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.
The presentation for this year’s John Coolahan Award was made by Professor Noel Purdy, Director of Research and Scholarship; Director of CREU (the Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement); and Head of Education Studies at Stranmillis University College Belfast. The award was presented to the authors of the Seed Funding Report, recognized for aligning with the values and ideals of SCoTENS. This year’s successful team included Dr. Michelle Fitzpatrick from Mary Immaculate College, Beverley McCormick from Ulster University, and Dr. Mairead Holden from Trinity College Dublin for their project “ExISTeNS: Exploring Integration of STEM with Teachers North and South.”
