DCU Institute of Education Strategic Plan 2017-2022 September 2018
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DCU Institute of Education Strategic Plan 2017-2022
September 20182
Education for our changing world; unprecedented change, challenge, and
opportunities.
System expansion, diversity and ambition
One of the defining features of the Irish education system is the predicted growth in
demand; by 2021 the most conservative estimates place an additional 60,000 students in
our school system. A commitment has been given to provide a place in Higher Education for
every student who wishes to attend. This demographic pattern is rare in the developed
world and offers many opportunities and competitive advantages to Ireland, over other
countries facing a crisis of funding the cost of an increasingly ‘elderly’ state, costs that far
exceed any costs of keeping a younger population healthy and educated.
This predicted growth is not simply a matter of more of the same; our population is
becoming more diverse; we speak more languages; we align ourselves with more and
different religious and philosophical perspectives; and we are becoming more politically
diverse.
Our young and diverse population may well look to higher education to lead in the
development of new models of civic participation and engagement, and for the
development of new tools for activism and mobilisation.
The growth in scale in our education system is matched by a growth in ambition. The
Department of Education and Skills’ Action Plan for Education 2016-2019 aims to position
Ireland’s education and training system as the best in Europe over the decade ahead. Early
indications are promising; at the end of 2017, the data from the Progress in International
Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) showed that Ireland’s fourth class students were among the
highest performing in the world.
There are risks associated with this growth in demand for higher education. Low cost models
of provision may become attractive to policy-makers and to institutions as a response to
increased demands. Such models may bring new challenges to quality, with increasing
emphasis on achieving the qualification, and less on the ‘student experience’. Private and
for-profit providers will see Ireland’s increasing demand as an opportunity to extend their
reach, and may, in the face of funding challenges for public institutions, come to represent a
new elite in higher education. For teacher education, the risks may be more acute given the
3established relationship between the quality of teachers and the quality of the educational
experience and outcomes of children and young people.
Ambition for the system is not without its drawbacks. As the system strives to meet goals
and targets, there is a risk that the achievement of the target can become the purpose of the
system.
The rise of data
Metricophilia (Smith 2011), an unjustified faith in numerical quantities as having particular
status for evidence, is on the rise. The emergence of new tools for measurement, and the
increasing accessibility of data analytics is likely to accelerate this phenomenon.
Governments and policy-makers are particularly attracted to numerical data, and the field of
contemporary education policy continues to be heavily influenced by the concept of effect
size (in the meta-analytic work of John Hattie for example) and by the data produced by
large scale international test programmes (such as PISA). Despite significant challenges to
the rigour of both meta analyses and international tests, their influence is likely to continue.
For example, Ireland’s Action Plan for Education, contains more numeric targets than any
other kind of indicator for most of the education system. Schools are now required to gather
and report more data than ever before; demand for professional development for teachers
and school leaders in understanding and using data is growing.
Alongside this trend, however there is growing concern that numbers and statistics may not
always be an accurate representation of social realities and processes. In 2016 the polling
data for the US election, and for the Brexit referendum in the UK failed to capture the
intended voting patterns of the electorate. The study of social media, and new kinds of civic
fora is growing in scale and credibility in the social sciences.
Martin Lindstrom’s ‘small data’ theories have found their way into education discourse
through the writings of Pasi Sahlberg who suggests that in embracing the big data from
international tests, school system leaders may be missing the small clues in the complex
relationships of classroom and schools that might be a better guide to improvement. For
those working in educational research, and in the preparation of the next generation of
teachers and leaders, this ‘small-big’ data tension adds to the well-established tensions
between quantitative and qualitative paradigms in social science research.
4Educating in the Post-Truth era.
Chomsky was worried about the role of the media in manufacturing consent; he questioned
who controlled the content. The coming question is less about the control of the content,
but about the control of the content flow. Consent is being manufactured, say contemporary
philosophers, but it is being manufactured by an unwitting citizenry as the algorithms of
many of the platforms we use to share our insights and experiences, ensure that we only
share them with like-minded people.. The media revolution, the hegemony of algorithms,
the internet of things and the ubiquity of connectivity – all of these are already shaping our
interactions with information and knowledge and with each other, and will continue to do
so. Research is starting to document the impact of these trends on the so-called ‘digital
natives’.
