EdFest 24 took place in the School of Education on the 24^th of April 2024. EdFest is a Community Engagement Seminar organised by the School of Education for schools and the wider education community.

The Praxis Project hosted another interesting workshop which took place on Friday 19th and Tuesday 23rd of April. "The Elephant in the Room" workshop was aimed at staff and students who came together to work on the start of what is a longer-term research project relating to racism in higher education.

The School of Education witnessed an impressive display of student-led initiatives as part of the course UW0012 in Global Citizenship and Development Education. This course, open to students from all disciplines and academic levels, is now in its sixth year and as always, is very popular with students

In an insightful and participative keynote event held on April 16th, 2024, during the university's annual Praxis Week, Caoimhe de Barra, CEO of Trócaire and a notable figure in global social justice, captivated both students and faculty with her discussion on the transformative power of Development Education in higher education settings.

On April 12, 2024, New Avenues to Teaching (NAT) and UCC Access organized an "Inclusive free/built-in technologies to make reading, writing, teaching & learning easier" workshop, as part of Cork Lifelong Learning Festival 2024. Educators from the School of Education and other Schools from the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences gathered at University College Cork's Western Gateway Building to experiment with the apps and the digital tools accessible on our devices. The workshop was moderated by Dr Camelia Nadia Bran and facilitated by Deirdre Madden.

Well done to Dr Fiona Chambers and colleagues on the recent publication of their new edited book.

This innovative book presents a new framework for researchers in the field of physical education and youth sport. By examining the complex interplay between values, voice and ethics within the research process, it showcases how the CREATE Principles for Research Design can facilitate meaningful research with/for children and young people.

The School of Education have recently launched a new podcast entitled “Praxis in Motion: teachers and researchers in dialogue”.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Further, Adult and Community Education will have its first intake in September 2024. The course is custom built for teachers in the Further, Adult and Community Education sector to enable them to meet the needs of their students.

The programme was professionally accredited by the Teaching Council in July 2023. It will equipe students with the knowledge, skills and professional attitudes and values required to teach in a variety of settings in the Further Education sector such as Youthreach, PLC programmes, Further Education Colleges, Training Centres, Private Training Companies and broader Adult and Community Education settings. 

Further information about the programme can be found at: https://www.ucc.ie/en/ace-pdface/

Congratulations to our colleague Dr Declan Kennedy who recently received a ‘Long Service Award’ from UCC for 25 years’ service.

Staff at the School of Education and the wider UCC community were deeply saddened to learn of the recent death of Dr Mary Barry Wall, former Head of the School of Education. Mary first came to UCC as a student, where she evolved her love of languages, particularly French. Upon completing her studies, Mary returned to her alma mater, St Aloysius Secondary School, Cork, to teach. In the early 1960s, she interviewed for and was offered a position as College Lecturer in the Education Department and began a long and distinguished career at UCC.