We all know that poetry exposes children to rich, varied vocabulary and helps them develop an ear for the rhymes and rhythm of language.
I am delighted to share my new article The storythinking programme: a framework for nurturing critical thinking in preschool which was published today (04/10/24) by Taylor & Francis Online.
Critical thinking, a multifaceted cognitive process, is more crucial than ever in the digital age. It involves listening, comprehension, understanding information from multiple viewpoints, comparing the information to what you know and looking at new information to find out how accurate (or fake) the information might be.
Congratulations to all of our PhD and D.Ed students who graduated. Wishing you all the best in your future endeavours. This year’s doctoral commencement at Trinity College Dublin was a momentous occasion, filled with pride, joy, and a sense of accomplishment.
June 14th, 2024, marked a day that I will cherish forever, my PhD graduation. It was a culmination of intense study, sleepless nights, and (for much of it) not really knowing what I was doing.
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.
To summarise a complex topic, all humans think it is our nature to do so, but left unexamined, thinking can be biased, misinformed and prejudiced. Socratic questioning in education is a way of questioning that minimise the chance that student will accept information at face value.
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 and engage in problem-solving.
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 your values, beliefs and hopes of how your children will experience their time in school.
This beautifully illustrated book is a story portraying sadness and grief. It is written carefully and honestly by an author who took his own suffering and used it to support others to understand that sadness is real and we do not need to hide it.