Early Childhood Education

PL16 - Inclusive Play Practices in Early Childhood Education

Course Outline

This course will introduce educators to the most current and evidence-informed play practices to support the inclusion of all learners in Early Childhood Education (both in ECE settings and in Primary School classrooms). Upon completion of this short course, educators will be able to: (1) outline contemporary research evidence on play for inclusive Early Childhood Education; (2) recognise and understand principles underpinning inclusive play practices for all young learners; and (3) describe ways to develop and deliver inclusive play practices for all young learners.

Profile of Course Leaders

Dr Sinéad McNally is an Associate Professor in Early Child Development and Education at the DCU Institute of Education. Sinéad is an internationally recognised scholar in young children's learning and development and has published widely on the impact of shared reading and play on children's early learning, with a special focus on the inclusion of autistic children in education. She is currently leading a national, interdisciplinary study of the school experiences of autistic children in primary and secondary schools in Ireland funded by the Irish Research Council.

Christina O'Keefe is an Assistant Professor in the School of Inclusive and Special Education. A graduate of the Bachelor of Education and Psychology programme at Mary Immaculate College Limerick, Christina's teaching career has primarily involved working as a special class teacher for autistic learners. Christina uses a rights-based approach and innovative participatory methods in her research to investigate children's perspectives of play in Early Childhood Education and has published her research in leading international Early Childhood Education journals.

PL29 - Nurturing Pedagogies and Caring Connections in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings

Course Outline

The session will share insights from Grainne's current research on educator-child relationships in an Irish context and provide further information and understanding of:
The importance of quality educator-child relationships for children's development
Nurture principles and relational pedagogy in early childhood settings
An introduction to the 'Banking Time' approach, an evidence-informed, play-based practice to promote connection and reduce conflict developed by the Early Childhood Education Hub at the University of Virginia.

Profile of Course Leader

Grainne McKenna is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education and Care at Dublin City University, Institute of Education.  Grainne's teaching, research and community engagement focuses on early language and emergent literacy, teacher-child relationships, and equity and inclusion. Grainne has worked as a primary school teacher and is a qualified developmental and educational psychologist and has extensive experience working in the early childhood education and care sector in Ireland, having worked with the Fingal County Childcare Committee and Tusla Early Years Inspectorate.  In 2022, Grainne was the Co-Principal Investigator of the Literature Review to Support the Updating of Aistear, the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (NCCA, 2022).

PL30 - Literacy and Numeracy in Early Childhood

Course Outline

This interactive session focuses the importance of early childhood as the foundation for numeracy and literacy, drawing from Kennedy, E., Shiel, G., French, G., Harbison, L., Leahy, M., Ó Duibhir, P., & Travers, J. (2023). Towards a new literacy, numeracy and digital literacy strategy: A review of the literature. Department of Education (Ireland) Find here. What the research says about the importance of communication and language for literacy learning. The key skills that children need will be discussed, ending with strategies on to support the development of literacy and numeracy in early childhood. There will be opportunities to clarify, ask questions as we go along and an open discussion at the end of the session.

Profile of Course Leader

Geraldine French is an Associate Professor, the Head of School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education, the Programme Chair of the Master of Education in Early Childhood Education in the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. In the context of early childhood settings Geraldine has published on quality professional practice, supporting early language, literacy and numeracy, nurturing babies' learning and development, the literature review to underpin Aistear and the literature review to underpin Literacy, Digital literacy and Numeracy Strategy. 

PL31 - Playful Teaching and Learning

Course Outline

This practical workshop will energise participants to consider their own professional concepts of play and playful learning. Participants will debate and assess the role of the educator as play partners. The course is structured to firstly engage participants in play, then to refresh our understanding and commitment to play and finally to locate pathways to better practice with young children.

Profile of Course Leader

Dr Carol-Ann O'Síoráin is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood in the School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood in the Institute of Education. Her research and practice interests include Play across the curriculum,  the role of the teacher in play pedagogy, the role of parents as play partners, early intervention, Special Education Needs, Playful Literacy and Numeracy.

PL32 - Nurturing Autonomy, Wonder and Awe & seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary 

Course Outline

This session focuses on the importance of ECEC and the role of the early childhood educator. As evidence of that importance participants' attention will be drawn towards the findings of two Literature Reviews (Kennedy, E., Shiel, G., French, G., Harbison, L., Leahy, M., Ó Duibhir, P., & Travers, J. [2023]; French, G. & McKenna, G. [2022]) to underpin the forthcoming Literacy, Digital Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (Department of Education), and the update of Aistear, the  Early childhood Curriculum framework (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment). The focus of the session is on the Well-being theme in Aistear. Creativity, spirituality & outdoor learning will be discussed in the context of nurturing autonomy, wonder and awe & seeing the extra-ordinary in the ordinary with examples from practice.

Profile of Course Leader

Geraldine French is an Associate Professor, the Head of School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education, the Programme Chair of the Master of Education in Early Childhood Education in the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. In the context of early childhood settings Geraldine has published on quality professional practice, supporting early language, literacy and numeracy, nurturing babies' learning and development, the literature review to underpin Aistear and the literature review to underpin Literacy, Digital literacy and Numeracy Strategy.

PL33 - Autism and Early Years Practice 

Course Outline

This practical workshop will focus on supporting educators to consider the role of quality interaction and communication strategies for supporting young autistic children and their families in early intervention and infant classrooms. Concepts such as bi-directional interaction and engagement will be explored along with deepening understanding of learner profiles and positive attributes. Participants will be asked to reflect on their own knowledge and to critique their practice to identify opportunities for new learning.  We will engage in activities and evaluate how these activities can scaffold motivation, meaning engagement and personal expression.

Profile of Course Leader

Dr Carol-Ann O'Síoráin is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood in the School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood. Her PhD research focused on the literacy practices of young autistic pupils and their learning experiences. Carol-Ann is passionate about quality teaching and learning for autistic children. She has authored book chapters and research articles on this topic.

PL34 - Documentation in Early Years Practice 

Course Outline

There tends to be agreement as to the value of documentation in early childhood but what constitutes good pedagogical documentation?
How do you go about recording children's learning in your setting, how confident are you in observing and knowing what to record? Who is involved in generating documentation and how is it used?
These questions will form the basis for our two seminars, which will begin to explore what we mean by documentation, share our current practices and take a look at some examples of how children's learning is captured or recorded in other contexts.

Profile of Course Leader

Marlene is a lecturer on the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education here in DCU, working with students on the area of professional practice, play, sustainability and assessing learning.  She has particular research interests in pedagogical documentation and works closely with educators in early childhood to highlight and disseminate good practice that is happening within the sector.

PL35 - Critical issues in early childhood education and care

Course Outline

The session provides an opportunity to engage with current developments in the Irish early childhood education and care system, focusing on participants' own experiences and questions - and some provocations by the course leader.

Profile of Course Leader

Professor Mathias Urban, PhD, is Desmond Chair of Early Childhood Education, and Director of the Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) at Dublin City University, Ireland, and Professor (II) of Pedagogy at the University of Stavanger, Norway. He works on questions of integrated early childhood systems, diversity and equality, social justice, and professionalism in diverse socio-cultural contexts.