News & Announcements
EDFEST 23: A celebration of 25 years of Early Childhood Education in UCC under the stewardship of the School of Education, the School of Applied Psychology and the School of Applied Social Studies.
EDFEST 23, held this year on April 20th, combined an afternoon of presentations to the staff of our partner and placement schools and Early Years settings with the official opening of the Outdoor Teaching and Learning area at Fernhurst on O’Donovan’s Road. The main purpose of this combined event was to acknowledge the support provided to our students on placement and to provide a professional learning opportunity in UCC for the staff of these placement settings.
Professor Chris Williams performed the official opening of the Outdoor Teaching and Learning area. The key contributions of Dr Vanessa Rutherford, Dr Stephen O Brien and Dr Joao Costa to the development of this facility was acknowledged as was the contribution of Michael O’Sullivan, formerly of Buildings and Estates in UCC, the UCC grounds staff and Silva Build for their construction work. The contribution of our own Early Years colleagues Marcella Towler and Dr Maura Cunneen was also acknowledged as this very valuable outdoor resource reflects the theory practice link for students.
Following a light lunch, the more formal presentations of EDFEST 23, based around the theme of ‘Early Years Curricular Ideology and Implementation: Aistear and the Draft Primary School Curriculum Framework’, took place in the Dr. Dora Allman room on the main campus. These presentations included Professor Kathy Hall of the School of Education UCC speaking to Curriculum in the Early Years: Consequences for Children and Childhood. This was followed by Dr Jacqueline Fallon, Director of Curriculum, NCCA speaking to Making connections: Aistear and the Primary Curriculum Framework. Dr Maura Cunneen and Marcella Towler, EYCS School of Education UCC, completed the afternoon’s presentations with The Early Years Journey: to Infinity and Beyond.
EDFEST is the core initiative of the School of Education Community Engagement Committee.