Conference of University Rectors in Ireland : University Collaboration Education

Education

Universities Involved University of Limerick
Dublin City University
University of Ulster

Department(s) Education and Professional Studies

Project Title / Description
1. European Studies Project (GB & Ire)
2. European Studies
3. Education for Pluralism

1. Grew out of collaboration between the Inspectors of history in England, NI and Ireland. It was funded by the Departments of Education in each jurisdiction and the Project Office was situated at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Aimed to offer young people the opportunity of working together using modern IT to reach a better understanding of each other's idea's and views.

2. Similar vision but included young people from schools in France, Belgium and some other European countries and resolved research into contemporary issues.

3.The Curriculum Working Group was formed and a number of meetings were held with Northern counterparts on a number of occasions and they had prepared a detailed proposal for submission to likely funding agencies. This involved the collaborative development of school links somewhat along the lines of ESP above, building on parallel initiatives such as Cooperation North and the Wider Horizons initiative as well as the European Environmental network. Collaboration between policy makers in both jurisdictions was seen as an important issue.

Contacts Dr Valerie Morgan
Centre for Conflict Studies, UU, Coleraine Dr Peter McKenna, School of Education, DCU

Development Potential
Yes. ESP has developed Andrew Ryan is the RoI coordinator and he works to the Department of Education. In the context of the NI agreement and the establishment of the Centre for Cross Border Studies as well as the development of ICT this has wonderful potential to develop further so as to promote understanding and trust.

Universities Involved	National University of Ireland, Maynooth All teacher education institutions in the Island of Ireland
Department(s)	Education
Project Title / Description	NorthSouth Conference on Teacher Education This major Conference of Representatives from all the teacher education institutions in Ireland was held in May 2000. It is expected to lay the foundations for much ongoing collaborative work, including research on teacher education issues in Ireland.
Contacts	Prof. J Coolahan Tel + 353 1 708 4610/3761 education.department@may.ie	Prof. H McMahon, University of Ulster Colraine Tel 080 1265 324327
Development Potential	Yes. It is expected that bilateral and multilateral projects relating to teacher education will develop from this meeting.

Universities Involved	National University of Ireland, Maynooth University of Ulster
Department(s)	Education
Project Title / Description	Dissolving Boundaries, North South Conferencing for Schools. This project began in January 2000. It involves assisting schools North and South of the border to make use of ICT in support of joint curricular projects. Specifically, schools will use computer conferencing and video conferencing technology, and the results of the collaborative work will be incorporated into a project website. The project is linked with initial and in service teacher education, and the participating institutions will use the project as a demonstration project in their teacher education activities. This project was funded jointly by the Department of Education Northern Ireland, and the Department of Education and Science, Eircom and Dell Computers.
Contacts	Dr Aidan Mulkeen, Education Department NUI Maynooth Tel + 353 1 708 34 66 Fax + 353 1 708 4610 aidan.mulkeen@may.ie	Dr Roger Austin, School of Education University of Ulster Tel 04870 44141 ext 4334 Fax 04870 1265 324918 RSP.Austin@ulst.ac.uk
Business Involvement	Cormac O Sullivan, Eircom. Cosullivan@eircom.ie Annette Condon, Dell Computers. Annette_Condon@Dell.com

Universities Involved	National University of Ireland, Maynooth University of Ulster
Department(s)	Education
Project Title / Description	Conferencing in Teacher Education: A North South Collaborative Project. (This Island We Live On) This project ran from August 1998 to September 1999. It was developed by NUIM and UU to: a. Make use of ICT to enhance the quality of initial teacher education, and b. Operate a demonstration project in schools. In the initial phase of the projects, student teachers in NUIM and UU used computer conferencing to share their thoughts and experiences on teaching skills. In the second phase, selected schools were provided with video and computer conferencing equipment, and engaged in joint crossborder curricular projects. These projects covered a range of curricular subjects including English, Geography, History, Sociology, Art and Music. The collaborative work was published on the project website. The experience of this school based phase was brought back to the student teachers, and the technology and projects were demonstrated to the student teachers not directly engaged in the project.This project was funded jointly by the Department of Education, Northern Ireland, and the Department of Education and Science.
Contacts	Dr Aidan Mulkeen, Education Department NUI Maynooth Tel + 353 1 708 34 66 Fax + 353 1 708 4610 aidan.mulkeen@may.ie	Dr Roger Austin, School of Education University of Ulster Tel 04870 44141 ext 4334 Fax 04870 1265 324918 RSP.Austin@ulst.ac.uk
Business Involvement	Cormac O Sullivan, Eircom. Cosullivan@eircom.ie Annette Condon, Dell Computers. Annette_Condon@Dell.com
Development Potential	Project has been subsumed into above larger project "Dissolving Boundaries".