Much attention and concern is focused on children and young people in this context, and in
the role of schools and teachers in developing critical and informed engagement with the
content flow. Universities and other higher education institutions have a particular
responsibility to lead in challenging hegemonic thinking and in developing and disseminating
alternative perspectives and futures. DCU’s commitment to teacher education within the
university is significant in that context. Most of those entering teacher education
programmes at the Institute of Education were born in this century. The grew up with
content flow. Supporting the development of their ability to question and critique should be
central university-based teacher education.
Equality
The role of education in offering opportunities and choice is widely supported in Irish and
international educational policy. The Department of Education’s Delivering Equality of
Opportunity Plan aims to enable ‘education to more fully become a proven pathway to
better opportunities for those in communities at risk of disadvantage and social exclusion’.
Much progress has been made in Ireland in this direction, but two challenges remain. The
first is that education has also become a proven pathway to preserve, and even enhance,
intergenerational advantage. The second is that the circumstances of communities and
families with low levels of educational engagement and achievement, are characterised by
multiple indicators of exclusion - ill-health, poor nutrition, higher rates of unemployment
and lower rates of civic participation. Transforming the lives of these families and
communities is a part of the mission of DCU; for those teaching, researching and learning in
the Institute of Education, it is a particular imperative. The teaching workforce in Ireland
5does not reflect the diversity of the student population. We are already playing a part in
developing a more diverse teaching population. Maintaining momentum in this direction will
be important in the medium to longer term.
Teachers; changing identities and expectations
While research about teacher identity is extensive and diverse, most scholars share a view
that teacher identity is shaped by a combination of personal history, professional experience
and political environment, albeit in different measures depending on the theoretical
perspective of the study. In Ireland, as elsewhere, the political environment for teachers and
teaching is becoming increasingly significant in re-shaping teacher identity. The widely-cited
assertion that ‘the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers’
is proving a double-edged sword for teachers in some systems. One the one hand, it has
giving rise to improving pay and conditions for teachers in emerging economies, to greater
attention to and investment in initial and continuing education and raised status for the
teaching profession. For some more developed systems, the increased attention has not
been as benign. Professional autonomy has been replaced by government-designed
frameworks of standards supported by credentialing and regulatory processes, and, in other
systems, by the testing of students and even of teachers themselves. Initial teacher
education continues to be subject to ongoing scrutiny and reform initiatives. A feature of
some of these initiatives continues to be to truncate the period of preparation for teaching,
and/or to decouple it from the university setting to being it more directly under government
direction.
While initial teacher education in Ireland has been subject to external review, and is
relatively tightly regulated (through the requirements for professional registration)
government policy continues to support university-based initial teacher education built
around the three components of academic study, professional practice and research.
However, this is not the only model of ITE available in Ireland, and, as the demographic
trend leads to greater demand for teachers, it seems reasonable that other, less costly,
models of ITE will become increasingly attractive to government, particularly given the wider
challenge of higher education funding.
The irony of any government pressure to deliver more teachers, faster and cheaper is that
the same government, reflecting the expectations of families and communities, expects
6teachers to do more and be more every day. Notable recent developments include new
roles in curriculum planning as central prescription gives way to increasing school autonomy,
and new roles in assessment across early childhood, primary and post-primary education. All
of this work requires sophisticated technical acumen on the part of teachers, as well as a
commitment to professional learning. While the concept of the continuum of teacher
education has rhetorical strength in Ireland, it remains to be seen whether policies and
structures will follow. In 2017/2018 issues in teacher supply for both the primary and post-
primary sectors have generated debate about the attractiveness of teaching as a career.
While the media have reported a ‘crisis’ in teacher supply, applications to initial teacher
programmes have increased. Nonetheless, the discourse around the teaching profession in
Ireland is shifting somewhat, although as yet, the implications of that shift are unclear.
7Mission
To transform lives and societies through education, research, innovation and engagement.
