Professor Emer Ring
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Professor Emer Ring – Dean of Education, Early Childhood, and Teacher Education at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick
Professor Emer Ring serves as the Dean of Education, Early Childhood, and Teacher Education at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick, where she leads and manages one of the largest education faculties in Ireland. Under her leadership, MIC offers a diverse range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs across early childhood, primary, and post-primary education, educational psychology, and programmes for neuro-diverse learners. The faculty is also home to the Curriculum Development Unit and the National Centre for City Connects Ireland.
As a Lecturer in Early Years Education, Inclusion, and Education Policy, Professor Ring has contributed to the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Care and Education (BA ECCE) and the Bachelor of Education (BEd) programme. She previously served as Head of the Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies (2011–2019). Professor Ring supervises research at undergraduate, Master’s and PhD levels. Her extensive national and international expertise spans education policy, research, and practice, with a focus on early childhood, primary and special school contexts. A frequent speaker at conferences and seminars, she has also published widely in her field.
Professional Experience and Contributions
Before joining MIC, Professor Ring served as a District and Senior Inspector with the Department of Education (2001–2011), overseeing education provision across early years, primary, post-primary, and special school settings. Her teaching career, which began in 1981, includes significant experience in early years education and supporting neuro-diverse learners (1981–2001).
Beyond academia, she volunteers as a Director with AsIAm, Ireland’s National Autism Charity, reflecting her commitment to inclusive education. Her research interests include education policy and practice, the teacher education continuum, child voice, inclusion, early childhood education, education and the law, and autism.
She has been the principal investigator on numerous national research projects, focusing on early childhood, primary and post-primary education, inclusion, child/student voice, pedagogy, autism and policy development for creating an inclusive education system.
Leadership in Inclusive Education
With colleagues at MIC, Early Childhood Ireland and Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Prof. Ring led the design, development and evaluation of the multiple-award winning Leadership for INClusion in the Early Years (LINC) Programme focused on supporting inclusion in early childhood settings. She has extensive experience in the development of inclusion across the education system and has recently completed a publication for the National Council for Special Education focused on charting the development of special education in Ireland 1922-2022; Special Education in an Independent Ireland: Insights from a Journey Through the Century.
Other publications published include:
- Leading Inclusion from the Inside Out: A Handbook for Parents and Early Childhood Teachers in Early Learning and Care, Primary and Special School Settings (published by Peter Lang)
- Autism from the Inside Out: A Handbook for Parents, Early Childhood, Primary, Post-primary and Special School Settings (published by Peter Lang)
- The Contemporary Relevance of John Dewey’s Theories on Teaching and Learning: Deweyan Perspectives on Standardization, Accountability, and Assessment in Education (published by Routledge)
Together with Dr Lisha O’Sullivan, Prof. Ring is co-authoring a further publication for Peter Lang; Play from the Inside Out: Perspectives from Theory, Research and Practice, which is due for publication in 2025. Prof. Ring also has a particular interest in the Reggio Emilia approach to the education of young children and is working on a publication related to the approach with colleagues from the US and Reggio Emilia.
Prof. Ring is currently co-leading a project group awarded a tender with Dr Lisha O’Sullivan for Universal Design Guidelines for Early Learning and Care Settings (UDG4ELCS). This initiative involves:
- Developing a Communications Strategy to support the UDG4ELCS Implementation Project.
- Creating a Website and content to enhance awareness of UDG4ELCS.
- Designing Two e-learning modules to build capacity for UDG4ELCS implementation.
Prof Ring together with Dr Lisha O’Sullivan have recently been invited to develop a paper for the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment exploring the potential of play for the senior classes in the primary school.
A Leading Voice in Education
Through her dedication to education, inclusion, and research, Professor Emer Ring continues to be a driving force in shaping education policy and practice in Ireland and beyond.
