DCU Centre for Inclusive Pedagogy
DCU Centre for Inclusive Pedagogy

Doctoral Studies

Transition Preparation and Transition Planning for Students leaving Special Schools in Ireland 

PhD Candidate: Leanne Connolly, School of Human Development; 

Supervisors: Dr. Geraldine Scanlon, School of Human Development; Dr. Deirdre Corby, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health

Aims

This study aims to raise the post school aspirations of parents, students, teachers, and school leaders in special schools in Ireland through the identification and critical reflection on current transition practices. It also aims to build on existing literature and policy in the Irish context such as the PASTE report (Scanlon & Doyle, 2018) and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy (CES) 2015-2024. 

Research Question & Design 

Through the use of a participatory-social justice explanatory sequential mixed method design, the study aims to address the following research question:

“What are the views and experiences of students, parents, teachers, and principals in Irish Special Schools of transition preparation and transition planning and how can the teacher support the development of autonomous post school choices?”

Method

The study combines traditional quantitative and qualitative approaches to data generation such as interviews, surveys and focus groups with the creative arts based method of the Mosaic Approach (Clark & Moss, 2001), capturing the voice of students, parents, teachers and principals. 

Publications

  • Connolly, L. (2023). Key Policies and Legislation Underpinning Post-School Transition Practices for People with Disabilities in the Republic of Ireland. International Journal of Educational and Life Transitions, 2(1): 18, pp. 1–12. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5334/ijelt.42
  • Connolly, L., Scanlon, G. and Corby, D. (2022) The "what", "where" and "who" of guidance and transition planning for students with intellectual disabilities in Ireland - a literature review. Inclusive Education SIG Newsletter (1). https://doras.dcu.ie/26696/

Examining a child centred inclusive understanding of play

Student: Christina O’Keeffe

Supervisors: Dr. Sinéad McNally and Dr. Anna Logan

Play is an essential part of children’s lives (Zhao et al., 2019), a fundamental right of all children (UNCRC, 1989) and a central pedagogical approach within national and international education (UNICEF, 2018). Over the years, there has been much contention in reaching a universal definition of play resulting in difficulties demonstrating its “unique value in relation to children’s development with sufficient strength and rigour” (Howard, 2019, p.201). The role of play as a mechanism for supporting the learning and development of autistic children is even further neglected (O’Keeffe & McNally, 2020; Papoudi & Kossyvaki, 2019). Instead, the overwhelming body of research has focused on a deficit perspective of autistic play with increasing calls to embrace a holistic and strengths-based understanding of autistic play (Hancock, 2020; Pritchard, 2022).

Despite the centrality of play in childhood, our understanding of play has centred on ‘adult centric’ perspectives whereby the key players themselves have been overlooked (Fleer, 2021; Howard, 2019; Mukherjee et al., 2023). This doctoral research based on consultations with 135 autistic and non-autistic children aims to address this significant gap and seeks to ascertain a child-centred inclusive conceptualisation of play, in line with broader rights-based and participatory research recommendations (UNCRC, 1989; 2013) whereby ‘all voices and forms of voice are valued’ (Wall et al., 2019, p.271).