Professor Deborah Robinson, University of Derby & Dr. Lisha O’Sullivan, Mary Immaculate College
Presentation on 'Stakeholder views on the NCSE - initial findings from an independent evaluation of the NCSE frontline services' by Professor Deborah Robinson, University of Derby & Dr. Lisha O’Sullivan, Mary Immaculate College
Deborah Robinson is a Professor of Special Educational Needs, Disability, and Inclusion at the University of Derby. Deborah began her career working in an Inner London primary school in the 1980s, and her first class included children with disabilities. This was because the Local Authority had implemented a progressive policy of inclusion. Deborah worked as a SEND Co-ordinator and Deputy Principal with leadership focused on inclusion. She has worked as a teacher educator for SEND and inclusion for many years and her specialist research has teacher education for SEND and inclusion. Her more recent research has investigated school leadership for inclusion and SEND in collaboration with 62 schools in the City of Derby. She directed an in-depth evaluation of Ireland’s Access and Inclusion Model for the DCEDIY. Research on policies for SEND have also included an evaluation of Education Health and Care Plans for the DfE, and Statutory Assessment for pupils with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties. Her most recent publications include a Special Issue of the British Journal of Learning Difficulties, focused on how education may catalyse social inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities.
Lisha O’Sullivan is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education and Head of the Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick. Lisha is a qualified play therapist and has extensive experience working with children and young people across education, community-based and therapeutic contexts. Lisha teaches on the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Care and Education (BAECCE) and the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programmes at MIC. Lisha’s research interests include: the role of play in children’s development; playful teaching and learning; inclusive pedagogical approaches; participatory research methods; teachers as researchers. Lisha has been involved in a number of research projects in the area of inclusive education including: the Universal Design Guidelines for Early Learning and Care Settings (CEUD, NDA and DCYA), the Evaluation of In-School and Early Years Therapy Support Demonstration Project (NCSE), and the End of Year Three Evaluation of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM).
For more information on the event see https://ncse.ie/research-conference
For more information on the NCSE, see https://ncse.ie