Educator Self-Awareness & Critical Reflection for GCE
Dialogue Day brings Network members and colleagues together in a safe space to share, consider and explore their experiences of teaching and engaging in GCE. It provides a variety of perspectives and new lenses through which to reflect upon teaching and professional practice.
This year’s Dialogue Day will focus on educator self-awareness & critical reflection for global citizenship education.
Date: June 10th 2025
Location: Hodson Bay, Roscommon Road, Athlone, N37 XR82
Call for Proposals to share ‘Artefacts of Learning’ / ‘Exemplars of Practice’
The Application Date is now closed. Thank you for your submissions!
The Ubuntu Network is making additional funds available to assembly members to collate, package and share a selection of ‘Artefacts of Learning’ and ‘Exemplars of Practice’ that support the integration of GCE in post-primary initial teacher education.
What are Artefacts of Learning?
‘Artefacts of Learning’ are defined as tangible or observable outputs demonstrating a pre-service teacher’s engagement with GCE. These artefacts serve as evidence of their understanding, skills, and critical reflections. They may include, but not be limited to, written assignments, projects, digital objects, reflective journals, creative products and teaching and learning artefacts.
What are Exemplars of Practice?
‘Exemplars of Practice’ are defined as documents/outputs that showcase a teacher educator’s approach to integrating GCE in post-primary ITE. They provide a structured narrative of the curricular approach and pre-service teacher engagement. They may include, but not be limited to, video narratives detailing GCE integration, infographics, teaching/instructional models, student artefacts showcasing learner engagement and reflection.
The final product will demonstrate a selection of pre-service teachers’/teacher educators’ work, and should,
Be highly visual and multi-modal,
Make effective and appropriate use of ICT e.g. video, MOOC, webpage, blog, photographic archive, graphic representation,
Include relevant context to explain how the output relates to provision of GCE in the ITE programme,
Have students’ permission to use their work (where applicable)
Be completed no later than 30th June 2025.
You may apply for funds of up to €4,000.
Funds may be sought for costs such as payment of staff, creation of digital outputs, desktop publishing, copy-editing, licencing, or for facilitating students’ engagement in the process. Funds may not be used for the purchase of equipment.
The Application Date is now closed. Thank you for your submissions!
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact our Network Research Lead:
Workshop: Challenging Racial Bias in the Classroom
We are delighted to team with WorldWise Global Schools (WWGS) to present to you Challenging Racial Bias in the Classroom with Susanna Trifiletti. This is a full day workshop taking place in the De la Salle Retreat Centre in Castletown from 10.30-3.30. Places are limited to 20.
Important Info:
Date: March 6, 2025
Time: 10:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Location: De La Salle Centre, Castletown, Co. Laois
Workshop Details
This workshop aims to equip educators with practical strategies and tools to address and respond to microaggressions and racial prejudice in the classroom. This interactive session will focus on the following key objectives:
Engaging in case studies and real-life role-play scenarios to practice and refine responses.
Understanding the roots of racial discrimination and systematic racism.
Learning how to tackle microaggressions in the classroom in real-time effectively.
Developing the ability to choose appropriate facilitation stances in different classroom situations.
About the Facilitator:
Susanna Trifiletti is a secondary Geography, CSPE, and Politics and Society teacher. She has worked with WorldWise Global Schools before and Fishamble Theatre Company, developing workshops for students and teachers alike. She is a trained facilitator in intercultural education, anti-bias education, and “Difficult conversations” practice. Susanna brings a practical approach to the workshop. In the last four years, she has provided training for family centres and primary and secondary schools nationwide, supporting educators in fostering inclusive and equitable learning environments.
New Publication: The difficult dynamic of teacher educators as policy actors
We are pleased to announce the publication of a new research article, The Difficult Dynamic of Teacher Educators as Policy Actors: Considerations for Counter-Conduct, co-authored by Ciarán Ó Gallchóir, Joanne O’Flaherty, Deirdre Hogan, and Orla McCormack.
