I have worked as a lecturer at the School of Education, University College Cork, since September 2007. Prior to working in UCC, I worked as a primary teacher in three large schools in the Cork area: St Joseph’s Boys’ Primary School, Cobh (1977-1982); St. Mary’s on the Hill, Knocknaheeny (1982-2001); Scoil Niocláis, Frankfield (2001-2007). During my lengthy career as a primary teacher, I taught all class levels - with the exception of 3rd class! - and worked in the area of special educational needs provision as a Learning Support/Resource teacher.

While working as a primary teacher, involvements on my part in the provision of professional development opportunities for teaching colleagues included:
1) Acting as a tutor on educational technology courses, facilitated by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO).
2) Acting as a mentor to newly-qualified teachers, as part of the National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT).

Current responsibilities include:
1) Co-Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs programme.
2) Co-ordinator of module ED6306: Inclusion - Special Educational Needs and Intercultural Education, offered as part of the Professional Master of Education (PME) programme.
3) Co-ordinator of module ED6059: Intersections of Identity and Practice in Inclusive Education, offered as part of the M.Ed. (Modular) Degree programme. 
4) Co-ordinator of module ED6039: Inclusion of Pupils with Special Educational Needs: Opportunities, Challenges, Dilemmas, offered as part of the M.Ed. (Modular) Degree programme. 

I was appointed as a permanent member of staff at the School of Education, University College Cork, in September 2007. Charged with responsibility for both coordinating and teaching on the Department of Education-funded Postgraduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs (PDSEN) course, I immediately embarked on doctoral work, joining the first School of Education Cohort PhD group in 2008.

Doctoral Research 

Thesis Title: Beginning primary teachers' perspectives on becoming a teacher in the workplace: Contextual, emotional, and temporo-spatial dimensions of identity shaping.  

Thesis Submitted: January 2014

Thesis available on Cork Open Research Archive (CORA) https://cora.ucc.ie/handle/10468/1320

As the shift from the environment of an initial teacher education programme into initial practice in schools is a period of identity change worthy of investigation, my doctoral study focused on the transformative search by nine beginning primary teachers for their teaching identities, throughout the course of their initial year of occupational experience, post-graduation. Privileging ‘insider’ perspectives, the research goal was to understand the complexities of lived experience from the viewpoints of the participating beginning teacher informants. In doing so, my study sought to contribute to an understanding of a crucial, yet under-researched, area of Irish school life. The next phase of my doctoral journey centres on dissemination processes. In addition to conference submissions, I intend to submit articles for publication to a range of peer reviewed journals. Among others, these include: Irish Educational Studies; Teaching and Teacher Education; Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice; Teaching Education; The New Educator. Other dissemination opportunities availed of will include submission of an overview article for publication in the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) monthly magazine, In Touch. This doctoral research-related writing will centre on all three phases of the teacher education continuum: initial teacher education (ITE); induction; continuing professional development (CPD). 

Research Project: 2024 - 2026

Research Project Title: Evaluation of the Universal Design for Learning Support Model Pilot.

Funder: National Council for Special Education (NCSE), Ireland.

Project ID: 93730287

Start date: 12 Dec 2024

End date: 30 Nov 2026

Research Team:
Professor Axel Kaehne, Head of Department, Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit, Edge Hill University.

Professor Peter Hick, Edge Hill University, (Principal Investigator) (PI).

Dr Kevin Cahill, University College Cork, (Co-Principal Investigator).

Dr Maria Reraki, Edge Hill University, (Internal co-investigator) (CI).

 Dr Dan O'Sullivan, University College Cork, (External co-investigator).

Dr Oliver Hamer, Edge Hill University, (Project Manager).

Dr Julie Feather Edge Hill University, (Project Manager).

Ms. Kathleen Foley, University College Cork, (Research Assistant).

Project summary The overall project aim is to evaluate the Irish National Council for Special Education’s (NCSE) Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Support Model Pilot programme. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an internationally recognised pedagogical framework developed by CAST in the USA since the 1980s (CAST.org). It aims to improve teaching and learning for all students, in a way that is proactive and provides for diversity of learners.

The UDL framework is based on three principles that educators must provide, multiple means of:

1) Engagement, focusing on the “why” of learning;

2) Representation, concentrating on the “what” of learning;

3) Action and expression, focusing on the “how of learning.

Within the framework, each of the three principles are further divided into nine guidelines – three per principle - that provide suggestions on how learners can access, build and internalise each guideline.
In 2024/2026 the NCSE UDL pilot programme will support 88 teachers in 44 schools (33 primary, 9 post-primary and 2 special schools) to build their long-term capacity to support all student learning including those with identified special educational needs.

The aims of the NCSE UDL Support Model Pilot programme are to:

1. Support the learning, engagement and participation of students by building teacher capacity to plan for variability, reduce barriers and promote learner agency.

2. Explore and develop effective models of collaborative partnership between NCSE UDL facilitators and teachers to achieve better learning outcomes for all students.

