DCU Changemaker Fellows

Dr. Jones Irwin is Associate Professor in Philosophy and Education at Institute of Education, Dublin City University and Chair of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Ethical and Multi-D). He has taught at Drumcondra (previously SPD) since 2001. From 2015-2019, he was seconded as Project Officer with NCCA to develop the first state curriculum in multi-belief and values education (GMGY in Community National Schools). There are now 27 Community National Schools in the Republic of Ireland under ETBI patronage at primary level.

Maeve Corish, MEd, is a former principal of a DCU Changemaker School and an advisor to the DCU CSN team. Maeve is currently Chairperson of SeeBeyond Borders, Ireland, an NGO dedicated to supporting teaching and learning for Cambodian children.

Since her retirement in 2021 Maeve has dedicated her time to working in partnership with Cambodian educators to help bring about systemic change in the Cambodian education system. She is also a member of the Comhlámh working group on Ending Orphanage Volunteerism. Throughout her thirty-nine-year career in primary education Maeve has been a strong advocate for children’s rights constantly seeking authentic ways to enhance the voice of the child in school

Dr. Damien Burke is an assistant professor in the School of Policy and Practice at DCU Institute of Education. Damien's chief area of responsibility is working alongside the directors of Professional Placement (PP) to coordinate the PP (Primary) programme at the IoE. He also contributes to various reflective-enquiry and PP-specific modules, along with supervising postgraduate students' research projects. Damien has extensive experience of teaching and of school leadership at primary level.

Dr. Siobhán Keenan Fitzgerald, principal of a DCU Changemaker Schools, has been working in the field of education for 32 years.  She has taught in Japan, Switzerland, France, Saudi Arabi and is currently seconded to the NCCA.

Passionate about helping all young people develop their communication and public speaking skills, Siobhán is the Creator of the ‘LET’s Stand’ Oral Language, Public Speaking Programme for young people (aged 5-18).  Siobhán completed her Doctoral Thesis in 2022 with the University of Lincoln, UK, on the topic of ‘Public Speaking in Primary Schools’.

Paul Knox is an Assistant Professor in Education and SPHE in the DCU IoE and worked previously as principal of North Bay Educate Together National School in North Dublin.

Since the very beginning of his teaching career, he has been a changemaker at heart bringing an excitement and eagerness for change. Through co-creation, responsiveness, and a sense of fun, he sought to lead better approaches to inclusion and wellbeing with student voice and participation at the core of these activities, in his school.

Aisling Boylan is a primary teacher at Francis Street school, Dublin 8 which is part of the DCU Changemaker Schools Network. She is currently in her second year of an EdD at DCU and her research intends to focus on empathy and school culture

Lisa is an Assistant Professor of Geography Education in the School of STEM Education, Innovation, and Global Studies. Prior to joining DCU, she worked as a Primary School Teacher for 8 years and has always had a passion for teaching Geography to her students.

Her areas of interest include outdoor learning, enquiry-based learning, and empowering teachers to incorporate children's local environments into their Primary Curriculum delivery. Lisa firmly believes that children learn best when they actively participate in decision-making, lead enquiries, and are entrusted with responsibilities. She eagerly anticipates engaging with the new Primary Curriculum Framework to ensure that teachers are well-equipped to adapt the curriculum to their individual classes and contexts. 

Dr. Laura Gormley is an assistant professor in the School of Inclusive and Special Education at DCU’s Institute of Education. Laura contributes to several programmes within the School of Inclusive and Special Education in DCU, focusing primarily on empowering postgraduate teachers working with autistic learners, as well as those working with learners with severe to profound general learning difficulties. Within this role, Laura collaborates practically with educators to adapt evidence-informed practices to develop increasingly more accessible and inclusive learning environments for all learners. She is passionate about finding ways to facilitate the autistic voice and learn from the lived experience of autistic children, young people and adults, particularly in the context of education.

Dr Eimear Holland is an Assistant Professor in Education. Having taught on post-primary initial teacher education programmes in the Faculty of Science and Health since 2009 (and previously LIverpool John Moore University), Eimear recently joined the School of Policy and Practice in the DCU Institute of Education where she teaches on to both primary and post primary teacher education programmes and the Educational Doctorate programme. Similar to her previous DCU role, Eimear is a Professional Placement Coordinator for the Primary BEd and PMEP Programmes. Eimear has also taught as a post-primary teacher where she acted as an education consultant for the local education authority and as a ‘teacher researcher’ in her school which led to a ‘Best Practice Research Scholarship’ and an invitation onto the prestigious ‘National Teacher Research Panel’. Eimear has (co)-founded and (co) facilitated a variety of communities of practice across the teacher education continuum, sectors and domains. She is vice-chair of the International Professional Development Association (Ireland branch) and a members of a number of research centres e.g. Centre of Possibility Studies and the Centre for  Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education. 

Eimear’s research interests include: professional learning and development [PLD]; prospective use of learning theories in pedagogical and research design and evaluation; research active communities of practice and how they can be operationalised; mentoring and mentor education; school placement partnership development; PLD model meta-design for empowering change and leadership; participatory action learning action research as a research strategy and pedagogical vehicle for PLD; the impact of socio-cultural, historical and political barriers to PLD engagement and implementation, supporting strategies to build an implementation bridge for overcoming barriers and power asymmetries and enacting change.