Christina O'Keeffe

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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

Other Publication

Year Publication
2021 O’Keeffe, C.;McNally, S. (2021) A Systematic Review of Play-Based Interventions Targeting the Social Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Contexts. [Link] [DOI]

Conference Contribution

Year Publication
2022 O'Keeffe, Christina (2022) Dublin City University Postgraduate Research UnConference Navigating the ethical complexities of consulting with vulnerable and young children in research DCU Institute of Education .
2022 O' Keeffe, Christina;McNally, Sinead;O'Toole, Andrea;Liu, Weiyi;Lake, Gillian (2022) 22nd European Conference on Literacy and the 46th Annual Conference of the Literacy Association of A Scoping Review of Early Childhood Education Literacy Instruction for Young Autistic Learners Dublin .
2021 O'Keeffe, Christina;Coulter, Maura;McNally, Sinéad (2021) AIESEP Early Years Special Interest Group Physical activity and play in the early years curriculum and education settings – Ireland Banff, Canada .
2021 O'Keeffe, Christina;McNally, Sinéad (2021) Play 2021 Prioritising play in the return to a ‘new normal’: teachers’ approaches to play in the early childhood classroom during the pandemic Birmingham University .
2021 O'Keeffe, Christina (2021) Dublin City University Postgraduate Research UnConference Unlocking the potential of play for social relationships and learning for young children on the Autism Spectrum-A Multi-Phase Mixed Methods Design DCU Institute of Education .
2021 O'Keeffe, Christina (2021) Children’s Research Network Pedagogical and Early Education Research Student (PEERS) Conference Play for inclusive early childhood education: Findings from Ireland Trinity College, Dublin .
2020 O'Keeffe, Christina (2020) Dublin City University Postgraduate Research UnConference The empowering role of play in supporting social relationships and learning among young children on the Autism Spectrum; A Vygotskian Perspective DCU Institute of Education .
2019 O'Keeffe, Christina (2019) SCoTENS Conference The importance of play in enhancing the learning and development of pupils on the Autism Spectrum: Conducting a systematic review within education research Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan .
2019 O'Keeffe, Christina;McNally, Sinéad;Balfe, Tish (2019) OMEP Ireland Annual Conference The empowering role of play in supporting the socioemotional development and learning of pupils on the Autism Spectrum Munster Technological University .
2019 O'Keeffe, Christina (2019) Children’s Research Network PhD Symposium The importance of play in enhancing the learning and development of pupils on the Autism Spectrum University of Galway .

Invited Seminars

Year Publication
2022 O'Keeffe, Christina (2022) “Moving things around to make it happen”: Teachers’ perspectives on play in early childhood education during the pandemic. DCU, IoE: INVS

Other 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, 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, .
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2023) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Professional Associations

Association Function From / To
Mother Tongues Member -
Teaching Council Graduate Member-Primary Teacher -
Psychological Society of Ireland Graduate Member -
Children's Research Network Member -
Irish National Teachers' Organisation Member -
OMEP Ireland Member -

Honors and Awards

Date Title Awarding Body
24/06/2021 Category One (Year 1) Winner, Dublin City University, Tell It Straight Competition DCU
01/01/2019 Paul Kerley Scholarship/Stewardship Award, DCU Education Trust DCU

Committees

Committee Function From / To
Graduate Research Studies Board (GRSB) -

Reviews

Journal Role
European Journal of Special Needs Education Reviewer
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal Reviewer

Enterprise Engagement

Year Engagement Type Client Description
2022 Other Irish Universities Association Contributed to national webinar series involving eight Irish universities (UCD, TCD, RCSI, DCU, MU, NUIG, UCC, UL) in relation to the research supervisor and support, based on my own experiences as a DCU postgraduate student.

Outreach Activities

Year Engagement Type Organisation Description
2021 Community-based learning Mother Tongues Collaborated with researchers in the Early Learning and Language Lab at DCU IoE to contribute to Mother Tongues community of practice network involving teachers and practitioners in school settings. This involved the creation of video content and facilitation of an online webinar based on current evidence surrounding how best to support young children with EAL in the classroom.

Media

Title Year Type Authors
Updated hygiene standards and concerns surrounding play as primary schools reopen 2020 Newspaper article (Print) Sligo Weekender
40pc of Irish teachers fear effects of restrictions on play-based lessons 2020 Newspaper article (online) Silicon Republic
Teachers concerned about how play and play based lessons will be affected by restrictions 2020 Newspaper article (online) Nenagh Guardian
Teachers concerned over capacity for children's play when schools return-study 2020 Newspaper article (online) Irish Examiner
40% of teachers concerned about how play-based lessons will be affected by COVID-19 restrictions 2020 Newspaper article (online) thejournal.ie

Research Interests

  Autism, Children’s Participatory Research, Play

Internal Collaborators

Type Name Company Role
Internal Dr. Gillian Lake DCU, Institute of Education Academic
Internal Dr. Sinéad McNally DCU, Institute of Education Academic
Internal Dr. Maura Coulter DCU, Institute of Education Academic

External Collaborators

Type Name Company Role
External Professor Victoria Simms Ulster University Academic

Modules Coordinated

Term Title Subject
2022 Child Development 2 EC201
2023 SI610
2023 SI610A
2023 SI611
2023 SI611A