Academic biography

I am Associate Professor in Philosophy and Education at the IOE. My original undergraduate/postgraduate work in Philosophy and Politics was at University College, Dublin and my PhD at University of Warwick, England. More recently, I have held a Visiting Professorship at the Faculty of Education, University of Catania, Italy, 2022-23, and 2024/25 am Visiting Fellow in Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Hertfordshire, England. I am also Subject Leader at DCU for Philosophy on the Open Education programme. From 2015-2019, as Project Officer as part of an NCCA team, we developed the first state curriculum in values and multi-belief education for primary schools in Ireland (there are currently 29 such Community National Schools). Since 2023/24, as Fellow with the CHANGEMAKER programme at DCU and its network of schools, I have connected especially with the multi-denominational and pluralist sector of schools. With colleagues at the IOE, doctoral students have been supervised to graduation in recent years in areas of pluralism and philosophy, and I currently have four doctoral students working in related areas.  A new co-edited text, with the Slovak philosopher Barbora Badurova, Ethical Education Across European Systems: Concepts,Practices, Dilemmas (Peter Lang, Berlin/Geneva, forthcoming 2025) will include essays on the values and multi-belief curriculum of Community National Schools, the emergence of Ethical Education in Ireland and on two key SCOTENS projects with Northern Ireland. There will also be a focus on Critical Theory in Pedagogy (Freire/bell hooks) and on Relationships and Sexuality Education.