From outsider to researcher: Making the invisible barriers to education progression visible

From outsider to researcher: Making the invisible barriers to education progression visible

by | ESAI

Melissa Lynch’s educational journey truly began almost two decades after her initial attempt at higher education, “with two children in tow and life experiences the length and breadth of the island of Ireland”. Despite being “full of drive and ambition”, hoping to achieve the dream of going to university, she never got past the first day. It wasn’t till many years later that she found the courage to return to education as a mature student. In this personal essay, Melissa reflects on her journey and what it reveals about the barriers to further education for people like her.

My journey begins

I created this image using my family to show my research in an image. It won the Research on walls competition. I would like to use this image as I feel it allows people to see what they refuse to see, and once we do see it we cant unsee it. It’s the realities of many lives of the students im researching.

My educational journey began with a blocked path. First, by a lack of navigational knowledge, followed by a lack of leaving certificate points in the so-called ‘equitable’ Irish entry system known as the ‘Points Race’ (O’Connor, 2017). The Irish Leaving Certificate points system allocates specific points to exam grades, which are then totalled to create a rank order for higher education applicants (Hyland, 2011). Though I found a workaround and was able to attend university, it wasn’t enough.

My journey was also defined by the prejudgment I faced from others within hours of stepping foot inside a place I felt I didn’t belong. Even though I was in an access programme designed for students like me – from a low socio-economic status background – there was no one like me! I never got past the first day and for that I branded that initial attempt at educational progression a complete personal failure because I couldn’t make myself fit in nor look and sound like the others. Yet, I knew deep down the failure wasn’t mine; it was systemic.

The hidden obstacles facing students from LSES in Ireland

As a teenager from a low socio-economic status background (LSES), how was I expected to succeed alone when an unstable home life, chaotic circumstances, and a lack of ‘insider’ cultural knowledge made higher education navigation impossible? The Irish education system was set up to favour students who already possessed unspoken social and cultural advantages, and I had nothing to inherit. That personal failure and the persistent musing it provoked is now the basis of my ongoing PhD research, exploring why students from similar LSES backgrounds remain underrepresented in further/higher education despite decades of new policies and initiatives.

The Irish Higher Education Authority reported that only 10% of students from LSES areas who attend Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) in Ireland progressed to higher education in contrast to 85% of students from affluent areas attending private schools (HEA, 2022;2023). I argue that until we acknowledge and understand how the hidden obstacles of social and cultural capital impact educational progression of LSES students, our equity and inclusion policies are destined to fail the very students they aim to help.

To understand why a system designed for fairness still produces fundamental inequality, we must change our focus. We must stop looking only at what the system provides in terms of funding and assistance and start looking at what students inherit.

The Irish educational paradox

My initial ‘personal failure’ was painful; I am speaking of the dual burden faced by many students from low-LSES backgrounds. First, there is the objective failure: not obtaining the university qualification we are socially conditioned to see as the sole metric of success. Second, and more corrosive, is the internalised belief that this shortcoming is a reflection of individual defect, rather than a consequence of lacking the social and cultural capital needed to navigate a judgmental system. This was my reality when, upon entering an access programme, the very stigma it was meant to erase led me to withdraw. It was, however, also a single reflection of a much larger, fundamental flaw in how the Irish educational system approaches equity. And now two decades later, it hasn’t changed a whole lot.

For a long time, the system has attempted to address inequality through many initiatives and policies, such as the introduction of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme, launched in 2005. This is one of the well-intentioned initiatives that are still in place and currently under review to be upgraded to ‘DEIS PLUS’. The central purpose of the DEIS Initiative is to support students from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds to combat educational disadvantage and break the cycle of poverty through targeted support for schools and students. Its aim has been to level the playing field by directing additional resources, funding, and support to schools that serve communities with the highest levels of socio-economic disadvantage. These major government initiatives are well-intentioned, backed by significant investment, and focus heavily on two things the system can easily measure and deliver: academic support and financial aid.

This is where the paradox emerges; if we are pouring finances and resources into extra teaching resources, smaller class sizes, book-grant schemes, school completion programmes and so on – Why do students from LSES backgrounds or DEIS schools remain underrepresented in further and higher education?

Studies show the gap in progression to third level is still significantly low (Smyth, McCoy & Kingston, 2015; Fleming & Harford, 2021). We’ve treated the visible wounds, such as the lack of points and the cost of college, but the deep infection remains. Why is this conclusion unavoidable? Because the system is rewarding what it can see and ignoring what it can’t, or should I say, chooses not to see. My research is grounded in the belief that until we look beyond academics and economics, and start identifying and understanding the invisible barriers and impacts of social and cultural capital on students progression to FET/HE, the cycle of intergenerational educational disadvantage, poverty and inequality will continue.

Beyond Ireland – The lens of capital

To understand why a system designed for fairness still produces fundamental inequality, we must change our focus.

My PhD research adopts the framework of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who argued that success is not just about having money (economic capital) or good grades (academic capital). As established in his seminal work (Bourdieu, 1986), it is fundamentally about capital that is invisible.

This social and cultural capital is the invisible curriculum the system rewards, but never formally teaches.

Social Capital – Who you know • Your networks • Your connections • The area you grow up in • Your interactions that open doors, provide guidance, and support turning aspirations into real opportunities Cultural Capital – What you know • The unspoken rules • Your educational qualifications • Language– as in the way you speak • The knowledge you've been exposed to, and the life you have been born into • Any 'insider' knowledge that makes navigating a university or professional setting feel effortless for some, and impossible for others.

Research by Hannon, Faas & O’Sullivan (2017) shows that the Irish educational system inadvertently rewards this inherited social and cultural capital. This invisible curriculum is a set of unwritten instructions: how to pick the right subjects for your career when in 4th year in school, how to apply for the appropriate higher education courses, how to behave in a college environment, or how to secure a professional network.

When I was a teenager from a LSES background, I didn’t fail because I lacked the intelligence, drive or the work ethic; I failed because I lacked the map and the compass, I had nothing of this crucial capital to inherit, and the system did not provide it. This realisation is the engine driving my research to measure this missing map, and understand the scale of the capital gap.

Mapping the invisible gap

My ongoing qualitative doctoral research – based on focus groups and interviews with DEIS post-primary students, staff, families, education and community professionals – uses this Bourdieusian lens to map the capital gap. The preliminary findings are heartbreakingly consistent.

The preliminary discovery is that for LSES students, the barriers to educational progression are rarely just financial; they are overwhelmingly navigational (SOLAS, 2017). Students often have high aspirations, but their families and social networks cannot provide the ‘insider’ cultural knowledge required to translate those aspirations into successful further and higher level educational progression. Without networks, students lack exposure to professionals or university graduates who can explain what a particular career or degree actually involves. It is extremely difficult to envision becoming someone no one you know has become. This lack of connection was confirmed by a parent:

“Like I said, we don’t know anyone. It’s not just about knowing people with fancy jobs, it’s about knowing anyone who’s been through the system.”

– Brooke, parent

The social web that guides more affluent students toward high-capital degrees (law, medicine, engineering) is simply absent.

Families and students often don’t know many of the initiatives that are available to them and those that do are intimidated by the educational bureaucracy. Terms like HEAR, DARE, ACCESS, CAO points calculation, and FET route become a confusing, impenetrable language barrier, constraining choices regardless of a student’s academic or financial ability.

One parent, whose child was doing well academically, summed up the anxiety perfectly:

” I’ve heard some things about student grants, but the forms look really complicated, and I don’t really understand all the questions. I’d be worried about filling them in wrong and messing it up.”

– Amy, parent

This also soundly debunks the persistent narrative that LSES students lack aspiration. They are ambitious, resilient, and intelligent, but they lack the cultural confidence that comes from familiarity. For many, college remains an ‘alien’ or hostile environment. Students reported feeling they wouldn’t ‘fit in’ or that the university was ‘not a place for people like us’. Aligning with international research on identity and inequality (Hutchings & Archer, 2001), this demonstrates that our equity policies, by focusing narrowly on measurable deficits, fail to provide the most essential ingredient for successful progression and transition – a sense of belonging and the cultural competency to navigate the landscape.

Becoming a teacher – and seeing myself in my students

My own educational path was not a straight line; it was a rescue mission, and the turning point that came years later, sparked by a disorienting dilemma; a health scare that reminded me life is too short to settle.

While working as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) in a North Dublin primary school, I received a pivotal piece of external validation when the school principal agreed with me I had the capability to lead a classroom, not just assist in one. That belief gave me the courage to return to education as a mature student, overcoming the fear of my initial failure and also the imposter syndrome that had caused me to back out of applications three times before.

Becoming a qualified teacher was a triumph, but returning to teach in disadvantaged settings held up a mirror to my past. I saw students with immense raw talent who, like my younger self, were paralysed by a lack of confidence. This was heartbreakingly familiar. I saw brilliant students limiting their own potential because they had internalised the idea that they weren’t “academic.” They didn’t lack intelligence; they lacked opportunity, belief and they were impacted by their lack of social and cultural capital.