3. Develop and assess the impact and feasibility of the NCSE UDL support model for schools both on teacher classroom practice and on school leadership.   Edge Hill University and University College Cork have been commissioned to conduct an independent evaluation of the pilot programme. The aims of the evaluation project are to:

1. Collate, document and review the processes that underpin the delivery of NCSE’s UDL Support Model Pilot, to determine what has worked well and areas for improvement from a process perspective.

2. Determine and understand the impact of the UDL Support Model at the student, teacher, classroom and school levels.

Principal Research Questions:
RQ1. What are the processes that underpin the delivery of the NCSE UDL Support Model? Which processes have worked well? Where can improvements be made?
RQ2. What are the impacts of the NCSE UDL Support Model at the student, teacher, classroom and school levels?


INclusive Classrooms for Learning and Achievement in School Settings: Accomplished Inclusive Learning Environments for students with AEN (INCLASS)

Project Period: 2024 and 2025

Project Coordinators:
Dr Kevin Cahill (School of Education, University College Cork).
Dr Dan O’Sullivan (School of Education, University College Cork).

In collaboration with National Council for Special Education (NCSE) (Project Partner).

This is a qualitative study of teachers’ experiences of inclusive practice in their school settings relating to children with Additional Educational Needs (AEN). Data will be generated through reflective journaling and focus groups. It is a collaborative / participatory project with teachers and schools.  

Aim: INCLASS aims to develop better understandings of how we meet the needs of learners with additional educational needs (AEN) in classroom settings across school types (primary and post primary). Clear indicators of good practice will be developed through a close-to-practice literature review, HEI-supported CPD workshops and case study models through asking teachers to reflect upon and write about examples/moments of ‘accomplished inclusive teaching’ (Doecke, 2021).

Objectives:
• To address the gap between teachers’ attitudes to inclusive teaching for students with AEN and their knowledge and skills in the same area.

• To generate narratives of successful and accomplished inclusive pedagogical practice in classrooms by teachers in order to exemplify ‘what good looks like’ in inclusive practice.

• To develop teachers as research partners in the INCLASS research intervention.

• To disseminate findings from the study amongst participants, advocacy groups and policy makers in order to guide future practice and engagement regarding inclusive practice/ pedagogy in school settings.


Adolescent Literacy, Identity and School (ALIAS)

During the period 2014-2018, I undertook a collaborative research project, Adolescent Literacy, Identity and School (ALIAS), with three colleagues from the School of Education, Dr Kevin Cahill, Professor Kathy Hall, and Dr Alicia Curtin. Focusing on the literacy identities and practices of Junior Cycle student cohorts in two separate post-primary settings, the project worked towards an interrogation of how literacy practices and identity intersect in school contexts. The study, funded by the Strategic Research Fund in UCC, planned, designed and implemented a student-led literacy intervention for first year students in post-primary schools.

Initiated in May 2014, this research project was a collaborative undertaking with three colleagues from the School of Education, University College Cork: Dr Kevin Cahill, Professor Kathy Hall, and Dr Alicia Curtin. Focusing on Junior Cycle students, in two separate post-primary school settings, there were two prongs to the research project. Firstly, by examining the experiences, practices and attitudes of students, the study focused on intersections between adolescent literacy capability and the shaping of identity. The intention was to develop an understanding of the lived literacy worlds of the student participants in order to collaborate with them in the development of literate experiences, calculated to enhance their literacy learning. Conceptually, the study was oriented within a sociocultural world view, where the social, cultural and historical aspects of family, community and educational experience, contribute to an investigation of the identity work being performed by the participating students, with particular reference to literacy practices and schooling. Secondly, a literacy learning programme was designed and implemented Development of the literacy intervention was based on a non-hierarchical school-university partnership model of engagement. Accordingly, students, teachers, and researchers shared in the collaborative design, implementation and evaluation of the project.


Inclusive Education Framework (2009-2011)
The Inclusive Education Framework is an interactive tool intended to assist schools plan, measure and improve how pupils with special educational needs are supported. This resource helps re-affirm inclusive practices already in place and guides schools in the development of good practice. A UCC research team - Dr Paul Conway, Jessica Amberson, and Dan O'Sullivan - were contracted by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to research, review and contribute to the overall design and development of the framework. In addition to the collaborative development of the framework, in 2010, the UCC research team undertook an evaluation of a pilot of the framework in ten schools, and conducted an online survey with key stakeholders (Conway, Amberson, and O’Sullivan 2010). The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) published the Inclusive Education Framework, in November 2011.
Available: www.ncse.ie/researches/InclusiveEducationFramework_InteractiveVersion.pdf


Learning to Teach Study (LETS) (2008-2010)
The aim of the Learning to Teach Study (LETS), the first of its kind on the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in Ireland, funded by the Department of Education and Skills (DES), was to develop and implement a study of initial teacher education in the PGDE in post-primary education, in the School of Education, University College Cork. Its aim was to identify the individual and contextual dynamics of how student teachers develop curricular and cross-curricular competences during initial teacher education (ITE). Within an overall framework that explores how student teachers develop their skills, competences and identities as teachers, it focused on curricular competences in mathematics, science and language teaching, and on the cross-curricular competences of reading and digital literacy and the development of inclusive teaching practices. LETS was the first programme level research on the PGDE, familiarly known to generations of student teachers and teachers as ‘the Dip’ or ‘the HDip’. The Principal Investigator for the Learning to Teach Study (LETS) was Dr Paul Conway, and the Research Fellow was Dr Rosaleen Murphy. The other members of the research team (in alphabetical order) were Michael Delargey, Prof Kathy Hall, Dr Karl Kitching, Dr Fiachra Long, Jacinta McKeon, Dr Brian Murphy, Dr Stephen O’Brien, Dr Dan O’Sullivan, all from the School of Education, UCC. I actively participated at all stages of the LETS research undertaking: design, data collection, data analysis, report writing, dissemination activities.


Postgraduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs (PDSEN)
Along with School of Education colleague Dr Kevin Cahill, I am Co-Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs programme (PDSEN). The course provides substantial theoretical and practical continuous professional development for qualified, probated teachers. Funded by the Department of Education and Skills, course places (25) are allocated to teachers nominated by their respective school principals. The expectation is that PDSEN course graduates will assume a ‘lead’ role in the organisation and provision of education to all students with a Special Educational Need as identified by the EPSEN Act, 2004. We work with the nominated teachers and their school communities. Each teacher is visited on four occasions in their respective practice settings, and principals attend a one day seminar at the course venue. A deliberate, practice-based research orientation characterises each of the six course modules. Accordingly, participating teachers are guided in a supportive manner to:
 Research and evaluate support provision in their school. (ED 6201)
 Research, evaluate and utilise appropriate tests in pupil diagnosis and attainment. (ED6202)
 Research, plan, prepare, implement and evaluate educational plans. (ED 6203)
 Research and develop an awareness and understanding of learning needs pertaining to different categories of disability. (ED 6204)
 Research contemporary, inclusion related issues. (ED 6205)
 Apply inclusive provision in own school. (ED 6206)

We work with participating teachers to ensure that their practice-based, research engagements help develop effective, inclusive practices in their respective school settings.

Current Doctoral Students (2025): 

I currently co-supervise five students who are undertaking doctoral studies at the School of Education, University College Cork.  

1) Kathleen Foley: 

Teaching Interests:

1) Fostering inclusive cultures/vision at a whole-school level
2) Contextualising inclusive education
3) Fostering inclusive classroom practices: team teaching, differentiation, peer tutoring, co-operative learning
3) Dilemmatic nature of inclusion
4) Stakeholder perspectives vis-à-vis inclusion; parents, pupils, teachers, DE, NCSE, NCCA ...........
5) Sensory impairment: hearing, vision
6) Literacy: Oral language, phonological awareness, reading fluency, writing, comprehension
7) Dyslexia
8) Autistic spectrum disorders
9) Parental - education systems linkages
10) Information technology
11) Research methodologies  
12) Initial Teacher Education (ITE) / Induction / Continuing Professional Development (CPD) 
13) School leadership 
14) Assessment 


Supervision of Doctoral Students
I currently co-supervise five PhD candidates who are undertaking doctoral studies at the School of Education, University College Cork.

1) Student Name: Shirley Murphy

Working Title of Doctoral Thesis:
Alternative Educational Settings. 

Co-supervisors: Dr Dan O’Sullivan, Dr Kevin Cahill, School of Education, University College Cork.


2) Student Name: Yvonne Lucey

Working Title of Doctoral Thesis: 
Leadership in Post Primary Settings. 

Co-supervisors: Dr Dan O’Sullivan, Dr Joseph Moynihan, School of Education, University College Cork.  


3) Student Name: Kathleen Foley

Working Title of Doctoral Thesis: 
Practical and sustainable approaches to support impactful Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) for primary teachers.

Co-supervisors: Dr Dan O’Sullivan, Dr Kevin Cahill, School of Education, University College Cork.

4) Student Name: Claire O'Neill

Working Title of Doctoral Thesis: 
What are the Experiences of Autistic Teachers of Wellbeing in the Irish Education System? An Interpretive and Embodied Approach.

Co-supervisors: Dr Kevin Cahill, Dr Dan O’Sullivan, School of Education, University College Cork.

5) Student Name: Mary Bernadette (Molly) O’Sullivan: 

Working Title of Doctoral Thesis:
An Exploration of Teachers’ Experiences when Collaborating to Enact Inclusive Education for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Accessing Dual-Educational Provision in Primary Schools in Ireland. 

Internal Supervisor: Dr Kevin Cahill;
External Supervisor: Dr Manolis Adamakis;
Advisor: Dr Dan O'Sullivan.