Academic biography

I am an Assistant Professor in Education in the School of Policy and Practice, Institute of Education, DCU, and Director of Professional Placement on a number of DCU post-primary teacher education programmes (PME/SE/PEB/PEM). The central thread running through my past and present professional roles and experiences is their collective focus on conditions and cultures that encourage and support the development of curricula and pedagogies that are inclusive, democratic, culturally responsive and critically conscious. My practice is informed by a desire to challenge and disrupt inequalities in education developed during my time working as a primary school teacher and school leader in a variety of roles and settings, and leading and designing various projects and initiatives that promote equality, diversity and citizenship in initial teacher education. In terms of programme and curriculum development, I co-ordinate a number of Professional Practice modules on DCU’s PME programme. In previous roles, I co-designed and co-ordinated a pre-university access programme which prepares students for progression into defined ITE programmes and pathways across the continuum of education (early childhood, primary, post-primary, and further education). I have also designed and co-ordinated a postgraduate programme that facilitates teachers to develop key leadership and mentoring skills that support the development of culturally responsive and inclusive relationships, pedagogies and school cultures. I also have an interest in school and community engagement and outreach and have designed and co-ordinated school outreach mentoring and leadership programme that support the teaching aspirations of post-primary students. I also have lead a cross departmental curriculum development group which has developed an alternative Irish language curriculum which provides support and equivalence to Leaving Certificate Irish for primary ITE. I have taught and designed modules in sociology of education, current issues in education, educational leadership, foundations of education, and teacher identity (ies), across the continuum of teacher education at pre-university, undergraduate and postgraduate level. My research interest in the lived experiences of emerging and early career teachers and their understandings of ‘making a difference’ stems from my previous work as a qualified mentor of newly qualified teachers and a facilitator of professional development seminars for the National Induction Programme for Teachers. I am currently leading a research project that is exploring the experiences of students from diverse and underrepresented groups and their stories of becoming and being teacher. As a member of a number of Educational Studies Association of Ireland Special Interest Groups (SIG), namely the Teacher Education: Critical Pedagogy and Praxis for Social Justice SIG and the Teacher Diversity SIG, I participate in collaborative, cross institutional research and writing projects.