MIC academic Dr Anne Dolan has been awarded New Foundations funding by the Irish Research Council (IRC) to support her research and work in promoting climate change in teacher education at post-primary level.
New Foundations funding awards are granted to projects or research that will reach communities across the country and beyond, focusing on diverse societal challenges and government policy issues. Dr Dolan’s funding is awarded by the IRC in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs (Irish Aid) and the Department of Education under a funding strand dedicated to education for global citizenship and sustainable development.
Dr Dolan’s project, Supporting climate change education in post-primary schools through the development of a community of practice, aims primarily to develop a network of educators working in post-primary teacher education which can research the opportunities and obstacles for integrating climate change education in post-primary schools in Ireland and to disseminate findings from this research.
Congratulating Dr Dolan on the funding announcement was Director of Research at MIC, Dr Richard Butler, who said: “On behalf of the Research & Graduate School and the community of researchers at Mary Immaculate College I would like to congratulate Dr Anne Dolan for securing this prestigious Irish Research Council New Foundations award. It will showcase some of the most exciting research work currently being undertaken at our College on the issue of climate change education.”
67 projects nationwide were awarded New Foundations funding by the IRC this year. Commenting on the funding announcement, Director of the Irish Research Council, Dr Louise Callinan said: “The collaboration between researchers and policymakers represented in these awards aligns with the ambitions of Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and deliver enhanced outcomes for citizens and society. While New Foundations awards are relatively modest in value, they play a vital role in supporting and nurturing our research talent, providing an important step on the funding ladder to further awards nationally and internationally.”
The aim of Dr Dolan’s project involves developing a climate change education community of practice for post-primary teacher educators. Building on the very successful network established in MIC, the project will have access to researchers working in the primary education sector. The project involves ongoing support and CPD for the network, the establishment of online resources for teachers and a research study exploring the potential opportunities and barriers to implementing climate change education into post-primary education.
According to Dr Dolan: “I am delighted that our climate change education project has been funded by the New Foundations Awards in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs. Teacher educators recognise the importance of climate change education. This project will inform the theory and practice of climate change education both in Ireland and internationally. It is designed to provide theoretical and pedagogical support for teacher educators, post primary teachers and student teachers. Ultimately, it will inform the pedagogy of climate change education in post primary classrooms.”
Dr Dolan is a lecturer in Geography Education at MIC and the programme coordinator of MIC’s new M Ed in Education for Sustainability and Global Citizenship. Dr Dolan also recently published Teaching Climate Change in Primary Schools: An Interdisciplinary Approach which provides primary teachers with a toolkit for teaching climate change and for instilling in children the love of place, nature and geographical adventures.
Further information about the New Foundations scheme is available here.
