Three new education projects have been awarded funding under the partnership between the Shared Island unit in the Department of the Taoiseach and the Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South (SCoTENS).
A call for research on the theme of “How we teach: acknowledging, understanding and learning with others and from others on a shared island” was issued in late 2021 with funding of up to €25,000 per project available. Projects are North-South research partnerships, with contributions from international experts, which will undertake action-based research on enhancing understanding across communities through education.
The three projects which have been awarded funding are:
- SRASI: Shared Responsibility Across a Shared Island: Teaching social justice in initial teacher education – led by Prof. Ann MacPhail, University of Limerick, and Dr. Paul Mc Flynn, Ulster University, Coleraine. This project will develop and share, through practitioner research, a teaching approach to social justice across the initial teacher education programmes in UL and UU.
- CRiTERiA: Cultural Responsivity in Teacher Education: Research in Action – led by Dr. Patricia Eaton, Stranmillis University College, Belfast, and Dr. Martin Brown and Dr. Paddy Shevlin, Dublin City University, in collaboration with Dr. Manuela Heinz, National University of Ireland, Galway, and Prof. Joanne Hughes, Queen’s University Belfast. This project will work with teacher educators and student teachers to design and develop an Open Access Online course (for teachers of all levels of experience, including student teachers) to enhance culturally responsive educational skills and competencies, recognising that teaching takes place in culturally diverse learning environments. This Open Access Online course will benefit education professionals on the island of Ireland and internationally.
- EDUCATE: Educating about Difference Uniting Classrooms and Teacher Education – led by Dr. Patricia Kieran, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, and Dr. Stephen Roulston, Ulster University, Coleraine, in collaboration with Dr. Emer Nowlan, Sandra Irwin Gowran and Vera Shanahan, Educate Together, Séamus Conboy and Megan Whyte, Education and Training Boards Ireland, Cliodhna Scott-Wills, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, and Dr. Matthew Milliken, Ulster University, Coleraine. This project will equip primary school initial teacher education students with the teaching skills, knowledge, and resources to explore and teach, in diverse primary classrooms, about respect for identity, difference, and fostering mutual understanding.
The project teams will publish their reports in September 2023, and their findings will contribute to enhanced understanding and professional and policy development, on a shared island basis, and internationally.
Co-chairs of SCoTENS, Dr. Maria Campbell and Dr. Gabrielle Nig Uidhir added, “These new projects are an exciting next step in the Shared Island-SCoTENS research partnership programme. They are providing an opportunity to enhance cooperation and collaboration between teachers and educators across the island of Ireland by bringing together leading national and international experts.
“We were particularly pleased to see so many diverse and high-quality projects applying for the funding, which is further evidence of the appetite that exists for increased North-South collaboration on important education issues across this island. It is through sharing ideas and learning from each other’s experiences that we will deliver the best outcomes for our students.
“We have no doubt that these three important research projects addressing “How we teach: acknowledging, understanding and learning with others and from others on a shared island” will provide valuable insights for educators North, South, and beyond. We would like to wish the successful awardees well as they begin their work”.
Click HERE to find out more from the project partners.
Find out more about the Projects below: