MDCCE Conference Success
The Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education (MDCCE) at Dublin City University hosted, October 17th and 18th October, the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education annual international conference, at the DCU Institute of Education, DCU St. Patrick’s Campus.
The Conference entitle, Catholic Education: Formal, Informal and Lifelong, was an enormous success with over 90 delegates from the UK and Ireland. The focus on formal and informal approaches to Catholic Education with an emphasis on the lifelong nature of such ongoing education worked well for speakers and participants. There was a great sense of dynamism and encouragement at the Conference with delegates moving quickly from one session to the next, equally enthused by what they were part of at every session. Many admitted the Conference was an eye-opener for them introducing them to the variety of work ongoing by colleagues. We were particularly delighted this year to be joined by so many young academics that had completed EdDs in Religious Education through the programme at Dublin City University. Three keynotes were provided by Dr. Ros Stuart-Buttle, Dr. Bernadette Sweetman and Dr. Gareth Byrne. Prof Richard Pring, Fr. Dermot Mansfield and Dr. Sandra Cullen offered full papers, and over fifty parallel papers were presented during the Conference. There was great conversation and networking at the Conference with participants from the UK and Ireland getting to know each other personally rather than just their Twitter handles.
Congratulations to the Steering Committee Dr. Sean Whittle (co-ordinator, St. Mary’s Twickenham), Professor John Sullivan (Liverpool Hope), Professor Stephen McKinney (Glasgow) Dr. Ros Stuart-Buttle (Liverpool Hope), Dr. John Lydon (St. Mary’s Twickenham), Dr. Maureen Glacken (Catholic Independent Schools' Conference, UK), and Dr. Gareth Byrne (convenor, MDCCE). Thank you also to Susan Dwyer, Conference Administrator for the wonderful work in ensuring the smooth running of this signifiant event for DCU.
Dr. Byrne commented that he was delighted that the Conference had come to MDCCE this year and wished St. Mary’s Twickenham every success in preparing for next year.