Research and Practice Seminar

Online Booking now closed. We are very happy to welcome you if you want to come on the day!!

Did you know about the Research and Practice Seminar on the Friday of our Conference? This ambitious event has attracted huge interest from practitioners and researchers alike. On the day we will have 18 exciting and diverse sessions on topics including School Readiness to Outdoor Play, and from Aistear, Siolta and the ECCE scheme to Children with Additional Needs.

Get the latest insights into what your peers are doing in their practice. See below for a full list of the sessions available on the day. We have picked out a few sessions you may be interested in to give you a taster of what will be happening on the day.

Each session will last 1 hour and include 3 presentations each lasting 15 minutes with 15 minutes at the end for Q&A. For more information and to book click here:

https://www.earlychildhoodireland.ie/events/play-on-the-brain-2-day-conference-agm/

Session A2: School Readiness

Chair:  Marlene McCormack

Dr. Mary Moloney will speak about parental perspectives on school readiness and their concerns about their child upon starting school. Dr. Maire Mhic Mhathuna will examine concepts of school readiness among parents and educators in Ireland. Also, Siobhan Keegan will look at Aistear as a unifying mechanism across the early years and primary schools: what it could mean for children and their transition to school.

Session A6: Outdoor Play                                       

Chair:  Carol Duffy

Gretta Murphy will speak on the use of outdoor spaces to enhance learning opportunities in early childhood care and education centres. Deirdre McGrath and Catherine Kennedy will speak about the Value of Outdoor Risky Play in Preschools in Ireland: Practitioners’ Perspectives. And Carol Duffy will examine a longitudinal case study exploring the impact of outdoor affordances on a child’s development.

Session A7: Aistear, Siolta and the ECCE Scheme

Chair:  Kathleen Tuite

Aoife B. Prendergast will discuss enabling Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education. Evelyn Reilly will speak about What’s ‘Free’ about ECCE: An investigation into the impact of the universal ‘free’ pre-school programme and Siolta on early childhood practice in Carlow. And Maire Corbett, Dr. Mary Daly and Sandra O’Neill will take us through the Aistear Siolta Practice Guide.

Session B1: Children with Special Educational Needs

Chair:  Annette Kearns

Dr. Judith Butler will speak about the professionalisation of the Special Needs Assistant in Ireland. Mag Coogan will speak about children, inclusivity and special educational needs. Fiona Hassett will explore the factors that support and hinder the transition to mainstream school for children with special educational needs.

Session B8: Children’s Views on Play and Pre-School

Chair:  Rita Melia

Martina Carter looks at a Consultation on Play Environments at a Preschool. Leah Russell looks at the role of war, weapon and superhero play in early childhood education. And Donna Tobin explores Children’s Perceptions of Happiness and Factors Contributing to Happiness in the Pre-School Environment.

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Programme:

We are delighted to have Dr. Anne-Marie Brooks, the new Principal Officer at the DCYA open the afternoon Research Seminar. She will be followed by Dr. Colette Gray, a Developmental Psychologist at Stranmillis University College focussing on the role of research in early childhood.

13:00 Registration

13:30 Welcome

14:15 Research Seminars – Parallel Sessions A

15:15 Coffee Break

15:45 Research Seminars – Parallel Sessions B

16:45 Close

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