Graduation 2006

 

The St Patrick’s College/DCU Graduation ceremonies were held in the College on 11-12 November.   This year’s graduation was one of the  largest in the 131 year history of the College, both in terms of student numbers and the range of programmes. In four ceremonies, over two days, 827 students  graduated from 17 different programmes.  Some details of these programmes are provided below.

In his graduation address, the College President touched on the value of active citizenship and the challenges for education of the new multi-cultural Ireland.

• The B.Ed degree is far and away the largest College programme: the graduates from this course teach the children of today and tomorrow.  Cumulatively, over an average teaching career, the lives of more than half a million children will be touched by the B.Ed class of 2006. 

• The Graduate diploma in primary teaching provides an important route in teaching for graduates from other disciplines.  These graduates bring a range of experiences and skills which enrich the College and greatly benefit Irish schools, Irish children and the teaching profession.  The College is committed to the ongoing development of this programme.  

• The Certificate in Religious Studies is a requirement for teaching in Catholic schools. This year, the College graduated for the first time our first group of students who have participated in the Certificate in Religious Studies on a part-time basis. The part-time delivery of this programme is particularly attractive to teachers who have earned their primary teaching qualification in the UK and elsewhere.

• The Graduate Diplomas in Learning Support and in Special Education are long standing programmes taught by the Department of Special Education in the College.   This year also sees the second cohort of graduates from the professional Masters in Special Education and the Graduate Certificate in the Education of Pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.  Sadly, this year marks the end of the Learning Support Course  which was the successor to the remedial course initiated in 1973.  However the Special Education Department is not ending its commitment to the training of LS teachers. This year  marks the start of a New Graduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs which will provide training for all teachers with specific responsibility for pupils with SEN.  This new course is an innovation in the training of special education teachers in Ireland  not only because, for the first time, all teachers with specific special education responsibilities will be training together, but because it includes a number of specialist pathways to meet the diverse needs of these teachers. These these pathways include one for teachers of pupils with moderate severe and profound general learning disabilities.  This is a most welcome development which builds on the tradition of induction courses for this category of teachers which were started when these children first began to come into education in Ireland.

• The BA in Humanities draws on the traditions of the College in the area of Humanities and has in turn contributed a great deal to the cultural, social and intellectual enrichment of the College in the last decade.  A welcome feature of the programme is that 25% of the places on the programme are reserved for mature and second chance learners, a group whose presence we value and from whose life experience we benefit enormously. 

• The College sees its role in the continuing professional development of teachers as an important one that manifests its view of teacher education as comprising a spectrum which includes  initial, induction and inservice.  The Certificate and Diploma in Education is part of a flexible, modular structure.  Graduands have pursued studies in a range of areas of significant need in the wider education system including science, digital learning, visual arts, mathematics and mentoring. These programmes which are supported by the DES combined College based delivery and distance learning and involved partnerships which are representative of some of the many partnerships and collaborations that the College has established with various institutions in recent years. In this case the partnerships were with  Donegal Education Centre,  Kilkenny Education Centre, Letterkenny IoT, Dundalk IOT and NCTE. 

• The diploma in mentoring has been developed as part of the National Pilot Project on Teacher Induction which assists newly qualified teachers in their first crucial year in the classroom. The additional studies towards the Diploma in Education that the mentor teachers have embarked on is also acknowledged in today’s ceremony.

• The graduates of the taught and research masters in Arts and Education and the doctoral programme are part of a growing community of postgraduate scholars in the College.  Among the M.Ed students graduating were two Kellogg research scholars who have completed research degrees on nutrition and education  Significant expansion of  post-graduate research is a  national priority need.  The College is committed to making an enhanced contribution in meeting these needs in the area of education and humanities. 

• The Graduate Diploma in advanced Educational Studies, and the taught and research Masters in Education reflect the growing reputation of the College as a centre of postgraduate studies and research, a welcome development in recent years. 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: Wednesday November 15 2006