Vision
By 2022, the DCU Institute of Education will be recognised as a global leader in the field of
education, as an innovative provider of teacher education, and as a centre of excellence in
educational research. It will be centrally engaged in transforming the Irish education system and will
be a significant contributor to knowledge creation and policy development across international
education systems, through leadership of and participation in a range of research and policy
networks.
Values
We are committed to
● education as a public good, a human right of individuals and communities and a force for
transformation
● equality and inclusive practice
● social justice and critical global citizenship
● respectful and ethical relationships and the wellbeing of all members of the learning
community
● developing and sustaining partnerships
● curiosity, innovation and engagement
Our Educators
Sharing our values, our graduates will be
• passionate about education and its potential to transform lives and communities
• committed, believing in the potential of every learner
• competent, creative and critical in the design of teaching, learning and assessment in their
chosen field/subject/sector
• open, adaptive, flexible and responsive
• critically reflective in their personal and professional development, and engaged in or with
research
• independent thinkers, contributing to the development of the education system wherever
they work
• engaged in lifelong learning
• open to the opportunities afforded by developments in technology
81. PROVIDE A TRANSFORMATIVE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
Actions Indicators of Success/Progress
1.1 Align and connect Review all our programmes to Review Framework and
ensure that teaching, learning and process agreed and in use for
assessment are aligned, coherent, review and planning for new
and engaging and challenging for programmes
students.
Provide better connections across All undergraduate and post-
programmes for all students graduate students experience
through shared modules, and/or shared modules and/or
workshops. workshops. Some of these are
with other faculties.
Design events that allow for greater
connections and interaction
between students across the full
range of Institute programmes.
Informed by good practice, Our placement arrangements
regulatory requirements and and processes are informed by
research, develop a vision for high the vision of the IoE Educator
quality placement experiences and recognised as such by
across the Institute. Align all students, schools/settings.
placement experiences with They are administratively
common documentation, efficient and reflect the
procedures and feedback loops. partnership between the IoE
and placement settings.
1.2 Gather feedback To ensure that our graduates are Working with DCU Alumni, our
prepared for the changing world of graduate forum will meet at
education, we will establish a least every six months. Insights
graduate forum to provide feedback from the forum will inform the
on the relationship between studies review proposed at 1.1 above.
at the Institute and professional
practice in education and training.
Initiate a programme of research on Programme in place
the relationship between initial underpinned by a sustainable
teacher education and professional funding model led by a
practice, beginning with Gaeilge. Professor of Teacher
Education.
1.3 Placement Evaluate the placement experience Cohesive and comprehensive
in all our programmes to ensure policies for placements in such
that it is enriching for students, areas as preparation, support,
9Actions Indicators of Success/Progress
those who mentor them, and for mentoring and development
the settings where they are placed. for both students and tutors,
as well as coordination and
management of placement.
Shared policies and procedures
are also in place on
Lead national and international communication with students
networks for reflection and research on placement issues and on
that supports placement. Increase assessment and feedback.
opportunities for the
internationalisation of placement
102.BUILD A REPUTATION FOR WORLD CLASS RESEARCH
Actions Indicators of Success/Progress
3.1 Build capacity Continue to develop the research 80% of academic staff of the
capacity of staff across the Institute Institute are research active by
through professional development 2022.
seminars and workshops,
participation in international All academic staff have
networks, mentoring and doctoral-level qualifications or
secondment arrangements. are close to completing
doctoral-level studies.
Initiate a Citation Action Plan, which 50% of staff will have a Q1/Q2
includes provision to all staff of journal article or equivalent
training in research and publication high quality publication by
metrics, and altmetrics. 2022.
Create and sustain a community of DCI is ranked for Education in
practice among post-graduate the University rankings.
research students and researchers in
the Institute An increase of 50% in number
of post-grad research students.
Resource and implement a
postgraduate research student and Postgraduate research
post-doctoral researcher professional students and post-doctoral
development strategy, with an fellows/ researchers will have
integrated research dissemination research profiles publicly
and development plan for emerging visible on IOE website/ DCU
research leaders. Research Engine.
Identification of a number of A number of emerging
emerging research leaders amongst research leaders will have
the postgraduate been identified within the
research/researcher/ postdoctoral researcher community in IOE
community, and progression of same and progressed through the
towards academic route in line with ‘development of talent’ action
the action to develop talent within plan.
the broader DCU Strategic plan.