I realised that teaching a few students at a time wasn’t enough; I wanted to change the narrative for them on a larger scale. Today, my PhD research is not just an academic exercise; it is fueled by this ‘insider knowledge.’ I am researching educational barriers not because I read about them in a textbook, but because I climbed over them.

Call to action

My journey from being an outlier, seen as a ‘complete personal failure’ to becoming an educator and a PhD researcher has one singular purpose: to shift the conversation. My research suggests that, while financial and academic support are necessary, they are no longer sufficient. As one principal participant, Keith (2025), put it, we must stop ‘putting plasters over the visible wounds’ and start building the crucial capital that has been unintentionally starved out of the system.

The next generation of equity initiatives and policy cannot be about ‘equal opportunity’ alone; it must be about ‘equity of capital’ and my call to action is clear and practical.

We need to systematically embed capital-building initiatives directly into our support framework.

By co-creating these initiatives with our stakeholders and centering their lived experiences, we can structure initiatives that truly meet the needs of LSES students. Until we acknowledge that the Irish educational system, policies and initiatives inadvertently rewards what is inherited and not just what is achieved, our current efforts will continue to fail LSES students.

My research aims to make the invisible visible, and I pose the question for policymakers: Will you look with your eyes truly open?

Key Messages

  • Education systems reward what students inherit, not just what they achieve.
  • Financial aid alone cannot close the education gap – we must address invisible barriers.
  • Students from disadvantaged backgrounds don’t lack aspiration; they lack the map to navigate higher education.
  • Social and cultural capital are the invisible curriculum the system rewards but never teaches.
  • Educational equity requires shifting from equal opportunity to equity of capital.
Melissa Lynch

Melissa Lynch

Dublin City University

Melissa is an educator, researcher, and equity advocate dedicated to dismantling barriers in education. Currently a PhD candidate and lecturer at DCU’s Institute of Education, her research investigates how social and cultural capital impact the progression of students from disadvantaged backgrounds into higher education.

Her academic work, funded by Research Ireland and recognised with internal awards, is deeply informed by her own lived experience. In addition to her research, Melissa serves as a Board Director for Youth Advocate Programmes Ireland, Is a member of  ATD the All together in Dignity Alliance (#AddThe10th) and is a Research Associate at the Educational Disadvantage Centre (EDC) in DCU.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=45QzcSsAAAAJ&hl=en#d=gs_hdr_drw&t=1762540028190

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5503-1603

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood.

O’Connor, C. (2017) Education Matters Yearbook 2016–2017. Dublin: Education Matters, pp. 202-205.

Fleming, B., & Harford, J. (2021). The DEIS programme as a policy aimed at combating educational disadvantage: fit for purpose? Irish Educational Studies, 40(4), 481-499. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03323315.2021.1964568

Higher Education Authority (2022) National Access Plan for Equity to Access Participation and Success in Higher Education 2022-2028. Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-further-and-higher-education-research-innovation-and-science/publications/national-access-plan-2022-to-2028/. [Accessed 2 November 2025]

Hannon, C., Faas, D., & O’Sullivan, K. (2017). Widening the Educational Capabilities of Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Students Through a Model of Social and Cultural Capital Development. British Educational Research Journal, 43(6), 1225-1245. 

Hutchings, M., & Archer, L. (2001). ‘Higher Than Einstein’: Constructions of Going to University among Working-Class non-Participants. Research Papers in Education, 16(1), 69–91. 

Hyland, Á. (2011). Entry to higher education in Ireland in the 21st century. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

Smyth, E., McCoy, S., & Kingston, G. (2015). Learning from the Evaluation of DEIS. Research Series, 39. Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Available at: https://www.esri.ie/system/files/publications/RS39.pdf

SOLAS (2017). Barriers to Further Education and Training with Particular Reference to Long Term Unemployed Persons and Other Vulnerable Individuals. Solas: The Further Education and Training Authority. Available at: https://www.solas.ie/f/70398/x/432b2fa3ba/barriers-to-fet-final-june-2017.pdf

Challenging the rise of transactional language in educational policy

Challenging the rise of transactional language in educational policy

by | BERA, ESAI, NW 1 Professional Learning and Development

For some time now, I have been eager to share my thoughts on how transactional language has infiltrated the discourse of educational reform and associated continuing teacher education. I refer specifically here to how the terminology of related policy has adopted a rather corporate flavour, mimicking patterns of the economic and business world. In the Teaching and Learning International Survey ( OECD, 2018) this ‘resignification of educational language’ (Flubacher & Del Percio, 2017, p. 7) was difficult to ignore. Populated by phrases such as ‘cost effective mechanisms to deliver professional training ‘( p.160) and ‘individual teacher performance in the workplace’ (p. 156), the word ‘indicators’ appears no less than 69 times.

Here in Ireland, recent policy to guide ambitious reform efforts which are aimed at upper secondary education (Department of Education and Youth, 2025) uses the term ‘delivery’ when describing the teacher professional development and learning to support the reforms. The same document is peppered with the term ‘tranche’ in reference to an incremental “roll out” of revised subjects. Notably the Oxford dictionary defines tranche as ‘a financial instalment’ with Investopedia describing tranches as ‘segments of a whole divided up to be more marketable to investors’.

Neoliberalism made us do it!

We should not be surprised that this transactional tenor has infiltrated education policy speak. Since the 1990s, Europe, like much of the western world, has succumbed to the marketisation of education as a competitiveness resource (Sahlberg, 2012) wherein education policy is frequently characterised by successive action plans, target setting and frantic timelines. Cue a distinct catalogue of what Hood (1995, p. 105) once described as ‘new managerial catchwords’ enshrined in a ‘new global vocabulary’ for education. An analogous critique below of three such catchwords often used in the context of education reform and continuing teacher development, attempts to highlight their unsuitability for the sphere of education.

DELIVERY – Quality professional development and learning for teachers during periods of reform is not a ready- made product that travels by courier from some warehouse of ‘packages’ for recipient teachers to unwrap on its arrival. The corpus of research ( Timperley et al., 2007) and direct experience has long shown that knowledge and learning is constructed by the self-identified needs of teachers informed by those of their young learners. Skilful facilitation and dynamic exchange realises this potent process where teachers become the knowledge constructors and shapers of policy, as opposed to mere consumers of that created by others.

ROLL-OUT – Quality professional development and learning is not a vaccine injected en masse into our teacher population during periods of reform ‘…to pep them up, calm them down, or ease their pain’ (Hargreaves, 1994, p.430). Framing it in this way suggests a national marshalling of ‘one shot’ remedies to protect them against the next wave of ‘viral’ reform.

TRAINING – With no disrespect to the process of training in its appropriate context, teacher professional development and learning is not a technical endeavour operated by PowerPoint saturation and rehearsed scripts. The purpose of continuing teacher education is not to ‘indoctrinate’ teachers (Gibbons et al., p.1994) using standard slideshows, but to craft an environment where teachers as thinking professionals navigate complex dilemmas and make sense of reforms according to their unique schools and classrooms.

Deeply pervasive yet unnoticed

I’d like to emphasise here that there is nothing inherently wrong with this kind of terminology. However, it becomes problematic when crudely applied to the messy nature of educational reform and the equally uneven but richly reflective process of teacher development and learning. The voice afforded to this ‘uneducational’ terminology has been amplified with the advent of unprecedented reform associated with the aforementioned subordinance to neoliberal doctrine policy.

Ironically, the big idea of teacher agency is presented as a rationale across many of these current reforms. In this case however , we see teacher agency manifesting at the level of discourse where it is arguably restricted through an uncontested lexicon of reductive terms. Research into teacher agency (Priestley, Biesta & Robinson, 2015) shows that many teachers already overwhelmed by the volume of change simply adopt the language of the latest policy without critically questioning what that language suggests, or how it colours perceptions  of who teachers are, what they do and how they learn best.

At a time of so many other pressing issues in education, I appreciate that this argument may appear somewhat trivial or pedantic. One might even argue that we could just ignore the prevalence of these terms and tolerate them as well-intended policy wording. But what is tolerated gets accepted before eventually penetrating our culture as the taken-for-granted order of things. Indeed, so pervasive has this register become, that it is barely noticed let alone questioned while unwittingly rolling off the tongue (mea culpa also!).

 ‘Be kind to our language while alert to how we use particular words and to how words use us’ 

Timothy Snyder

Snyder (2016, p.59) reminds us that the language we adopt constructs and constrains the meaning applied to reality. It is, therefore, more than just a matter of words which themselves ‘are not some kind of decorative wrapping paper in which meaning is delivered’(Collini 2017, p. 3), but of powerful neoliberal undercurrents steering our thinking and behaviours with important implications for how our professional development and learning is perceived, enacted, and valued.

Call to action

Given that ‘the fault lines are always in danger of becoming visible when language is looked at critically’ (Gray et al., 2018, p. 474), I do believe it is time to disturb the rhetorical structure of language that has found a cosy home in the discourse of educational reform and continuing teacher education. More profoundly, we need to challenge the slavishness to neoliberal ideas and economic persuasion that is helping it to thrive when its very connotations are antithetical to what we value about meaningful reform and the complexities of teacher growth.

There is no room for transactional language in the transformational space we occupy as educators .

There is an alternative and we as a profession have an option to critically deconstruct these blindly accepted terms towards welcoming a glossary that respects our highly skilled work and honours the deeply sophisticated nature of how we develop and learn .

Key messages

  • A certain body of terminology synonymous with corporate doctrine has gained a foothold in the discourse of teacher continuing professional development .
  • Largely rooted in a deference to the marketisation and consumerism of education, it features regularly in the discourse of education reform and associated teacher learning and development efforts
  • An affront to teacher agency, the use of such language promotes a perception of teachers’ work and learning as technical, linear and unproblematic while fundamentally misrepresenting its complex nature particularly during times of reform.
  • A universal blind acceptance of this business-like language register renders it largely unchallenged despite its incompatibility with all things educational.
  • It is time to open the conversation about the legitimacy of such terms in the education context and explore more suitable alternatives
Dr. Ciara O' Donnell

Dr. Ciara O' Donnell

Dr. Ciara O’Donnell has worked in the area of Continuing Professional Development for teachers for over 20 years. From 2013 to 2022 she was the National Director of the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), Ireland’s first multi- disciplinary and cross-sectoral national CPD support service for teachers and school leaders.

Commencing her career as a primary school teacher, she has held a number of leadership positions in Irish teacher education in the areas of school leadership, educational disadvantage, curriculum development , CPD policy, design and research. Ciara now works as an independent education consultant and speaker specialising in teacher education, curriculum and school leadership while also working as a tutor with Maynooth University. Her published research explores the experiences and learning of teachers seconded to continuing teacher education and its impact on their future careers.

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and further reading

Collini, S. (2017). Speaking of universities. London: Verso.

Del Percio, A. &  Flubacher, M. ( 2017) Language, Education and Neoliberalism.  In M. Flubacher, M. & A. Percio ( Eds) Language, Education and Neoliberalism.  Bristol: Multilingual Matters

Department of Education and Youth (2025) Senior Cycle Redevelopment Implementation Support Measures. Dublin: The Department of Education and Youth. https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/publications/senior-cycle-redevelopment-implementation-support-measures/

Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P. & Trow, M. (1994) The new production of knowledge. London: Sage Publications. https://ia801409.us.archive.org/30/items/mode1_2/mode1_2.pdf

Gray, J.  O’Regan, P.  &  Wallace, C . (2018) Education and the discourse of global neoliberalism, Language and Intercultural Communication, 18:5, 471-477. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2018.1501842

Hood, C. (1995) Contemporary Public Management: a new global paradigm? Public Policy and Administration, 10, 104-117.https://doi.org/10.1177/095207679501000208

Hargreaves, A. (1994) Changing Teachers, Changing Times: Teachers’ Work and Culture in the Postmodern Age. London: Cassell . https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=1385110

Priestley, M., Biesta, G.J.J. & Robinson, S. (2015) Teacher Agency: An Ecological Approach. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Sahlberg, P. (2012). How GERM is infecting schools around the world? Retrieved from https://pasisahlberg.com/text-test/

Synder, T. (2017) On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century : New York , Crown Publishing.

Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H., & Fung, I. (2007) Teacher professional learning and development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration. Wellington: Ministry of Education.https://bibliotecadigital.mineduc.cl/bitstream/handle/20.500.12365/17384/154%20Teacher%20professional%20learning%20and%20development.%20best%20evidence%20synthesis%20iteration.pdf?sequence=1

Why teacher educators stay – the power of PERMA in practice

Why teacher educators stay – the power of PERMA in practice

by | ESAI

Teacher educators (TEs) are a unique group of academics who balance the job’s usual paperwork, teaching, research, and service parts with the additional complex pressures of preparing and supervising student teachers on placement (and all that it entails). As such, they often feel bogged down by admin or overwhelmed by external pressures, including high-stakes inspections and re/accreditation procedures and the need to simultaneously publish high-impact research in quality peer-reviewed journals. Against the backdrop of reduced funding and resources across the sector, managing these many responsibilities will likely get harder before it gets better. This combination of push and pull factors leads to fatigue, stress, or burnout.

In our recent study of burnout in Teacher Educators in Ireland and the United Kingdom we found that many report moderate to high work-related burnout, which can have significant implications for their mental health and wellbeing (Fitzsimons & Smith, 2025). However, most teacher educators seem to persevere despite these challenges. So, what do they draw on to sustain them in this high-pressure profession?

The holding environment

In the foreground a woman holds the hand of another person, while in the background, people can be seen sitting and chatting.

A helpful way to understand where this resilience comes from is the concept of the “holding environment” (Winnicott, 1964; Kahn, 2001): a space that provides individuals with the emotional, psychological and social support needed to stay connected, engaged, and motivated. Though the term typically applies to familial or therapeutic relationships, workplaces represent another arena where individuals may experience setbacks and may need emotional support. There, the holding environment is about the relationships that make employees feel supported and valued. Put simply, it’s knowing that others ‘have your back’ and recognise your personal contributions and efforts.

The PERMA model – support and protection

In our research, we drew on Seligman’s (2018) famous PERMA model, which explores well-being through Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment, to understand the factors that support teacher educators in Ireland and the United Kingdom to remain resilient. Institutions instilling and nurturing these five elements can protect TEs and facilitate their growth. As asserted by Seligman, these intrinsic transformations cannot be inorganically fostered or summoned in response to demand, but rather require intentional activities, mindsets and habits that can require conscious effort. In other words, the environment should empower workers towards personal growth and it is not about mindset alone. Still, whilst infrastructure can facilitate environments where these outcomes are encouraged, the onus is also on the individual to actively flourish and reflects their uniqueness of engagement and meaning in the production of wellbeing. We think this ‘holding’ process happens in the following ways: 

1. Positive Emotion

TEs in our study talked about the power of small, uplifting moments that carry them through the working week. These include sharing a laugh with a colleague (or having the ‘craic’ as we would say in Ireland), finding joy in teaching, or practicing gratitude. This positivity can act as an intrinsic buffer to the adverse events of the day, and this can help TEs recharge emotionally.

2. Engagement

Despite their pressures, many TEs spoke passionately about their role and the joy of working with brilliant young people. They described losing track of time while mentoring students, getting deeply involved in research, or their practice. As we know from Csikszentmihalyi this state of “flow” represents a sign of deep engagement and present moment focus. In a holding environment, individuals are supported to connect with the parts of their work that energise them. That sense of purpose can help to motivate them and possibly prevent against the factors that lead to burnout.

3. Relationships – Teamwork makes the dream work

Strong relationships are at the heart of TEs’ well-being. Colleagues who listen, share advice and show empathy can create a protective network that can shield each other from the stresses of the job. Our study showed that ITE settings with a collaborative, kind, and team-based culture gave educators the space to be open, to “sound off,” and to feel less alone. Indeed, knowing that you are not the only one to feel “spread thin”, and being able to draw on the wisdom and institutional memory of others is a highly valuable resource in the workplace. And this social infrastructure is the essence of a holding environment – support that helps carry the weight.

4. Meaning

The majority of TEs had previously been teachers or school leaders; many having a deep appreciation of the importance of their vocation and understanding the broader societal impact of their role. This sense of Meaning can act as the existential anchor that reminds teacher educators of their purpose and personal values, which are especially important during challenging times. TEs can feel lost at sea in the increasingly market-driven university setting when this ‘anchor’ isn’t stable, demonstrative of a lack of foundation grounding or sense of self within the larger infrastructure of the role.

5. Accomplishment

Feeling valued and making progress is an essential cornerstone of professional well-being. However, as we have outlined, TEs often face a frustrating reality – their teaching and mentoring work isn’t always valued in research-driven universities. For example:

  • The hours of work spent preparing for the Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) or other ITE inspections.
  • The late evening Zoom calls supporting student teachers who are facing a crisis in the classroom.

You won’t find these ‘duties’ on most appraisal forms or valued in promotion applications. As one TE told us, ‘How good a colleague you have been’ is not part of formal performance metrics. And yes, there may be prestigious awards for fulfilling certain aspects of academic duties, but those are awarded to only a few colleagues. So, informal recognition makes big difference; for example, a quiet thank you note from a student or genuine praise from colleagues can make TEs feel seen and appreciated. This validation is vital in a holding environment; it shows people what you do matters. You matter, and you are making a positive difference.

Formal support – What can institutions do to help?

A group of people are standing and talking and laughing. They are wearing lanyards.

You may have noticed we haven’t mentioned formal support for TEs. That is because this was barely mentioned in our study. Some participants highlighted well-being workshops, menopause clinics or yoga classes, but most TEs we spoke with said ‘I don’t have time’. Indeed, taking time out can get in the way of everything else. Managing work-life balance is paramount to offering a lifeline to staff who feel like they are treading water or barely staying afloat.

Our findings offer more than insight into occupational well-being—they present a clear call to action for institutions to create and facilitate supportive environments to allow TEs to thrive. TEs are highly motivated, values-driven professionals who care deeply about their students. This passion can lead to overwork and burnout, particularly in the absence of a secure holding environment.

There are a number of practical steps institutions can take:

1. Foster supportive relationships through mentorship, team-building and collaboration.

2. Recognise and appropriately reward the diverse nature of TEs’ work, not just research output.

4. The work of the TE can be emotionally exhausting – supporting not just students but colleagues as demonstrated – therefore, boundary setting should become the norm rather than the exception. Unless it is an emergency, it’s not an emergency and the ‘right to disconnect’ should be respected.

5. Although a ‘rage room‘ might be a good addition to most campuses, other more sanitised and evidenced based practices like mindfulness tools could prove helpful – however, these must be appropriately resourced and evaluated.

Our final thoughts

A holding environment is not built overnight. It’s created through daily acts of care, trust, and respect. For TEs, it’s the relationships, purpose, recognition, and shared positivity that “hold” them steady in an often-turbulent profession. By supporting the PERMA model and acknowledging its value, institutions can make the ITE workplace manageable and genuinely empowering.

Key Messages

  • The occupational wellbeing of all involved in education is important; however, the wellbeing of one cohort, higher-education-based Teacher Educators, is often overlooked.
  • Factors such as work overload, persistent policy change, external accountability/inspection measures and metricisation of their identity alongside resource constraints (do more with less) can lead to burnout.
  • Attention needs to be paid to not only the risk factors but also the protective factors that keep Teacher Educators afloat.
  • Seligman’s PERMA model provides one framework to explain what supports Teacher Educators to persist despite the ongoing pressures they face
Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons

Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons

Assistant Professor of Education

Sabrina is a lecturer in Initial Teacher Education and Co-Director of DCU CREATE—The Centre for Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education at Dublin City University, Ireland. Her research focuses on the occupational wellbeing and flourishing of educators, including higher education-based teacher educators, academics, school-based teachers, student teachers and other educators. She is a graduate member of the Psychological Society of Ireland and a Senior Fellow of the Advance HE.

Lee Boag

Lee Boag

Lecturer, Robert Gordon University

Lee Boag is a lecturer in psychology at Robert Gordon University. His research interests include lived experiences of healthcare, well-being interventions and research philosophy.
David S. Smith

David S. Smith

David S. Smith is a social psychologist. His research is focused on online identities, group membership and social cognition.

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

Fitzsimons, S., & Smith, D. S. (2025). “Just plough on and pretend it’s not happening”: Understanding burnout in teacher educators in Ireland and the United Kingdom. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 9, 100491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2025.100491

Fitzsimons, S., Boag, L., & Smith, D. S. (2025). Understanding teacher educators’ quality of life: Insights from the PERMA model. Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-025-10435-z

Fitzsimons, S., & Smith, D. S. (2025). ‘Don’t do anything special for us coming’: the mental health impact of Ofsted inspections on teacher educators in England. Cambridge Journal of Education, 55(1), 93–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2025.2451280

Kahn, W. A. (2001). Holding Environments at Work. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 37(3), 260-279. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021886301373001 .

Winnicott, D. W. (1964).  The child, the family, and the outside world.  Penguin Books https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/13592/the-child-the-family-and-the-outside-world-by-dw-winnicott/9780241455685

Parental and Family Involvement in Children’s Digital Learning: Bridging Policy and Practice

Parental and Family Involvement in Children’s Digital Learning: Bridging Policy and Practice

by | ESAI, NW 14 Communities, Families, and Schooling in Educational Research

As education systems adapt to the demands of the digital age, preparing students to live and learn in a technology driven world has become a pressing priority. The successful integration of digital technologies in education is a complex, multi-faceted process that depends on several interrelated factors, including the crucial role of family support and socio-economic conditions (Giannoutsou et al., 2024). This blog briefly explores how European and Irish digital education policies seek to address parental and family involvement in children’s digital learning—a topic we believe deserves greater recognition. We aim to spark discussions about how education systems and school communities can better support families, especially those at risk of digital exclusion. We will conclude with proffering recommendations for bridging gaps in policy and practice to foster inclusive digital learning environments.

Parental involvement in children’s learning: why it matters?

A large body of research highlights the benefits of parental involvement on children’s development, both socially and academically.  Whether at home, in school, or both, the more parents actively engage in their child’s education, the better the outcomes.  But what exactly is parental involvement in an educational context? Literature describes it as a ‘multi-faceted’ (Epstein, 1995) and ‘multi-dimensional’ concept (Laranjeiro et al.,2023). As a general definition, parental involvement refers to parents actively engaging in their child’s education both at school and at home. Several seminal publications provide frameworks for understanding the concept of parental involvement, including the Parental Involvement Process model (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995, 1997) and Epstein’s six types of parental involvement (1995). These frameworks enable us to understand why and how parents become involved in their child’s education.

As education systems and schools work towards integrating digital technologies into education successfully, these theoretical perspectives clearly elucidate the central role parents play. By recognising this role, we can work toward building stronger family-school partnerships in the digital age with the ultimate aim of achieving better outcomes for children.

Policy – the role of parents and families in digital education

The digital transformation of education, defined as “a realignment of education models utilising digital technology to engage students, teachers, parents, and leaders more effectively at every point in the students’ schooling journey” (McCarthy et al., 2023, p. 9), has seen education systems across the globe develop strategies and policies to guide the integration and use of digital technologies in schools (van der Flies, 2020). Yet, parental involvement in digital education is often overlooked in such policies (Internetmatters.org, 2024), despite research highlighting that strong school-parent relationships are integral to the digital transformation process (Giannoutsou et al., 2024).

Some recent development suggests a more optimistic outlook. At EU level, a 2023 European Council recommendation called for the “active participation” of parents and other underrepresented groups in digital education reforms. At national level, Ireland’s Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 emphasises empowering parents to support children’s digital learning, acknowledging gaps in adult digital skills. Similarly, Ireland’s Literacy, Numeracy, and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024–2033 aims to expand family digital literacy programmes, particularly for marginalised communities.

Enacting these policies and strategies at school level requires the engagement of key actors, particularly school leaders and teachers (McCarthy et al., 2023). By promoting parental involvement in children’s digital learning, they play a key role in fostering stronger family-school partnerships, which work towards enhancing student outcomes (Yulianti et al., 2022). However, with school leaders and teachers already managing numerous policies and initiatives, implementing additional actions to support digital education policies requires substantial investment in both physical and human resources in our educations systems.

What does this look like in practice? Some examples of digital resources and programmes

Building on the understanding of parental involvement as active engagement in children’s education both at home and in school, here are some Irish initiatives and resources designed to support family-school partnerships in the digital age:

  • Programme to Enhance Digital Literacy (PEDL): This school-based programme in Ireland is designed to support and shape parents’ digital confidence and competence, enabling them to better support their children’s digital learning. Read more about the programme here.
  • European Year of Digital Citizenship Education (2025): Hosted by the Council of Europe, this initiative offers tools and ideas to help parents and carers support their children in becoming ethical individuals who can actively participate in online and offline communities. You can access the resources for parents here.
  • Digital Wellbeing Resources: Many available resources for parents focus on supporting aspects of their children’s digital wellbeing, such as internet safety. Two notable examples from Ireland include Webwise Guides for Parents, which addresses issues like cyberbullying and online safety, and Barnardo’s Parent Section, offering practical guidance to foster safe digital environments at home.

These links offer a brief insight into some of the materials available to schools which could be used to foster parental involvement in children’s digital education. For maximum impact, we recommend complementing these resources with training for members of the school community to provide in-person sessions, which facilitate direct engagement and stronger connections between parents and schools. Furthermore, we echo Gonzalez-DeHass et al. (2022) in highlighting the need for further research into meaningful home-based digital learning practices, as well as the development of tailored resources specifically aimed at shaping parents’ competence in using digital learning tools and platforms for education.

Recommendations

To support parental involvement in children’s digital learning, we propose the following actions:

Allocate a Dedicated Parent and Family Support Position in Schools:

Providing dedicated staff to support parents can strengthen family-school relationships. In Ireland, the Home School Community Liaison Officer (HSCLO) role is designed to support parents of students at risk of educational disadvantage. While this position is currently limited to schools with DEIS (disadvantaged) status, its benefits could extend to all schools, fostering greater parental involvement and support across diverse educational contexts. An OECD review (2024) highlighted that even non-DEIS schools see the HSCLO role as a valuable asset. Expanding this position to all schools, with a focus on families at risk of digital exclusion, could significantly enhance parental involvement.

Implement School-Based Interventions to Enhance Parents’ Digital Self-Efficacy:

Low levels of digital self-efficacy hinder parents’ ability and motivation to engage with their children’s digital learning (Gonzalez-DeHass et al., 2022). With adequate training and resources, schools can support the implementation of targeted, in-person interventions to build parents’ digital skills and competences. Such programmes would not only foster stronger family-school relationships but also increase parental involvement in digital learning. To ensure success, school leaders should follow established frameworks, such as those outlined by Qualter (2024). However, for such interventions to be successful, they must be adequately resourced by education systems. This includes providing funding, training, and support for schools to design and deliver these programmes effectively. Without this systemic backing, school leaders and teachers—already stretched by existing demands – will naturally face challenges in implementing these initiatives

Key Messages

  • Parental involvement plays a central role in children’s educational outcomes.
  • Building meaningful, collaborative family-school partnerships is essential for creating inclusive approaches to digital education and mitigating digital exclusion.
  • Parental involvement is increasingly recognised in digital education policies as a key factor in addressing digital exclusion, but more actionable steps are needed to turn this recognition into practice.
  • Expanding the Home School Community Liaison Officer (HSCLO) programme, or similar roles, to all schools – regardless of status – can strengthen family-school relationships and provide targeted support for families at risk of many forms of exclusion, including digital.
  • School-based interventions designed to enhance parents’ digital self-efficacy can increase their engagement in children’s digital learning and foster more inclusive educational environments.
  • Schools must be equipped with adequate human, physical, and digital resources, alongside comprehensive training, to effectively involve families in digital learning and ensure all students benefit from the opportunities of the digital age.
  • Successful policy implementation depends on adequate resourcing (see point above). Without this, overburdened school leaders and teachers may struggle to deliver the intended impact of digital transformation initiatives.
Declan Qualter

Declan Qualter

Practice Placement Supervisor, University College Dublin, School of Education

Declan Qualter works in the School of Education at University College Dublin, Ireland, where he is the Practice Placement Supervisor for the UCD Bachelor of Education with Gaeilge and/or Modern Languages programme, and he also teaches on the UCD Professional Masters in Education programme. In addition, Declan is a PhD candidate at the UCD School of Education, where his research focuses on parental involvement in children’s home-based digital learning. His other research interests are focused on the digital transformation of education, particularly the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in educational settings.

Linked in – https://www.linkedin.com/in/declanqualter/

Orcid – https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4872-0343

Research gate – https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Declan-Qualter 

Dr Rachel Farrell

Dr Rachel Farrell

Assistant Professor, University College Dublin, School of Education

Dr Rachel Farrell is Assistant Professor of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and the Director of the Professional Master of Education Programme (PME) in the School of Education at University College Dublin. Rachel’s main research interest is in the area of Democratic Pedagogical Partnerships and Expansive Learning in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Rachel has led many collaborative initiatives including: effective use of immersive technology in post-primary education with SchooVR, an evaluation of digital portfolios in ITE with MS Education Ireland, cyber resilience education with the Department of the Environment Climate and Communications (DECC) – see www.cyberwise.ie, The Look See What I Can Be: Changing Mindsets/Impacting Futures in STEM funded by SFI and supported by the Professional Development Services for Teachers (PDST), SFI funded Science Week initiative in 2021 and the PDST Young Economist of the Year national awards for post-primary students in association with multiple universities and government agencies.

X – @econrachel

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-farrell-phd-ucd/

Ordid – https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5828-7938 

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

Epstein, J. L. (1995). School/Family/Community Partnerships: Caring for the Children We Share. The Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), 701–712. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20405436

Giannoutsou, N., Ioannou, A., Timotheou, S., Miliou, O., Dimitriadis, Y., Cachia, R., Villagrá-, S. S., & Martínez-, M. A. (2024, January 29). Unpacking the impact of digital technologies in Education. JRC Publications Repository. https://doi.org/10.2760/214675

Gonzalez-DeHass, A. R., Willems, P. P., Powers, J. R., & Musgrove, A. T. (2022). Parental involvement in supporting students’ digital learning. Educational Psychologist, 57(4), 281–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2022.2129647

Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. M. (1995). Parental involvement in children’s education: Why does it make a difference? Teachers College Record, 97(2), 310–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700202

Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. M. (1997). Why do parents become involved in their children’s education? Review of Educational Research, 67(1), 3–42. https://doi.org/10.2307/1170618

Internetmatters.org (2024, September 6). Children’s Wellbeing in a Digital World — Index Report 2024. Internet Matters. https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/research/childrens-wellbeing-in-a-digital-world-index-report-2024/#full-report

Laranjeiro, D., Antunes, M. J., & Santos, P. (2023). Using Design-Based Research for a Technological Intervention to Promote Parental Involvement in Kindergarten. SN Computer Science, 4(3), 278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-023-01666-8

McCarthy, A. M., Maor, D., McConney, A., & Cavanaugh, C. (2023). Digital transformation in education: Critical components for leaders of system change. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 8(1), 100479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100479

OECD. (2024). OECD Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland. OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/3433784c-en

Qualter, D. (2024). From Digital Exclusion to Digital Inclusion: Shaping the Role of Parental Involvement in Home-Based Digital Learning – A Narrative Literature Review. Computers in the Schools, 41(2), 120–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2024.2322167

van der Flies, R. (2020). Digital strategies in education across OECD countries: Exploring education policies on digital technologies. OECD Education Working Papers, Vol. 226. https://doi.org/10.1787/33dd4c26-en

Yulianti, K., Denessen, E., Droop, M., & Veerman, G.-J. (2022). School efforts to promote parental involvement: The contributions of school leaders and teachers. Educational Studies, 48(1), 98–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2020.1740978

Fostering Creativity in the Classroom  – developing a cross-curricular module in ITE

Fostering Creativity in the Classroom  – developing a cross-curricular module in ITE

by | ESAI, NW 16 ICT in Education and Training

Outside of the core curricular content that makes up initial teacher education (ITE) programmes, there are increasing callsfor input on a variety of pedagogical, social, cultural, and competence-based issues that impact future teaching practice (MacPhail et al., 2022). Most higher education institutions possess expertise in a range of innovative areas, but the practicalities of timetables, student availability, and academic structures often mean students must choose one or two five-credit, level nine modules from a range of electives. This blog outlines an effort to combat this through an integrated module on the Professional Masters in Education PME (Post-Primary) at Dublin City University, Ireland, which combines Digital Competencies, English as an Additional Language, and Drama-based learning under the umbrella of ‘Fostering Creativity in the Classroom’.

Fostering creativity in the classroom  – developing the module

We know that cross-curricular and integrated teaching can facilitate students in making creative connections and solving complex problems (Harris & de Bruin, 2017). Motivated by this, we began examining our content, values and teaching approaches and quickly realised a common thread of creativity ran through our work. Our module, ‘Fostering Creativity in the Classroom’ places explicit focus on the role of the teacher in fostering creativity and innovation in the post-primary classroom. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we allowed students to explore and experience a range of creative, collaborative and playful approaches to fostering creativity in teaching and learning. This was achieved through lectures, workshops, and a range of strategies from the Digital Learning(e.g. digital storytelling), Drama (e.g. soundscapes), and Linguistic Responsiveness (e.g. multilingualism) domains.

Underpinned by theories of creativity in education (e.g. Gilhooly & Gilhooly, 2021), our students, who are pre-service teachers, worked together to experiment with creative approaches, reflect on their experiences, and plan their practical implementation in the future. In order to draw the different strands together under the theme of creativity, we designed an innovative assignment. The assignments tasked students (in small groups) with creating a digital story on the theme of ‘fostering creativity and innovation in the post-primary classroom’. Their target audience was future PME students and practising teachers. Videos considered how digital media, drama and linguistically responsive strategies can enhance practice and encourage pupil creativity. Groups reflected on the strategies explored during the module and considered their application across curricular subjects. Videos were to be presented as a cohesive narrative or story and include a variety of audio-visual content.

Our reflections

Reflecting on the process, we were pleased it did not result in merely fitting our ‘pieces’ together, but in creating something unique that was enriched by our individual curricular areas. As academic staff, collaborating on the design and delivery provided us with opportunities to learn from each other’s curriculum design and facilitation approaches while demonstrating to students the connections that exist between subject areas. Our challenges were primarily around articulating our vision and structuring the delivery. While, as academic staff, our initial vision for the module was clear, our individual ‘flavours’ of that vision came through at first. It wasn’t until the second iteration of the module that we began to speak in one voice. The structure of the module delivery was another aspect that we found challenging initially and that we improved over time. In the first iteration of the module, we split the content into ‘blocks’, where each team member delivered their content in sequence after one another. We found that this meant students saw the module as three separate parts, and while that made sense in terms of the coherence of each aspect, it took away from the overall flow and interconnected nature of the work we were trying to achieve. Rectifying this was more than the simple act of moving lectures from one week to another. Instead, it necessitated the alteration of certain aspects of content so they more naturally connected to the other areas of study. We also spent more time ‘in’ each other’s lectures in order to display a unified voice.

Students’ impressions

Feedback from students on the experience of participating in this integrated module contained positives and potential areas for improvement. Students commented on the module’s ambitious and forward-thinking nature, saying it was ‘pretty ambitious’ and ‘very relevant in modern education’. They noted that they learned a lot from each strand and, perhaps most importantly, they learned more from how the strands linked together. Comments included: ‘Lovely to have different strands (E.g., Digital Media, Drama-based learning) each week. Helped the creativity’ and ‘It helps shift your focus from the ways in which you were taught at school and to focus on all of the possibilities that exist for enhancing your lessons and making them more meaningful’.

 On the other hand, students also found areas challenging. For example, they found that the three strands meant there was a lot to take in. Comments included ‘There was a lot of information in each module[strand] and not enough time to get to grips with all of it’. Some also found it difficult to see how everything aligned under the umbrella of developing pupils’ creativity in the classroom. Comments included ‘personally felt that there was a bit of a disconnect between the three strands’ and that they ‘did not find the necessarily all aligned under the umbrella of creativity’.

Fin

Our efforts to combine three elective strands into one coherent module were not without their challenges. However, as lecturers, we found that the process not only allowed us to examine connections across curricular areas but facilitated the development of a more nuanced version of ‘creativity’ than we had delivered before. Students also recognised the value of our integrated approach, which is encouraging. However, their comments also provide scope for improvements in the future. For example, further work may be needed to increase the connection between strands so that students see the module as a cohesive approach to develop pupils’ creativity in the classroom.

Key Messages

  • The practicalities of ITE programmes often make the provision of additional pedagogical, social, cultural, and competence-based initiatives challenging
  • We document the development of a cross-curricular, integrated module “Fostering Creativity in the Classroom”
  • The module integrates Digital Learning, Drama-based Learning, and Linguistic Responsiveness
  • The process provided us, as academic staff, with the opportunity to enrich our individual curricular areas and practice by learning from each other’s design and facilitation approaches.
  • Students found the module to be ambitious and forward-thinking, and learned more from how the curricular areas fitted together to ‘foster creativity in the classroom’.
Dr Peter Tiernan

Dr Peter Tiernan

Associate Professor in Digital Learning and Research Convenor for the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies in the Institute of Education at Dublin City University.

Peter is an Associate Professor in Digital Learning and Research Convenor for the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies in the Institute of Education at Dublin City University. He lectures in the areas of digital learning, digital literacy and entrepreneurship education. His current research focuses on digital literacy at post-primary and further education level as well as entrepreneurship education for third level lecturers and pre-service teachers.

Peter was shortlisted for the DCU President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2021.

Find Peter on Twitter.

Dr Fiona Gallacher

Dr Fiona Gallacher

Assistant professor in the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies (SALIS) at Dublin City University

Fiona Gallagher is an assistant professor in the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies (SALIS) at Dublin City University. Before this, she worked as a teacher and CELTA teacher educator in Sudan, Italy, Spain, Ireland, the US, Australia and Portugal.  Her research interests lie primarily in the fields of second language acquisition, TESOL and bi/multilingual education with particular reference to: L1 use in language learning and teaching; translanguaging and plurilingual pedagogies; and teaching and learning in the linguistically and culturally diverse primary and secondary school classroom. 

She has published widely in her field, both as the author/co-author of various EFL textbooks and teacher guides and in high-ranking peer reviewed journals and edited volumes. 

Dr Irene White

Dr Irene White

Assistant professor in English and Drama Education in the School of Human Development at the Institute of Education, Dublin City University.

Dr Irene White is an Assistant Professor in English and Drama Education in the School of Human Development at the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. She is the Programme Chair of the Professional Master of Education and teaches across a range of initial teacher education programmes. Irene taught English and Drama at the post-primary level for twelve years, during which time she was a mentor for initial teacher education students and a State Exams Commission examiner for the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme.

Irene’s research straddles the arts and education sectors, with a particular focus on creative mindsets, creative learning environments and creative activity for health and wellbeing. Her PhD examined creativity in participatory arts initiatives and articulated a Participatory Arts for Creativity in Education (PACE) model, an applied participatory arts model aimed at fostering creativity in education.

Irene is Chair of the Board of Directors for Upstate Theatre Project, a community-engaged participatory arts organisation funded by the Arts Council of Ireland. Her work in the field of participatory arts includes her role as artist and director with Upstate Theatre Project on The Crossover Project, a cross-border, cross-community participative drama programme, and her work with students from the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University on the study abroad programme. Irene has also worked with Smashing Times Theatre and Film Company on the ‘Acting for the Future’ programme using drama and theatre performance to promote positive mental health and the ‘Acting for Change’ programme using drama to explore cultural diversity and identity and promote anti-racism, anti-sectarianism and equality.

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

Gilhooly, K. J., & Gilhooly, M. L. M. (2021). Aging and creativity. Academic Press.

Harris, A., & de Bruin, L. (2017). Steam education: Fostering creativity in and beyond secondary schools. Australian Art Education, 38(1), 54–75.

MacPhail, A., Seleznyov, S., O’Donnell, C., & Czerniawski, G. (2022). Supporting the Continuum of Teacher Education Through Policy and Practice: The Inter-Relationships Between Initial, Induction, and Continuing Professional Development. In Reconstructing the Work of Teacher Educators: Finding Spaces in Policy Through Agentic Approaches—Insights from a Research Collective (pp. 135–154). Nature.

You’ve been hired! Exploring the future of learning design using speculative methods

You’ve been hired! Exploring the future of learning design using speculative methods

by | ESAI, NW 13 Philosophy of Education, NW 16 ICT in Education and Training

The latest annual survey from the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) highlights the changes in the profession of those who work in the spaces where technology, teaching, and learning intersect. The brokers who work in these vital in-between places of education have been referred to as “third space professionals”.

A range of titles is reported in the ALT annual survey by respondents, with the most common being “learning technologist”. For real, paid work, people apply for more prosaic-sounding jobs than that of a “third space professional”. There may be gaps, if not tensions, between academic parlance and how we speak in the real world.

If this resonates with you, and you are a pragmatic person who seeks tangible, real-world solutions, rather than abstract academic notions, then stop reading now. If, however, you would like to work at a more-than-real posthuman University – in an entanglement of technology, plants, animals, emotions, gods, and demons, where you would write learning designs directly onto other people’s hearts – then read on.

Key Messages

  • Learning designer/technologist roles continue to increase greatly both in number and their scope.
  • The roles of learning designers/academic developers/learning technologists/heads of teaching and learning centres are vitally important but complex.
  • Speculative methods are being increasingly used in both teaching and educational research.
  • Speculative methods (specifically speculative fiction) can be used to think about the impact of learning design roles and imagine strange but bright university futures for and of them.

Conceptualising learning design roles

A recent exercise conducted with learning designers in Ireland aimed to creatively analyse, conceptualise and represent the role of learning designer. It proceeded from the contention that a digital learning consultant, or an academic developer, or a head of digital education, are more than their titles. And they are more than their skills. Indeed, they are more than human. We do not live as job titles, as bunches of disembodied skills and competencies, nor even as perfectly differentiated individual human beings. Rather, we live deeply entangled in the language that describes us, in the tools we use [1], in each other, and in the non-human beings of this world [2].

To make sense of this provocation, and to learn how learning designers actually feel and live this entanglement, we adopted a more-than-real speculative approach. Speculative methods are not premised on measurement or “what works” but rather on “not-yetness”. They attempt to create or leave space for dreaming about what is yet to come. They are approaches “aimed at envisioning or crafting futures or conditions which may not yet currently exist, to provoke new ways of thinking and to bring particular ideas or issues into focus” (Ross, 2007).

In our study, we analysed a collection of job postings for learning technology roles advertised in Ireland during the pandemic. Based on these, we interviewed several fictional learning designers. These people had just been hired into a strange university that exists in the near future. Below is an excerpt from one such fictional interview, adapted from the preprint version of our article, the full version of which you can read in the journal Learning Media and Technology. 

Christine:

What was your last question? My learning design super-power? Ha ha, I like it! Well, we took this Info Lit class one time on posthumanism and speciesism. Also, that year we were editing Wikipedia, to fill in gaps on famous women, so I did Frances Power Cobbe. She campaigned for animal rights and the rights of women to vote and attend university. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole then, and read all about the Brown Dog affair, but I had to stop after a while because it was just so horrible that someone could be cutting up a dog who was clearly in distress. When I read about the medical students taking down the statue that commemorated the dog, I just felt my body shaking and I took both hands off my iPad and let it drop to the ground.

 Anyway, long story short, I pick the ability to speak to animals as my superpower. I look after all the animals here in the Animal Aid Division of the Learning Design Deck. Me, and my friend Pema.

