Research interests

John was the DCU PI on the CIM project, a recent Erasmus+ research project which aimed to promote creativity and innovation management in an innovative blended learning and validation programme at the interface between higher education (HE) and business https://cim-project.eu/. John also acted as a researcher on the En-Abilities project which developed tools aimed at encouraging autonomous language learning for adult students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Europe and in Ireland gave adults who have refugee status or who are living in Direct Provision some informal support in learning English to promote their social inclusion http://en-abilities.eu/. John recently completed a 3 year term as the DCU academic representative on the regional steering group of College Connect, a Higher Education Authority (HEA) funded three-year PATH 3 (Programme for Access to Higher Education) project which aims to admit 400 students from specific target groups, who are under-represented in college https://collegeconnect.ie/.
Previous research activity focussed on two thematic areas through EU funded research projects: Access and Inclusion in Education in national and European contexts Includ-Ed and Curriculum Assessment in Vocational Education settings Credivoc. John conducted his PhD studies in the area of Education in Culturally Diverse settings and was a member of the DCU Migration and Interculturalism Initiative. He has organised a number of national and international conferences, workshops and seminars in the area of Intercultural and Inclusive Education in DCU. Other research work has focussed on Curriculum Development and Implementation, Curriculum Evaluation and Assessment in Vocational Training contexts, Social Disadvantage and Pluralism and Diversity. John has also conducted research for The Arts Council of Ireland and Dublin City Council Arts Office into Community Music practice in informal contexts. John has been involved in the design and provision of education courses for people with disabilities. John's background is in the Arts where he has acted at various times at consultancy, management, practitioner and research level and he has also served as an external examiner in FET contexts.