3.2 Enabling structures Provide a semester of research for all All staff have opportunities to
staff within 36 months post-doctoral lead, or contribute to at least
award. one research project or
programme.
Implement agreed sabbatical and
fellowship schemes to support the By 2022 at least 40% of staff
advancement of priority research will have acted as PI or co PI on
areas of IoE, and monitor outcomes a research proposal or project.
11from these initiatives on an ongoing
basis.
The Institute is recognised as a
Support staff and researchers in the global leader in a number of
dissemination of research and other areas of educational research.
published work through media and
social/media
Support the dissemination of By 2022, IoE success in small
research undertaken in taught and large-scale external
undergraduate and post-graduate funding competitions from
programmes. national/EU research funding
frameworks will have doubled.
Appoint a research support
person/grant writer to assist staff in The Institute is recognised as a
submitting research proposals. global leader in a number of
areas of educational research.
Provide additional opportunities for
staff to engage in inter- and multi- The IOE publication profiles
disciplinary research with colleagues will have expanded to include
within and across the faculties in more inter- and multi-
DCU, and colleagues from other disciplinary (innovative)
institutions. research undertaken by IOE
staff, IOE students (including
research at all levels) and
researchers in other
institutions in Ireland and
abroad.
By 2022, IoE success in small
and large-scale external
funding competitions from
national/EU research funding
frameworks will have doubled.
3.3 Set priorities Taking account of the University-wide The review of the IoE research
research prioritisation exercise, the centres/clusters, as agreed in
vision and mission of the Institute, the Incorporation process, is
and emerging policy needs, agree a complete and research
set of rolling priorities across the priorities identified
Institute.
The IOE research priorities
have been identified and
corresponding actions have
been integrated within these
Centres and the Schools of the
Institute.
123.4 Structures and Integrate a fair, transparent and The workload model will show
processes equitable workload model that allows year on year increases in
for meaningful engagement in quality research activity and
research and research-informed outputs by staff (The first
practice by all staff within the IoE, Review of workload model will
reflects the priorities of the begin after pilot year 18/19).
University, and the particular
requirements of Initial Teacher
Education.
3.GROW AND SUSTAIN OUR AMBITIONS
13Actions Indicators of Success/Progress
3.1 Attain a global Benchmark the Institute against The Institute is recognised as
position internationally comparable institutes, one of the leading institutes of
faculties and centres under a range of its kind in the world
headings including staff/student
ratio, research output, structures, Enhanced engagement with
programmes and engagement. international students in place
from inquiry to enrolment to
Working with the International Office, graduation/credit completion.
develop a plan for international Target for recruitment met.
student recruitment, building on
research networks and international
engagement.
Explore the potential for an Strategy in place for
international summer school bringing international visitors/fellows
education researchers and policy- and/or summer school hosted.
makers interested in Ireland’s
education success to DCU.
3.2 Generate income Informed by the University policy, Consultancy policy in place,
develop an Institute of Education supporting local, national and
consultancy policy. international engagements
based on staff areas of
Create a new programme of expertise.
continuing professional development
programmes that support our The Institute’s work is
graduates, support professional reflected in COSAN, the new
development and generate modest national framework for
income. professional development.
3.3 Expand the offering Develop new undergraduate and A range of new programmes
post-graduate programmes in are in place, beginning with an
conjunctions with our international enhanced EdD offering in
networks, and other University September 2018, and a nee
faculties. BEd in Languages in 2019.
144. VALUE AND DEVELOP OUR STAFF COMMUNITY
Actions Indicators of Success/Progress
4.1 Wellbeing Establish a wellbeing plan for Staff wellbeing is included in all
academic and support staff of the considerations of programme
Institute of Education and research development,
and the workload model.
Actively engage with DCU Estates on
the working environment for all staff.
4.2 A welcoming culture Further develop IoE induction We continue to have
programmes for all staff. competitive recruitment for all
posts; post-induction staff
report a strong collegial sense.
Staff joining from international
contexts have opportunities to
opportunities to spend time in
schools/educational settings.
