Assoc ProfessorDeirdre McGillicuddy

"Education does not change the world. Education changes people. People change the world" (Paulo Freire).

Dr Deirdre McGillicuddy is Associate Professor in Education in UCD School of Education and co-director of the newly established BEd in Education, Gaeilge and/or Modern Languages programme which she conceptualised, designed, developed and implemented in the University. Deirdre has designed, developed and implemented the new Creative Pedagogies, Critical Thinking and Wellbeing module. Her recently published book Educaring from the Heart - How to nurture your wellbeing and rediscover your purpose in education, brings together her experience as a teacher, her research in education and her aspiration for creating change within and across our education systems. At the heart of the book are the principles of care, empathy and compassion as core to nurturing wellbeing, promoting democrative approaches to pedagogy and enhancing creativity in education. She has been invited to deliver keynote presentations to the education communities with invitations from ILSA, Le Chéile, ETB and RP Connect. 

Deirdre has responsibility for teaching across a range of modules in the school relating to creativity, wellbeing, curriculum and assessment, pedagogy, inclusive practices and school placement. She has also taught Research Methodology, Pedagogy, Early Childhood Education Policy and Practice, Development and Intercultural Education, Sociology of Childhood and Children's Rights and Citizenship. 

Deirdre's research is underpinned by the importance of working with and listening to the views of children and young people. She is particularly passionate about inequalities in education which stems from her time working as a primary school teacher in a DEIS school located in one of the most socio-economically challenged areas in the country. Deirdre believes in the transformative power of education not only in expanding the realms of possibility for students, but also in terms of the ripple effect to transform our society. She is particularly passionate about the emancipatory power of education for those most marginalised within our society and education system. Deirdre believes in the power of the relational in education for realising such transformative aspirations for our children and young people underpinned by the critically of ensuring transformational agency to empower teachers and students to respond in a dynamic way to our increasingly diverse and dynamic world.

Her own PhD study, funded by the DCYA scholarship programme (as well as the Irish Research Council and Irish National Teachers Organisation), employed child-friendly methodologies in listening to the views of 100 children aged 7-11 years old on their experience of ability grouping in primary school. She has worked on a number of research projects exploring children and young people’s experience of the education system, their experience of participation and voice in matters concerning them and their participation in longitudinal studies. Deirdre has published nationally and internationally in the area of ability grouping, pedagogy, school and teacher effectiveness, children's rights, marginalised voice(s) and research methodology.

Deirdre is currently exploring the role of creativity in education in her CreatEd research study conducted with teachers working at both primary and post-primary level in the Irish education system. She is also really interested in the intersection of children's rights, pedagogy and creativity in education, exploring this through her CEARTA ( Children Enacting Active Rights Through/In/For eduAction) research. She is currently researching teacher experiences of working with the UNCRC in schools at primary and post-primary level.

Deirdre is passionate about embedding wellbeing in/through/with pedagogy in her lectures. Her Flourish approach was identified as especially innovative when she won both the College of Social Science and Law and the University Teaching Excellence award in 2020. She believes that by building community we create safe spaces to support wellbeing, nurture creativity and build leadership within the education system and beyond. Deirdre is continuing to build her work in this field, connecting creativity, wellbeing and child/youth voice/rights in/through/with pedagogy in her work.

Core to Deirdre's work as an academic are the values of collaboration, teamwork and leadership. She thoroughly enjoys interdisciplinary research and is currently collaborating with UCD School of Medicine on the SOPHIA international consortium (https://imisophia.eu/) looking at developing a more equitable and patient centred approach to obesity treatment and care (€16 million). Deirdre has worked with colleagues across disciplines in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, the Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy & Mental Health Research UCD School of Medicine, School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, and the UCD Innovation Academy. She worked with colleagues across the University to establish and develop the Community Engaged Teaching and Learning (CELT) Community of Practice during the pandemic. She was co-convener of the Rights Education Network (REN) with colleagues in the School of Education, Dr Gabriela Martinez Sainz, School of Law, Assoc Prof Suzanne Egan, and School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, Dr Muireann Ní Raghallaigh.

Deirdre worked with UCD ALL and Dr Hannagh McGinley in exploring the barriers and opportunities to supporting Traveller engagement in Higher Education in Ireland. She currently chairs the cross-institutional PATH 5 Advisory group to assist the UCD Access & Lifelong Learning Centre, Trinity Access Programmes, and RCSI to advise, guide and monitor the joint 3-year PATH 5 funded project that aims to increase Traveller and Roma communities' participation in Higher Education.

She has experience working cross-institutionally with colleagues in UCD, TCD, MIE, NCAD and IADT working in the field of Access to Higher Education resulting in securing funding for a range of creative and innovative projects. She also has experience collaborating with a number of government departments and external bodies including the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA), the Department of Education and Skills (DES), the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the National Parents Council Primary (NPCP).

Deirdre was selected to engage in the UCD THRIVE Leadership in Research programme in 2025.

She was awarded a UCD Teaching Excellence Award in 2020 and a UCD Innovation Fellowship in 2021. 
She was also a finalist in the European Triple E awards as Fast Forward Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year Award 2022.

Gaeilge agus fáilte! Is féidir léi cur i láthair a dheánamh as Gaeilge. 

Deirdre's research interests are in the areas of:

Creativity and Wellbeing in Education
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Educational Disadvantage
Childhood and Children's Rights and Voice in Education
Pedagogy including critical pedagogy
Ability Grouping
Psychosocial Perspectives on Schooling
Participatory Approaches to Research
Children's Voice(s) in Research