Dr
Ger
Scanlon
Academic biography
Dr. Geraldine Scanlon is an Assistant
Professor in the Psychology of Education in the School of Human Development and
is the former Chair of Research Ethics Committee in DCU. She teaches and co-ordinates
the research content on the Professional Masters of Education (Post-Primary),
contributes to the MSc & Grad Dip Guidance Counselling and the undergraduate
Physical Education Science and Math’s initial teacher training programmes. Her areas of expertise
have enabled her to collaborate professionally at both national and
international levels. Her research interests have been concerned with
strategies to support the inclusion of Children with Special Educational and Additional
Needs in mainstream education and the
implications for teachers and schools in facilitating those needs in light of
Inclusion. A key feature of her research has been “Transitions” for
this group of pupils moving from Primary to Post Primary school, funded by the National Council for Special Education and
Further and Higher Education and for adults with disabilities moving from
Education and Training to Employment funded by the National Disability Authority. Her more recent work has focused
on a Human Rights Agenda approach which assumes that all individuals are
entitled to have access to education especially those from marginalised groups.
The core element of her work is embedded in facilitating the voice of children
and vulnerable populations through research and innovation. Central to this
work is the notion of active citizenship and social inclusion for all groups of
students. These principals are reflected in her recent work the PASTE project funded by the Irish
Research Council which explored the notion of Supported Transition for young people with intellectual
disabilities leaving special schools to enable them to have the same choice
and access to FE/HE as their peers and the HOMEWORKS
project funded by the Children
Rights Alliance which examined the impact of being homeless on
children's ability to access and participate in education. Both projects are
actively informing policy change in Ireland. Her expertise in Inclusive
education and human rights led to her appointment as an international advisor
to support UNICEF Bulgaria in
their project Together for Kindergartens to develop an
inclusive framework and a teacher education programme to prepare
kindergarten teachers for inclusive practice. The programme was
rolled out nationally by the Ministry of Education in 2019. She has
published several peer reviewed papers, book chapters and reports. Her most
recent book publication Transitions for
students with Special Educational Needs: Implication’s for Inclusion Practice and Policy was published by
Peter Lang.
Research interests
.Human Rights based approaches to Inclusion; Children with Additional Needs in primary and post primary settings: Promoting Inclusionary Practices for teachers in Mainstream Primary and Post Primary Schools: Transition (s) from primary to post primary in mainstream and special school settings: Access and progression routes for students with Additional Needs to Further Education, training and employment. Developing Positive Behaviour Support Systems in Schools for the Inclusion of pupils with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties