Sabrina is Co-Director of CREATE—The Centre for Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education—and an Assistant Professor of Education in the School of Policy and Practice at IOE, DCU.
Brief Biography: Sabrina is a qualified post-primary teacher (English and Religious Education) who taught for several years before moving into Initial Teacher Education. Her doctoral thesis focused on teaching and learning in a virtual environment, and her interest in supporting 'depth of learning' is central to her philosophy of education.
Sabrina is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). She leads several Education Theory modules on the Bachelor of Religious Education and English / History / Music programme (BRelEd) and the Bachelor of Education in Gaeilge and French/German/Spanish (BEdLan).
Sabrina is keenly interested in the area of wellbeing, mental health and burnout in HEI based Teacher Educators and Academics. She is currently engaged in collaborative research with colleagues in the School of Policy and Practice on the mental health of teachers across the early childhood, primary and post-primary sectors. She recently completed an MSc in Applied Psychology and is a graduate member of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI).
Roles held within ITE:
- Director of School Placement (BRelEd, Mater Dei Institute of Education - MDI)
- Research Ethics Convenor in the School of Education. MDI)
- Governing Board Member (MDI)
- Assistant Editor for the REA Journal (Religion, Education and the Arts) (MDI)
- External Examiner for School Placement (St. Patrick's College, Thurles)
- Research Convenor, School of Policy and Practice, IOE (DCU)
Sabrina has supervised over 100 undergraduate theses, 50+ masters level theses and five doctoral theses to completion.
A Sample of Joint Supervision Topics:
Talbot, Tara (2022) Literacy for learning and life: an evaluation of the potential of the reading management programme accelerated reader to improve the literacy standards of Irish post-primary students. PhD thesis, Dublin City University.
Naughton, Yvonne (2020) Faces of change: exploring post-primary students’ motivations and perceptions of teaching as a choice of career from diverse racial, ethnic or cultural backgrounds. Doctor of Education thesis, Dublin City University.
Kavanagh, Siobhán (2020) The professional development needs of appointed middle leaders in education and training board, post-primary schools. Doctor of Education thesis, Dublin City University.
Morrison-Reilly, Ciara (2016) An exploration of smartphone microblogging supporting the device, learner and social aspects of mobile learning within post-primary Religious Education. Doctor of Education thesis, Dublin City University.
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Fitzsmions, S.; sexton, pj; Lehane, P.; Donlon., E.; Karakolidis, A.; McDonald, E.; Keever, C. (2024) 'Understanding pre-service teachers’ improvement in professional practice: A quantitative perspective'. Irish Educational Studies, . [DOI] | |
| 2021 | Kavanagh, S; Sexton, P; Fitzsimons, S. (2021) 'Transforming Middle Leadership in Education and Training Board Post-Primary Schools in Ireland'. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH, 8 (1). [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2020 | Donlon, E., McDonald, E., Fitzsimons, S., & Sexton, P. (2020) 'Being and Belonging: Student-Teachers’ Contextual Engagement in Schools'. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 46 (6):95-113. [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Fitzsimons, S. and Farren, M. (2016) 'A Brave New World: Considering the Pedagogic Potential of Virtual World Field Trips (VWFTs) in Initial Teacher Education'. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH, Vol. 3 (1). [Link] https://doi.org/10.1515/ijtr-2016-0002 | |
| 2013 | Fitzsimons, S. (2013) 'The road less travelled: The journey of immersion into the virtual field'. Ethnography and Education, 8 . [Link] [DOI] |
Book Chapter
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Fitzsimons, S. (2013) 'Conducting Research in a Virtual World' In: Crotty, Y and Farren, M(Eds.). Digital Literacies in Education. : Peter Lang. | |
| 2012 | Fitzsimons, S. (2012) 'Part Three: Online Ethnography and Education' In: Rethinking Education Ethnography: Researching On-Line Communities and Interactions. Barcelona : Esbrina. Universitat de Barcelona. [Link] |
Conference Contribution
Research Interests
- Mental Health - Mental health and Wellbeing in Education, for example, burnout in academics, teacher eduators, teachers and student-teachers.
- Teacher Education - Student teachers' progression on placement, Student teachers' engagement with research, teacher identity, the role of the teacher in teacher education and other related themes.
- Innovative Practices - Teaching and learning in virtual environments, challenge-based learning, creative classroom practices (including the use of various technologies to support teaching and learning).
Teaching Interests
- The foundation disciplines (with a specific interest in the psychology of education)
- Practice-based research within Initial Teacher Education, Online/Virtual ethnography and other research methods.
- Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds.