In recognition of John’s contribution to the foundation of SCoTENS, the John Coolahan award is made to the authors of the Seed Funding Report which is recognised to be most in line with the values and ideals of SCoTENS. This award is awarded annually at the SCoTENS Annual Conference.
Through his pioneering work on SCoTENS since 2003 John immeasurably enhanced cross-border cooperation in teacher education, such that the SCoTENS mission is synonymous with his name. Thanks to John’s vision, teacher educators, student teachers, serving teachers and doctoral students have learned to work across boundaries, to build bridges and to recognise common interests and challenges facing contemporary education on both sides of the border. The opportunities provided for cross-border working through SCoTENS have yielded new knowledge and understandings that shape daily practices and attitudes.
This year’s John Coolahan Award presentation took place as part of the Research Webinar held in March 2021. Prof Linda Clarke, Ulster University, Coleraine awarded the successful seed funded project Readiness and Practice to Teach and Learn in a Digital World (RAP) to Pamela Cowan, Queen’s University Belfast (Lead Partner: North) Martin Brown, Dublin City University (Lead Partner: South) Stephen Roulston, Ulster University and Rachel Farrell, University College Dublin