Education
Welcome
St Patrick's College is a national institution which has a long tradition in educating teachers for the primary school sector.
Our programmes
The College runs twenty programmes in education and humanities at undergraduate and postgraduate level including two in initial teacher education for the primary sector: the Bachelor of Education; and the Graduate Diploma in Education. The BEd programme has recently undergone a significant transition from a three-year model to the newly conceptualised four-year BEd which will commence in September 2012.
We have a distinguished record in providing continuing professional development for teachers and offer certified courses in a number of subjects at inservice level as well as a range of degrees in the area of special education. We have hosted the National Induction Project for Teachers since its inception in 2002 (as the National Pilot Project on Teacher Induction).
We also offer a taught Master of Education with a wide range of special options, including inter alia literacy, mathematics education, science education, early childhood education, educational disadvantage, assessment for teaching and learning, digital learning and special educational needs. It also includes a range of options which have a blended mode of delivery (online and on-campus), including teaching and learning (online), history, geography and local studies (blended) and human rights and citizenship education (blended).
In recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on the development of doctoral programmes in education. In 2005 the College initiated a taught Doctorate in Education, which was the first of its kind in Ireland. Taught predominantly by staff from the Faculty of Education in St Patrick's College, it includes among its teaching staff a range of international scholars such as Professor Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Professor Larry Ludlow and Professor Jimmy Spillane. The EdD is now in its third cohort and has developed a strong reputation for quality of teaching and supervision and for its focus on key areas of education.
The College offers research degrees in Education at masters and doctoral level. Currently, it has 19 PhD students in Education, including two funded PhD fellows.
Projects
- Write to Read
- Be Active ASAP
- TeachNet
- Fibonacci Project (2009-2012)
- Towards a Lifelong Learning Society in Europe (LLL2010)
- Empowering Minds (1998 - to date)
- Education for a Just World
Partnerships and Collaborations
Staff are engaged in a range of initiatives including:
- North South Student Teacher Exchange Project (SCoTENS)
- Capacity building in teacher education at the University of Prishtina, Prizren, Kosovo
- ICEPE Europe: Special and Inclusive Inservice Education for Teachers
- B.Sc. (Psych) degree offered through the School of Nursing DCU and in collaboration
- with DCU Business School and School of Health & Human Performance. St Patrick's
- College, which has a long tradition in psychology teaching and research, is responsible
- for the Child Development, Life-Span Developmental Psychology and Educational
- Psychology Strands.
Relevant links
Centre for the Advancement of Science Teaching and Learning (CASTel)
This centre brings together mathematics and science educators, scientists and mathematicians from DCU and St Patrick's College with a view to improving teaching and learning across all levels of education,
Educational Disadvantage Centre
Opened in November 2001, the Centre's mission is to contribute to the shaping of primary teacher education with the aim of breaking the cycle of educational disadvantage. The Centre contributes to best policy practice nationally and internationally and is also actively engaged in a range of projects and programmes.
Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education
The centre's focus is the development of education for human rights, citizenship and democracy in schools through research, resource development and teacher education. It is an initiative of St. Patrick's College in collaboration with external partners, including Amnesty International (Irish Section).
Membership is made up of an interdisciplinary group of scholars at St Patrick's College whose teaching and research interests converge on issues related to the development of human beings and societies over time and across local and global contexts.
In addition to its engagement with initial and post-graduate teacher education, the Unit works collaboratively with schools, communities and other organisations to promote best practice in language and literacy. It has a range of national and international research projects and makes a strong contribution to policy at national level.
The Unit works collaboratively with schools, communities and other organisations to promote best practice in mathematics teaching and learning. It promotes leadership, innovation and an on-going engagement with mathematics. It has a growing programme of research and is engaged in mathematics education across the continuum of teacher education.
In 1966 the Education Research Centre (ERC) was established on the College campus under the management of the College. The ERC revolutionised Irish educational research, providing rigorous evaluation of the sector, informing the direction of government policy, monitoring national standards and developing national assessment instruments.
In 1961 the College established its Special Education Department which has helped shape policy and practice in the area of special educational needs over the past half century.
Last Updated: Wednesday May 15 2013