Universities Involved	Dublin City University University of Ulster University College Cork University of Limerick National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Department(s)	Education Studies
Project Title / Description	Pluralism in Education Pluralism in Education was established in 1995 and to date has hosted two important International conferences on pluralism in education. Both conferences were supported by both Departments of Education, and by the European Commission and British Council. The outcome of the second conference in 1997 supported the establishment of the Centre for Cross Border Studies. Current research includes a study of the multidenominational school movement in Ireland and it is hoped this research will also examine the integrated school movement in Northern Ireland to assess their role as models of pluralism in education.
Contacts	Carmel Mulcahy Tel + 353 1 704 8102/5222 mulcahyc@ccmail.dcu.ie.	Dr Peter McKenna Tel +353 1 704 5223/8102	Prof. Enda McDonagh, NUIM Prof. Dominic Murray, UL
Development Potential	It is hoped that many of the areas highlighted can be furthered and much initial work has been done to date. Several strong university, community, and governmental links are in place and the present climate seems an ideal time to further consolidate these links and allow the development of the proposed areas of interest.

Universities Involved	Dublin City University Queen University Belfast Workers Educational Association (N. Ireland) Northern Ireland's largest nonstatutory provider of adult education
Project Title / Description	The Centre for Cross Border studies The Centre for Cross Border Studies is based in Armagh and was set up in September 1999 to research and develop cooperation across the Irish border in education, health, business, public administration, communications and a range of other practical areas. The Centre provides an objective, university based environment, research into and development of such practical cooperation. It is a joint venture between Dublin City University, Queen's University Belfast and the Workers' Educational Association (Northern Ireland). The Centre's 18 months pilot phase is funded by the EU Special Support Programme on Peace and Reconciliation. The centre's purpose is to: commission and publish research on issues related to opportunities for and obstacles to cross border cooperation in all fields of society and the economy: host events at which research findings can be discussed and disseminated, and at which policy formation in the area of cross border cooperation can be developed; present the findings of such research and development projects to the EU, the two governments, a regional administration in Northern Ireland, and employer, trade union and social partnership bodies.
Contacts	Andy Pollak Tel 048 3751 1550 Fax 048 3751 1721 a.pollak@qub.ac.uk
Development Potential	The Centre has funding for 18 months, until spring 2001, and is confident that it will secure funding for another 18 months three year period.

Universities Involved	National University of Ireland, Maynooth Trinity College Dublin Queen's University Belfast St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin
Department(s)	Education
Project Title / Description	School Inspection Research Project The proposal seeks funding to facilitate the development of a network of researchers in school inspection. The main aims of the Network will be to identify a research agenda relating to school inspection and evaluation and to develop collaborative activities designed to contribute to policy development and evaluation practice, north and south of the border.
Contacts	Prof. John Coolahan, NUIM Tel + 353 1 708 3761 Fax + 353 1 708 4610	Prof. John Gardiner, QUB Dr Colette Grey Tel 04890 335946 Fax 04890 239263	Dr Seamus McGuinness, TCD Tel + 353 1 702 1246 Dr Ciaran Surgue, St. Pats Tel + 353 1 837 6191

Universities Involved	University College Cork University of Ulster, Jordanstown
Department(s)	Department of Education
Project Title / Description	Educational Research Network,Northern Ireland Conference (ERNNI). Dr. Anne Rath was an invited speaker to Educational Research Network Northern Ireland 1998. The conference's objective is to promote action research in education and to promote the research of Masters and Doctoral studies on practice based classroom concerns. The conference is used as a way of bringing students from diverse campuses and schools together in order to increase understanding and promoting students as action researchers.
Contacts	Dr Anne Rath, UCC Tel + 353 21 903128/2465 Fax + 353 21 270291 a.rath@ucc.ie	Dr Barry Hutchinson, UU, Jordanstown Tel 048 90 365131 Fax 048 90 366825 b.hutchinson@ulst.ac.uk
Development Potential	Yes. It would be beneficial to develop a similar network here and bring Masters and Doctoral level research students together in order to present papers and publish on educational concerns. It would also be useful to develop a network whereby teachers from Republic of Ireland could go on study leave or visit with teaching professionals in the North. An action research project has recently been developed with the INTO and a conference will be organised in the South which will showcase their work. ERNNI students and staff will be invited to attend the conference.

Universities Involved	University of Limerick Dublin City University University of Ulster
Department(s)	Education and Professional Studies
Project Title / Description	1. European Studies Project (GB & Ire) 2. European Studies 3. Education for Pluralism 1. Grew out of collaboration between the Inspectors of history in England, NI and Ireland. It was funded by the Departments of Education in each jurisdiction and the Project Office was situated at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Aimed to offer young people the opportunity of working together using modern IT to reach a better understanding of each other's idea's and views. 2. Similar vision but included young people from schools in France, Belgium and some other European countries and resolved research into contemporary issues. 3.The Curriculum Working Group was formed and a number of meetings were held with Northern counterparts on a number of occasions and they had prepared a detailed proposal for submission to likely funding agencies. This involved the collaborative development of school links somewhat along the lines of ESP above, building on parallel initiatives such as Cooperation North and the Wider Horizons initiative as well as the European Environmental network. Collaboration between policy makers in both jurisdictions was seen as an important issue.
Contacts	Dr Valerie Morgan Centre for Conflict Studies, UU, Coleraine	Dr Peter McKenna, School of Education, DCU
Development Potential	Yes. ESP has developed Andrew Ryan is the RoI coordinator and he works to the Department of Education. In the context of the NI agreement and the establishment of the Centre for Cross Border Studies as well as the development of ICT this has wonderful potential to develop further so as to promote understanding and trust.