Dr. Majella McSharry is a lecturer in Sociology at the School of Human Development. She is Chairperson of the Professional Master of Education (Post Primary). She is an executive member of the Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (RCE Dublin), a member of the Ubuntu Network and a member of the Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education. She has worked as a secondary school teacher and previously as a lecturer at Maynooth University, the National College of Art and Design and St. Patrick's College Drumcondra. Majella currently teaches in the areas of Sociology of Education, Global Citizenship Education and Research Design. Her main research area is concerned with Teacher Identity, Initial Teacher Education and the interaction of school contexts with embodied praxis.
Book Chapter
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | McSharry, Majella (2023) 'School Uniforms in Ireland: The Intersection of Religion, Class and Gender' In: School Uniforms: New Materialist Perspectives. UK : Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32939-5 | |
| 2017 | McSharry, M. (2017) 'What's happening to my body?: The growing, glowing and grotesque teenage belly' In: Re/Assembling the Pregnant and Parenting Teenager: Narratives from the Field(s). [Link] | |
| 2017 | Kamp, A.; McSharry, M. (2017) 'Coda: The promise of re/assembling the pregnant and parenting teenager' In: Re/Assembling the Pregnant and Parenting Teenager: Narratives from the Field(s). [Link] | |
| 2017 | Ryan, Á.; Ging, D.; Kamp, A.; McSharry, M. (2017) 'Irish television and the assemblage of personal narratives of teenage pregnancy and abortion' In: Re/Assembling the Pregnant and Parenting Teenager: Narratives from the Field(s). [Link] | |
| 2017 | Kamp, A.; McSharry, M. (2017) 'Conceiving a re/assemblage of teenage pregnancy and parenting' In: Re/Assembling the Pregnant and Parenting Teenager: Narratives from the Field(s). [Link] | |
| 2014 | McSharry, M.; Walsh, B. (2014) 'Fostering complicit femininity: Epoch, education and the young female body' In: A Critical Youth Studies for the 21st Century. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2012 | McSharry, M. (2012) 'The Role of Irish Secondary Schools in Teenage Obesity: Activism or Sizism' In: Towards Transformative Education: A Multidisciplinary perspective on research and practice in Bulgaria and Ireland. Bulgeria : University of Sofia Press. | |
| 2012 | McSharry, M., O’Hara, J., Lahart, J., Lovatt, J., and McNamara, G., (2012) 'Managing Stress in Initial Teacher Education: Challenges and Opportunities' In: Towards Transformative Education: A Multidisciplinary perspective on research and practice in Bulgaria and Ireland. : University of Sofia Press. | |
| 2008 | Majella McSharry (2008) 'Stuck in a Ruck: The Impact of Rugby on Social Belonging' In: Mary P. Corcoran and Perry Share(Eds.). Belongings: Shaping Identity in Modern Ireland. Dublin : Institute of Public Administration. | |
| 2008 | Majella McSharry (2008) 'Living with Contradictions: Teenagers' Experiences of Active Citizenship and Competitive Individualism' In: Gerry Jeffers and Una O'Connor(Eds.). Education for Citizenship and Diversity in Irish Contexts. Dublin : IAP. |
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | White, I.; McSharry, M. (2021) 'Preservice teachers’ experiences of pandemic related school closures: anti-structure, liminality and communitas'. Irish Educational Studies, 40 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | McSharry, M. (2017) '‘It’s just because we’re girls’: How female students experience and negotiate masculinist school sport'. Irish Educational Studies, 36 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2016 | McSharry, M.; Cusack, M. (2016) 'Teachers’ stories of engaging students in controversial action projects on the Island of Ireland'. Journal Of Social Science Education, 15 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2014 | Holland, C., Mulcahy, C., Judge, M., Lovatt, J., Scanlon, G., Rami, J., Corrigan, T and McSharry, M. (2014) '‘A Case Study of Infusing Sustainability within Dublin City University, through engagement in the EU TEMPUS Reorienting University Curricula to Address Sustainability (RUCAS) project’ in International Journal of Reorienting University Curricula to Address Sustainability'. . | |
| 2012 | McSharry, M. and Mulcahy, C. (2012) 'The Changing Face of Teacher Education in Ireland: A Major overhaul or a cosmetic review? in 'Educational Research e-Journal''. 1 . |
Conference Contribution
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2024) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.
Honors and Awards
Committees
Enterprise Engagement
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
Intersex - New Interdisciplinary Approach (INIA)
Intersex - New Interdisciplinary Approach (INIA)
Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme Funded €2,727,301 (grant agreement No 859869) (Co-applicant). Responsible for Project 5: The inculcation of awareness of intersex in education in Ireland and Sweden. https://research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/ccid/projects/current_projects/intersex-inia/
The practical focus of this programme is on developing topical and original applied outputs of relevance to stakeholders concerned to support the well being and rights of intersex people. The project, thanks to the unique competencies of the consortium partners, is responsible for training a cohort of highly skilled researchers who will enable fast-track developments of intersex studies, policies and practices, working in a multidisciplinary and transectoral network bringing together 21 organisations from 10 countries.
Improving Equality of Access to Higher Education (PI)
Higher Education Authority Funded €160,000
The focus of this project is to design and produce a programme of learning for lower second level students. The programme contains individual strands, each containing bespoke curricula, materials, resources, activities and carefully selected case studies. The programme aims to provide students with access to experiential and decoded information about Initial Teacher Education, allowing them to explore ITE as a tangible career option. In 2023-24 the Teaching PATHways Programme was implemented in over 40 post primary schools around Ireland.
Engagement with the Professional Master of Education (PME) Programme
Engagement with the Professional Master of Education (PME) Programme
DCU Building Research Capacity Funded €800
The purpose of this research is to explore how students and teacher educators working on the Professional Master of Education (PME) programme at DCU engage with Initial Teacher Education. It explores students’ relevant prior learning experiences, as well as their experiences of and attitudes towards teacher education at various points during the programme. It seeks to understand the practical challenges faced by students and teacher educators following the consecutive model of Initial ITE.
Teaching Interests
Sociology of Education
Schooling and Society
Global Citizenship Education
Education for Sustainable Development
Teacher Identity
Research Design