Welcome Prof Jim Gleeson

Welcome Prof Jim Gleeson

The Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education warmly welcomes Prof. Jim Gleeson as Adjunct Professor to the Centre. Having worked as a post-primary teacher in Dublin and his native Tipperary, Jim Gleeson spent much of his professional life as a teacher educator and researcher at University of Limerick (1981–2011) where he filled a variety of roles including Department Head. He was the inaugural Professor of Identity and Curriculum in Catholic Education at Australian Catholic University (ACU), Brisbane from 2012-18.  This Chair was established with a view to facilitating the integration of Catholic perspectives across the curriculum of Catholic schools, beyond Religious Education. Reconnaissance for this task involved: a) a large-scale mixed methods study of the opinions, attitudes and beliefs of teachers in Queensland Catholic schools regarding the identity, purpose and characteristics of Catholic schools and the planned integration of curriculum perspectives across the curriculum; b) a longitudinal study of the opinions and attitudes of ACU pre-service teachers regarding the purposes and characteristics of Catholic schools. The next stage involved action research in eight Queensland Catholic schools (primary and secondary) where volunteer teachers sought to integrate various Catholic Social Teaching principles in their curricula. The main outcomes of both the quantitative and action research are reported in Gleeson, Jim and Goldburg, Peta (Ed.) (2020), Faith-based Identity and Curriculum in Catholic Schools, published by Routledge.

Jim holds an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and postgraduate degrees in Education from the National University of Ireland, postgraduate degrees in Philosophy and Theology from the Pontifical University and a PhD is from the University of East Anglia (Centre for Applied Research in Education). He has worked extensively in curriculum evaluation and development, including transition from school to work programmes, European Studies (Ireland and Great Britain) and the Leaving Certificate Applied.  His main research interests include curriculum and education policy and practice; faith-based education; teacher education; education leadership. Jim was an Irish Universities Association nominee on the Teaching Council of Ireland (2005–2012). He is married to Anne and they have one son, James.