Christina O'Keeffe
Christina O’Keeffe 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, ranging in ages from three to thirteen years. During this time, she also completed a Graduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs (MIC).
In 2019, Christina received funding from the DCU Educational Trust to complete her PhD in the area of play for inclusion of autistic learners within early childhood education under the supervision of Dr. Sinéad McNally, School of Language Literacy and Early Childhood and Dr. Anna Logan, School of Inclusive and Special education, DCU, Institute of Education. The final phase of this research is now underway and involves direct consultations with autistic and neurotypical children surrounding their views of play. This research aims to address a significant gap in the research literature on children’s understanding of play and contribute innovative methodologies for consulting with autistic learners, as part of a children’s rights-based approach to research.
Christina has published in several peer-reviewed journals including the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, Journal of Early Childhood Research and the Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. She has also presented at national and international conferences including: OMEP Ireland Early Childhood Annual Conference; Children’s Research Network Annual Conference and; Play 2021, Birmingham University. She recently delivered one of the keynotes at the Irish-Research Council funded play symposium, convened by Dr. Sinéad McNally, on play in the pandemic, reporting on findings from their research on teachers’ perspectives of play in education during the pandemic and how we can use play to support children during such unprecedented times (O’Keeffe & McNally, 2021; 2022).
Christina contributes to a number of programmes within the School of Inclusive and Special Education in DCU, focusing primarily on supporting postgraduate teachers working with autistic learners.
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Kristy Howells., Alethea Jerebine., Wouter Cools., Eva D’Hondt., Kristine De Martelaer., Eline Coppens., Helena Sienaert., Nathan Hall., Jinxia Dong., Anne Soini., Christina O’Keeffe., Maura Coulter., Sinéad McNally., Patricia McCaffrey., Patrizia Tortella., Aldo M. Costa., Andrea Hernández-Martinez., Ann-Christin Sollerhed., Mark Urtel., Debra Vinci., Christopher Wirth., Carla Vidoni., and Arja Sääkslahti. (2023) 'Physical play - How do we inspire and motivate young children to be physically active through play? An International Analysis of Twelve Countries’ National Early Years Curriculum Policies and Practices for Physical Activity and Physical Play'. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 12 (1):253-276. [Link] | |
| 2022 | O’Keeffe, C.;McNally, S. (2022) 'Teacher experiences of facilitating play in early childhood classrooms during COVID-19'. Journal of Early Childhood Research, . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2021 | O’Keeffe, C.;McNally, S. (2021) '‘Uncharted territory’: teachers’ perspectives on play in early childhood classrooms in Ireland during the pandemic'. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 29 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2020 | O'Keeffe, C. &McNally, S. (2020) 'Review Paper on the Potential of Play to Support the Development of Relationships among Young Children on the Autism Spectrum'. An Leanbh Óg: OMEP Ireland journal of early childhood studies, . https://omepireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AN-LEANBH-OG-VOL13.pdf |
Conference Contribution
Other Journal
Enterprise Engagement
Outreach Activities
Media
Research Interests
Autism, Children’s Participatory Research, Play