It all started with Isha. As a blind student, she had to fight for literally everything during her time in the University and for her dog Sandy too. But one time we were doing all this big data stuff, trying to catch people cheating in exam halls. An algorithm checked the similarity of students who sat close together and triangulated with sweat levels the system could see on their skin. We were looking at all these mood maps and I noticed that people sitting near Sandy in the exams seemed calmer. So that’s how the project of allowing dogs in exam halls started, because they had such a positive effect on people. And then we were loaning dogs out to students to take walks with. That evolved into our Library Dogs initiative. Later, I went back and looked at the data and realised that there was some uplifting effect for students in exams sitting near windows. Turns out, just seeing some plant life is good for you, a little bit of green. So, we started working connecting students with trees. The researchers were all excited and talking about oxytocin levels and so on, but it just seems like basic sense to me. It’s like something I heard once about how you need connection but you don’t need another person necessarily, just one tendril of love to something, and that could be looking in a dog’s eyes or touching a tree [3].

And the whole thing grew from there really, and we are rewilding parts of the University now. I look after all the animals, primarily the dogs, but also the ones that are part of other projects: cats, monkeys, snails, kites, buzzards, crows. And the sand martins who do this like hunting ballet over the lake in the evening when I’m walking home – sweeping through invisible clouds of insects. There was some dispute I think, a student protest, as the University wanted to build something where the lake is – maybe a carpark.

How does that one go? University (noun): A set of warring fiefdoms united around a common cause of parking. That’s the biggest threat to the plant and animal projects – new university buildings and developments. But my favourite part of the Uni is a patch of old scrub out back of the library. It must be earmarked for a building because it’s not landscaped or mowed or anything. It’s just thistles and poppies and stones but sometimes I go in and lie down there. I try to feel the world under me to see if I’m still here or maybe if it’s still there.

Conclusion

This blog post attempts to give a flavour of how speculative methods, in this case, design fiction, can be used to represent and explore evolving educational roles. The next step of the research involved analysing the above persona, along with two others, by presenting them to real-life learning designers to seek their feedback on the fictions’ validity, and resonance or otherwise, with their own lived experience.

We drew on literature related to ethics of care in education and the philosopher and theorist Simone Weil to help frame this analysis. You can read about what happened next in the full version of the associated article. Our work tried to show people with complex embodied existences that spread beyond the formal boundaries of their work in educational settings. We attempted to counter the neoliberal construction of identities of workers that are comprised of disembodied skills. Instead, we tried to problematise this question of who and what people do in particular roles, not according to their skills alone, but as people who have bodies that experience joy and suffering.

We attempted to show learning designers as existing in a tangled web of objects, people, and experience. In this way, we hopefully shone some light on the complex roles these people play in the messy territories of contemporary, and near future, education.

Acknowledgements

A wonderful team of learning design and learning design-adjacent superheroes contributed to the published article (Costello et al, 2022): Steve Welsh, Fiona Concannon, Tom Farrelly, Clare Thompson and Lily/Prajakta Grime (who is doubly acknowledged as the creator of the beautiful images).

Dr Eamon Costello

Dr Eamon Costello

Associate Professor of Digital Learning

Dr Costello has worked in industry and university settings for over 25 years. He is deeply curious about how we learn in different environments. He is also concerned with how we actively shape our world so that we can have better and more humane places in which to think, work, live, and learn. He has taught and researched a wide range of topics in the places where people and technology mingle. He is an advocate of using the right tool for the job or sometimes none at all, for not everything can be fixed or should be built.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eam0 RG: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eamon-Costello Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eamoncostello?originalSubdomain=ie Website: https://www.dcu.ie/stemeducationinnovationglobalstudies/people/eamon-costello

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

[1] Fawns, T. (2022). An Entangled Pedagogy: Looking Beyond the Pedagogy—Technology Dichotomy. Postdigital Science and Education, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-022-00302-7

[2] Gourlay, L., Littlejohn, A., Oliver, M., & Potter, J. (2021). Lockdown literacies and semiotic assemblages: academic boundary work in the Covid-19 crisis. Learning, Media and Technology, 46(4), 377-389. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1900242

[3] Brach, T. (2012). Radical Acceptance: Awakening the Love that Heals Fear and Shame. London: Random House.

Costello, E., Welsh, S., Girme, P., Concannon, F., Farrelly, T., & Thompson, C. (2022). Who cares about learning design? Near future superheroes and villains of an educational ethics of care. Learning, Media and Technology, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2022.2074452

Gently down the stream(ing): Can digital literacy help turn the tide on the climate crisis? 

Gently down the stream(ing): Can digital literacy help turn the tide on the climate crisis? 

by | ESAI, NW 16 ICT in Education and Training, NW 30 Environmental and Sustainability Education Research, ESER, NW 6 Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures

The ubiquitous availability of digital content and web services has transformed the way we live, work, and learn (List et al., 2020). Technology provides us with tools to manage and accomplish work, content to entertain us, and applications to document, store and share our lives online. It is within this context that digital literacy features prominently in policy documentation and educational literature, recognising digital literacy as an essential skill for 21st-century living (Pérez-Escoda et al., 2019). However, as we stand on the precipice of climate disaster, is it time for digital literacy to focus its attention on the impact our increasing digital activity has on the environment?

Environmental impact of users’ digital lives

In education circles, conversations around the impact of educational technology on our environment have begun in earnest (Facer & Selwyn, 2021), however, this is less evident regarding the use of digital content and tools in our day-to-day lives. The usage of streaming services, for example, has soared in recent years and while providers such as Netflix have improved efficiencies in these services, their carbon footprint is still significant (Stephens et al., 2021).

Our music consumption habits have also shifted away from physical media, but overall greenhouse gas emissions from storing and distributing music online have doubled since 2000 (Brennan, 2019). Social media activity continues to increase at a remarkable pace, and a significant carbon cost (Perrin, 2015), and popular apps like TikTok and Reddit have a disproportionately large carbon footprint. Our regular scrolling of ‘news feeds’ contributes carbon emissions equivalent to a short light vehicle journey, per person, per day (Derudder, 2021).

This online activity, coupled with our desire to store data in the cloud, means data centres account for 1% of the global energy demand (Obringer et al., 2021). The continued desire for the latest phone is also costing more than our wallets, with the environmental impact of the device lifecycle being well documented (MacGilchrist et al., 2021). Current figures suggest that over half of consumers in many EU countries renew their devices every 18 – 24 months.

In our work environment, too, our digital impact must be acknowledged. While conferencing platforms such as Zoom come with great environmental benefits when compared with face-to-face meetings and conferences, further efficiencies can be achieved by challenging ‘camera on’ policies. A seemingly innocuous task like sending 65 text emails can cost as much carbon as a short car journey, and when factors such as attachments are considered, the cost is even higher (Duncan, 2022). This snapshot reveals just some of the impacts of our digital lives, some of which our students are unaware of.

Current focus of digital literacy and digital literacy frameworks

An acknowledgment of the need to develop our students’ digital literacy has existed since Gilster (1997) first coined the term and defined it as “the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of [digital] sources”.

Definitions of digital literacy have remained remarkably consistent in the decades that followed, focusing on the ability to source, evaluate and use digital information. In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis on content creation and communicating using digital channels. However, academic definitions of digital literacy lack any real focus on the environmental cost of our digital activities. In fact, there is little evidence of this aspect of digital literacy being discussed in academic literature.

There are many digital literacy frameworks available to help academics and other users understand digital literacy and its competencies. Only the UNESCO and DigiComp frameworks refer to the environmental impact of technologies and their use, and this is nestled under the ’digital safety’ strand. The range of digital literacy frameworks (e.g. DigiComp, UNESCO, JISC) and volume of journal publications suggests that academics and policymakers are committed to the development of digital literacy, however, it appears that the impact of our digital lives on the environment has been largely left out of the debate. 

Shifting our focus

Calls for action to avert a climate catastrophe are becoming more strident. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report (2022) paints a very troubling picture regarding the widespread and severe impacts of climate change. We must act now. We must adapt our practices and become more sustainable in everything we do.

I believe we can refocus our attention on digital literacy to guide our students to being more critical users of technology and understanding its impact on our world. Using familiar language and strategies, we might encourage students to identify their current digital activities and analyse their carbon footprint, before evaluating areas where improvements can be made. Students could be encouraged to construct new meaning from their investigations by capturing trends associated with work, study and social practices, and communicating these findings with a wider audience.

This shift in focus is essentially a repurposing of what we already ask our students to do with regard to digital content, but targeted at addressing the authentic and urgent issue of climate change. While frameworks such as DigiComp and UNESCO should be commended for including environmental impact, further development of this area should be encouraged.

Digital literacy frameworks should provide a detailed scaffold which encourages a multidimensional understanding of digital tools, their impact on the environment, and consideration of actions that can be taken to affect change. Developing this aspect of digital literacy would increase students’ awareness of the ‘cost’ of technology and promote a more critical use of the tools and services they use in their day-to-day lives.

Conclusion

The coming years present major challenges for society to tackle the climate emergency. It is crucial that we shift our mindset and begin to understand the impact our actions have on the environment, and make the necessary changes to recalibrate our relationship with nature.

