed an M.A. at the National College of Art and Design entitled 'Artists, the Arts and Early Childhood Education' and a Phd at University College Cork. Her doctoral research investigated drama as a method of sociodramatic play training. Previous roles include Drama Lecturer in St Patrick's College; Lecturer in Drama and in Early Childhood Education at DKIT; Drama lecturer at the Froebel College of Education (1998-2007) as well as a variety of national and international roles as a teacher, arts education practitioner, leader and evaluator. Current Doctoral Students: