The Learning Allowed website was created in 2020 as a platform to share my learning and research as I embarked on PhD in research at Trinity College Dublin in the School of Education. My research area is early childhood learning and development, focusing on nurturing critical thinking using oral storytelling to stimulate children’s creative imaginations.
For just over three years, the LearningALOUD website has shared information and ideas based on real-world daily experiences in the school environment. The website aims to provide a space for educators, parents, carers and young people who find it helpful to read about different ways of teaching and working with young children to facilitate learning and development in fun and creative ways.
The Learning Aloud mission is to provide an open and respectful conversation concerning ideas around children’s opportunities to learn and develop at home and in school. The content on the website aims to offer insights and ideas to spark creativity and imagination in the minds of anyone working and spending time with young children.
2nd February 2024
Dyslexia is a word used to describe a learning disability that commonly affects reading, writing and related skills, such as the use of language, articulation and grammar. However, this blog will not examine reading, writing or language use. Instead, it highlights the impact of dyslexia on self-esteem. Understanding how dyslexia…...
Read More12th September 2023
Teaching thinking in the classroom Socrates (c.470-399BCE), an early Greek philosopher and teacher, suggested: Thinking is enhanced not by answers but by questions Students learn best when supported to analyse and evaluate concepts Deep questions challenge our assumptions Educators must model intellectual inquiry To summarise a complex topic, all humans…...
Read More23rd May 2023
Scéalta Blog In this week’s Scéalta, Catherine O’Reilly, PhD research student at Trinity College Dublin, discusses how critical thinking relates to early childhood and how we can use storytelling to give children in Early Years settings the same opportunities as older children to learn how to communicate, collaborate, be creative…...
Read More27th April 2023
Have you ever wondered how educators decide to teach the way they teach and why they use the practices they adopt in the classroom to support learning and development? There are many ways to answer this question; your answer will be influenced by your knowledge of the educational system and…...
Read MoreExposure to books and stories and active participation in storytelling help children to make sense of their ever evolving world.
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