Changes are required in all aspects of our lives, from energy and waste, to the provision and rewilding of natural spaces. While a refocussing of digital literacy and digital competencies in this way is not the panacea to the situation, it can act as a move in the right direction, one more component of our lives where we begin to understand and address our toll on the environment.

The post is an abridged version of an article in the upcoming (October 2022) issue of the Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy

Key Messages

Society’s use of digital and online content is increasing

Digital literacy is recognised as a set of competencies for this digital world

Our day-to-day use of technology has an environmental impact

Digital literacy definitions and frameworks largely ignore the environmental impact

We should begin including environmental impact in our digital literacy definitions, frameworks, and discussions

Other blog posts on similar topics:

Dr Peter Tiernan

Dr Peter Tiernan

Assistant Professor in Digital Learning and Research Convenor for the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies in the Institute of Education at Dublin City University.

Peter is an Assistant Professor in Digital Learning and Research Convenor for the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies in the Institute of Education at Dublin City University. He lectures in the areas of digital learning, digital literacy and entrepreneurship education. His current research focuses on digital literacy at post-primary and further education level as well as entrepreneurship education for third level lecturers and pre-service teachers.

Peter was shortlisted for the DCU President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2021.

Find Peter on Twitter.

References and Further Reading

A framework of pre-service teachers’ conceptions about digital literacy: Comparing the United States and Sweden https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360131519303380

Dimensions of digital literacy based on five models of development (Pérez-Escoda et al., 2019) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11356405.2019.1603274

Digital technology and the futures of education – towards ‘non-stupid’ optimism (Facer & Selwyn, 2021) https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377071″>https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377071

Carbon impact of video streaming (Stephens et al., 2021), https://prod-drupal-files.storage.googleapis.com/documents/resource/public/Carbon-impact-of-video-streaming.pdf

MUSIC CONSUMPTION HAS UNINTENDED ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS (Brennan, 2019) https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2019/april/headline_643297_en.html

Social Media Usage: 2005-2015
65% of adults now use social networking sites – a nearly tenfold jump in the past decade (Perrin, 2015) https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015/

What is the environmental footprint for social media applications? 2021 Edition (Derudder, 2021) https://greenspector.com/en/social-media-2021/

The overlooked environmental footprint of increasing Internet use (Olbringer et al., 2021) ​https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344920307072?via%3Dihub

Shifting scales of research on learning, media and technology, (Mcgilchrist, et al, 2021) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439884.2021.1994418

Text Messaging & Emails Generate Carbon Emissions (Carbon Footprint), (Duncan, 2021) https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/reduce-carbon-footprint/texts-emails/

A Global Framework of Reference on Digital Literacy Skills for Indicator 4.4.2 http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/ip51-global-framework-reference-digital-literacy-skills-2018-en.pdf

Digicomp https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/digcomp_en

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report https://www.ipcc.ch

Featured Image Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Results from a Survey on Post-Primary Teachers’ Experiences with Calculated Grading during COVID-19

Results from a Survey on Post-Primary Teachers’ Experiences with Calculated Grading during COVID-19

by | ESAI, NW 9 Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement

In May 2020, as a result of Covid-19, the high stakes assessment at the end of post-primary education in Ireland (the Leaving Certificate Examination – LCE) was cancelled replaced by a system of calculated grades. In documentation sent to schools, the Department of Education and Skills (DES) made it clear that a calculated grade would result from the combination of two data sets:

  • an overall percentage mark and ranking in each subject awarded to each student by their teacher (the school-based estimation process)
  • data on past performance of students in each school and nationally (the standardisation process)

Following the issuing of results to students and the completion of the appeals process, an online questionnaire survey was conducted in the final months of 2020 by researchers at the Institute of Education, Dublin City University, with the aim of investigating how teachers’ engaged with the calculated grades process in their schools.  Data from a total of 713 respondents were used in a report published by the Centre for Assessment Research, Policy and Practice in Education (CARPE) on April 15th 2021. This report is now available to download from www.dcu.ie/carpe.  The following are some highlights from this report.

 

Assessment Evidence Used

Teachers considered many different types of formative and summative assessments when estimating mark and ranks for their students. Particularly important were final year exams prior to lockdown (98%) and final year continuous assessments (92%). Four out of every five teachers indicated that knowledge of how previous students had performed in the LC influenced their decision-making.  Significantly, 88% said that formative assessments were important also. One respondent noted:

Personally, I feel very competent in assigning the predicted grades to my LC students in 2020 since I had assessed their performance in detail over a 2-year period…. Each exam/ portfolio/homework was assigned a weighting and a record of their performance updated to our Schoology platform. Students could readily assess their own progress over this period and all this data enabled a solid predicted grade for each student.

 

Teachers’ Reflections on the School-Based Estimation Process

At least 90% of teachers indicated that they were able to apply the DES calculated grades guidelines strictly when estimating marks and ranks for the majority of their students. However, some reported experiencing difficulties in adjudicating marks at grade boundaries.  For example, 61% said that they gave 5% or more of their students the benefit of the doubt and gave them a mark that moved them above a grade boundary, with 21% saying that they should have awarded a failing mark but didn’t.  One-third of respondents said that they awarded a higher mark for 5% or more of their students because they thought the national standardisation process might bring the student’s grade down.  While 73% said that the moderation process to align grades within their schools worked well, 26% reported raising a mark and 17% lowering a mark following engagement in the process. Significantly, the vast majority of teachers (92%) felt that the marks they awarded were fair.

 

Other Reflections

One in three respondents added commentary at the end of the questionnaire, with many focusing on the stress brought about by the fact that they lived in the same small communities as the students they were grading. Many identified parents, school management, media and politicians as sources of the pressure they felt.  One teacher expressed it thus:

I believe that while it would be ok for more teacher involvement in urban centres, the nature of rural and small town Ireland made the entire process very uncomfortable and I am sure that teachers will feel the rippling exponential impact of this for some time.

A number of events that transpired following the submission of school data to the DES were also highlighted as problematic.  The fact that the DES provided students with their rank order data came as a surprise to teachers and caused great disquiet. The removal, in late August, of school historical data from the standardisation process, following controversy about its use for calculated grades in the UK, was a source of great annoyance, especially among those working in high achieving schools. That said, some teachers noted that calculated grades had been an acceptable option in the context of a pandemic and that many students benefited from the fact that the grades awarded in 2020 were the highest ever.

 

Conclusion

The implementation of calculated grades in Ireland was a historic event as, for the first time since the introduction of the LCE in 1924, post-primary teachers engaged in the assessment of their own students for certification purposes. While difficulties arose, all those involved worked diligently to ensure that the class of 2020 could progress in their education and/or careers.  In 2021, Irish teachers will be asked to engage in a similar process while at the same time they will be preparing their students to take the traditional LC examinations.  The plan is that the two assessment systems will run side-by-side, and students will be given the option of choosing their best result in each subject.  Our hope is that findings from this survey will be useful to all those responsible for overseeing and implementing this challenging task.

References and Further Reading

Doyle, A., Z. Lysaght and M. O’Leary. 2021. Preliminary Findings from a Survey of Post- Primary Teachers Involved in the Leaving Certificate 2020. Calculated Grades Process in Ireland. Dublin: Centre for Assessment, Research, Policy and Practice in Education (CARPE), Dublin City University. Accessed April 15, 2021. https://www.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/inline-files/calculated_grades_2020_preliminary_findings_v2_2.pdf

Doyle, A., Lysaght, Z., & O’Leary, M. 2021. High stakes assessment policy implementation in the time of COVID-19: The case of calculated grades in Ireland. Irish Educational Studies, 40. DOI: 10.1080/03323315.2021.1916565 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03323315.2021.1916565 

Prof. Michael O'Leary,

Prof. Michael O'Leary,

Prometric Chair in Assessment, School of Policy and Practice, Institute of Education, Dublin City University

Michael O’Leary holds the Prometric Chair in Assessment at Dublin City University where he also directs the Centre for Assessment Research, Policy and Practice in Education (CARPE). He leads a programme of research at CARPE focused on assessment across all levels of education and in the workplace.

Dr. Audrey Doyle

Dr. Audrey Doyle

Assistant Professor, School of Policy and Practice, Institute of Education, Dublin City University

Audrey Doyle is an assistant professor in the School of Policy and Practice in DCU. A former second-level principal of a large all-girls post-primary school in Dublin, she achieved her Ph.D. in Maynooth University in 2019. She now lectures on curriculum and assessment across a diversity of modules in DCU, contributing to the Masters in Leadership and the Doctorate in Education.

Dr. Zita Lysaght

Dr. Zita Lysaght

Assistant Professor, School of Policy and Practice, Institute of Education, Dublin City University

Zita Lysaght is a member of the School of Policy and Practice and a Research Associate and member of the Advisory Board and Advisory Panel of CARPE at DCU. She coordinates and teaches classroom assessment and research methodology modules on undergraduate, masters and doctoral programmes and directs and supervises a range of research and doctoral projects.