The School of Inclusive and Special Education is the first and only such school in an Irish university. It draws on the rich traditions in the field of St Patrick’s College and the Church of Ireland College of Education. It has a critical mass of expertise in areas of inclusive education and special education and is committed to supporting the rights of all children and young people to an appropriate education and to learning for all. 

The School hosts the recently established Centre for Inclusive Pedagogy which includes a vibrant and dynamic community of educational researchers committed to conducting and sharing internationally significant research that will develop understanding of pedagogy to support the inclusion of all learners in education.

The School offers a full suite of post graduate programmes from Certificate to Doctoral level in face to face, blended and online formats. In addition, staff contribute throughout the Institute to initial teacher education and to other postgraduate programmes.

The school welcomes research students at Masters, Professional Doctorate and PhD levels:

• The School leads an Area of Professional Focus in Inclusive and Special Education on the DCU IoE Doctor of Education programme.

• The School welcomes applications for Masters/PhD by research.

DCU School of Inclusive and Special Education is delighted to offer four funded full-time PhD scholarships for the duration of four years, commencing in September 2024. Thanks to matched funding from philanthropist Paul Kerley and Bank of Ireland, the four full-time PhDs will enable research on Autism education in post-primary schools. Find out more here

Thanks to philanthropic funding from Bank of Ireland and Accenture, we are seeking applications for a postdoctoral researcher to work on a project to identify and explore the barriers and enablers to the participation of neurodivergent people in the workplace. Please find the application information at this link.