Maynooth University

The National University of Ireland Maynooth is one of the four National University of Ireland institutions. It traces its origins to the foundation of the Royal College of St. Patrick in 1795, drawing inspiration from a heritage that includes over 200 years of education and scholarship. With over 15,000 students from more than 100 countries, Maynooth offers a range of programmes at undergraduate, master’s and PhD levels in the humanities, science and engineering, and social sciences, including business, law, and education. The University also offers a range of international programmes and partnerships.

The School of Education is made up of three departments – Adult and Community Education, Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, and the Department of Education. The Department of Education is home to 19.5 full-time academic staff members and 8 administrative staff. There are approximately 622 students across 9 major programmes. Approximately 500 students are studying at the Postgraduate level, from Postgraduate Diplomas to Master’s and Doctoral degrees. The Department has an extensive doctoral level commitment, with 58 pursuing research degrees. Further information on the Department of Education can be found on their website.

The Department of Education in Maynooth has extensive knowledge and expertise in teaching and research. Research in Professional Studies focuses on the fields of Teacher Education, Guidance Counsellor Education, Educational Leadership, and Professional Development. Publications and projects centre on teacher autonomy and agency, school leadership, diversity, and inclusion seek to understand and critically interrogate the complex network of professionals and stakeholders that together make education possible across the lifespan. Transformative Pedagogies forefronts the conception of education as a distinctly relational encounter concerned with purposes of qualification, socialisation, and subjectification. Research focuses on innovative pedagogical practices and ecologies that promote socio-culturally sensitive encounters. The theme of education, culture, and social justice emphasises the role of education in societal transformation. Issues of diversity, equality and participation are key themes. Researchers are seeking to promote and enhance education for global justice. They also focus on the formation of the identities of education practitioners and learners within the social context of education and educational policy.

The National University of Ireland Maynooth is internationally recognised for the quality and value of its research and scholarship. There are 425 PhD students and 520 Academic staff. Researchers from Maynooth University are cited above global averages with 29% of publications in the top 10% of cited publications worldwide (field weighted). Details of publications can be found on their website here.

Key persons in LIFT project

Dr Thomas Delahunty has worked in higher education for 13 years and has held positions in teacher education and psychology across several institutions including the University of Limerick, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University College Cork, University of Birmingham and has been a member of faculty at Maynooth since 2022. Dr Delahunty has consulted for national educational organisations such as the College of Anaesthesiologists in Ireland and the Educational and Training Boards and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Nebraska from 2018-2020. He sits on the editorial board of several journals, including Educational Psychology and Technology Pedagogy and Education, and is presently co-editor of Irish Educational Studies. Dr Delahunty has research expertise and interests that span psychological and sociological understandings of education, and he has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers in international outlets, including works on the motivational variables associated with lesson study. He has also published several book chapters and an edited book. He is a Critical Psychologist with a commitment to decolonial scholarship and social justice and has advanced expertise in research design, particularly incorporating contemporary quantitative data science and critical methods of qualitative analysis.

Dr Diarmaid Hyland is an assistant lecturer in education the Department of Education in Maynooth, specialising in professional practice. He lends his expertise to module delivery in the areas of advanced STEM pedagogies and foundations to teaching practice, as well as supervising across undergraduate and postgraduate professional teaching placements, which he has also done at Dublin City University and University College Dublin. Prior to Maynooth, he held postdoctoral fellowships on Inquiry Based Mathematics Education (also in Maynooth) and on using Lesson Study to Improve Equity in Irish Mathematics Classrooms at University College Dublin. These research projects are currently working with more than 30 practising teachers to practice Lesson Study in 10 schools in socio-economically disadvantaged areas of Ireland. Dr Hyland has been a postdoctoral fellow on two Irish Research Council-funded programmes. Prior to Maynooth, he was the lead fellow on a large national lesson study project researching professional development in maths education in underprivileged schools. He has extensive expertise in lesson study, having recently completed The IMPULS immersion programme in Japan in June 2023. He has advanced skills in observational and qualitative methodologies and is an expert in pedagogical research, currently publishing on the sociocultural representations teachers utilise in board work while teaching mathematics. His observational and interviewing talents are the core to the successful evaluation aspects of the LIFT project.

Contact information

Dr Thomas Delahunty thomas.delahunty[at]mu.ie
Dr Diarmaid Hyland diarmaid.hyland[at]mu.ie

The National University of Ireland Maynooth https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/