4.3 Flexible working and Support flexible working Staff are supported in the
sabbaticals arrangements for staff, taking pursuit of fellowships,
account of school and team needs. semesters in other institutions,
and in taking annual and other
Develop return-to-work leave entitlements.
arrangements for staff ending periods
of maternity or other extended leave. Flexible family- and commuter-
friendly working is in place for
all staff.
4.4 Connecting Make arrangements for video- Staff are connected with each
conferencing use for University and other and with meetings and
other meetings events at one click.
Develop and support a strategy for A programme of social, cultural
effective meetings and other and professional cross-school
engagements, with policies on events is in place across the
attendance, papers, presentations IoE.
and action planning.
155. NURTURE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
Actions Indicator of Success/Progress
5.1 Design for Ensure that all students across all Feedback from students and
Innovation programmes have opportunities for the graduate forum shows that
problem-based, inquiry-based and these practices are embedded
collaborative learning experiences in learning; student
assessment has developed to
Plan for the engagement of all reflect these practices.
students based on the St Patrick’s
Campus with the new Student Students have opportunities to
Innovation Hub in Glasnevin. engage with the Hub in
Glasnevin and with Hub
activities on all campuses.
5.2 Participate Play a leading role on the Creativity is one of the defining
development of the DCU Institute of features of our graduates,
Creativity reported by employers, and
the graduate forum.
5.3 A cultural Promote the cultural experience of Engagement with the arts is
experience students and staff through part of the experience for all
participation in the Arts and Culture students.
Strategy and the new Cultural
Quarter.
5.4 Language Promote the Irish language and All staff have opportunities to
culture, as areas of national priority in practise and improve Gaeilge.
education, in the context of an
increasingly diverse society where Our programmes promote
culture is seen as dynamic, open and appreciation and sensitivity
subject to change. towards all languages,
including Irish Sign Language.
Lead research in the teaching learning SEALBHÚ (Lárionad Taighde
and assessment of the Irish language DCU um Fhoghlaim agus
through participation in SEALBHÚ Teagasc na Gaeilge (DCU
with FHSS. Research Centre for the
Learning and Teaching of Irish)
is recognised as a leading
centre and the work is
contributing to the teaching
and learning in relevant
programmes.
166. SUSTAINABILITY
Actions Indicator of Success/Progress
6.1 A perspective and a Promote the integration of Sustainability is included in the
focus sustainability as a theme in the Review Framework for all
review of all undergraduate programmes, and has been
programmes to ensure that all integrated in all IoE
students have an opportunity to programmes.
engage in the study of sustainability,
and in sustainability related
engagements.
6.2 A strong foundation Build on the work of the Regional Education for Sustainable
Centre of Expertise in Education for Development is one of the
Sustainable Development, the Centre Institutes research priorities,
for Human Rights and Citizenship and this is evidenced by
Education, and other research numbers of postgraduate
centres within the DCU Institute of research students and post-
Education to establish a programme doctoral research fellows, as
of research in education for well as successful research
sustainable development across the grant applications, within the
full continuum of learning. sphere of ESD
6.3 Work sustainably Promote sustainable work practices Staff working conditions
for all staff. promote wellbeing; the
workload model is transparent
fair and equitable;
achievements are celebrated;
work/life balance is strong.
177. ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR COMMUNITIES
Actions Indicators of Success/Progress
7.1 Maintain and develop engagement There are strong links to the
with the communities associated stakeholders associated with
with the two denominational centres both centres; the centres have
in the Institute of Education. claimed a key role within their
respective traditions.
7.2 Develop an ethical framework for A number of MoU are in place
stakeholder engagement supported supporting a range of
by memoranda of understanding. partnerships that are mutually
beneficial and reflect the
Build on established partnerships overall aims and mission of the
with the local communities in the IoE and DCU.
North Dublin and North City area and
contribute to the development of
educational links between these
communities and DCU
Consolidate existing partnerships
with placement setting communities
and develop new partnerships across
the continuum.
7.3 Identify strategic international Our international engagement
partnerships with institutions and is well-established and adding
organisations and develop these into value to the Institute and to
mutually beneficial arrangements for the partner institutions.
staff and students.
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