This timely study examines the challenges faced by teacher educators in the evolving landscape of initial teacher education (ITE), particularly in light of increasing market-driven mandates and political oversight. The authors critically explore the recent requirement for all ITE programmes in Ireland to incorporate a Global Citizenship Education (GCE) perspective.
This publication contributes to ongoing discussions about critical global citizenship education, power relations in education policy, and the evolving role of teacher educators.
Recipients of the award for excellence in GCE were James Flood (graduate), Kate Nevin (PME 1) and Elizabeth Brophy (PME 2).
This award is offered as part of the Ubuntu – UCD School of Education partnership. These teachers were awarded for excelling in Global Citizenship Education while on School Placement and in their teaching practice, and specifically by using immersive technologies and Artificial Intelligence to explore global issues and appreciate the reality of others. The award was included in the UCD Adventure in Cyberland Awards www.cyberwise.ie held in O’Reilly Hall, UCC on 10.12.24.
Dr Rachel Farrell (UCD)
From left to right: Marelle Rice (UCD), James Flood, Kate Nevin and Deirdre Hogan (Ubuntu Network)
Delighted to announce the launch ofA Teacher’s Handbook on Global Citizenship Education in the Post Primary Classroom took place in the Aula Maxima in UCC on Thursday 12.12.24.
This valuable resource, which is Ubuntu and Irish Aid supported, provides 10 lessons on GCE, identity and addressing ‘so called controversial issues’ in the classroom. It honours the important work that educators do in nurturing young global citizens – a most hopeful and ever-pressing responsibility.
Congratulations to our colleagues and members, Seanin Hoy, Steve O’Brien and Gearoid O’Brien on this wonderful resource.
Navigating the space between conflict and curiosity:
Exploring controversial issues in GCE
The Ubuntu Network Assembly Event, held in association with the Education Department at Maynooth University, took place on the 15th of January 2025 at Maynooth University campus. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended and contributed to making this event so special. Your presence, engagement, and enthusiasm were instrumental in creating a meaningful and inspiring gathering. Thank you for being part of this memorable occasion!
This output uses philosophy to explore controversial issues in social justice, fostering curiosity, reflection, and compassionate dialogue beyond critical thinking …
This output helps educators identify and address microaggressions and racial prejudice, using real-time strategies, facilitation stances, and role-play …
Exploring controversial issues in an educational setting can be a challenging task for educators. Highly emotive topics such as inequality, racism and climate change can draw upon deeply held beliefs and evoke strong feelings that can make discussions uncomfortable and even prompt defensiveness or disagreement. Learners bring a myriad of cultural, political, and personal backgrounds that shape their perspectives, making it easy for discussions to become polarised and debates to become heated.
The skills required to navigate discomfort and ambiguity in a learning space are essential for an educator (teacher educator and pre-service teacher) of Global Citizenship Education. Global development issues are rarely straightforward – they have multiple contributing factors, influences and stakeholders and no clear-cut answers. To democratically explore such issues requires a learning environment where judgement is suspended and participants can engage in respectful discussion, consider differing viewpoints, and develop skills to form their own reasoned opinions. Positive learning experiences are more likely when discussions are held in a safe space for dialogue, and where all students and educators feel comfortable expressing diverse viewpoints without fear of being “cancelled” or judged, feeling blame, being silenced, getting it wrong, or not knowing enough.
Join us for a day of dialogue on teaching controversial issues where we will consider questions such as:
How do we support pre-service teachers to broach discussions on contentious issues with confidence in the classroom? What pedagogical approaches might be effective when tackling controversial issues associated with GCE? What challenges arise for educators and students in engaging in this work?
What role do the educator’s personal values, worldviews, and positionality play in teaching about emotive topics? How do we address the challenge of educator subjectivity?
Can we support a culture of discussion and sharing of views in school? Does school/organisational culture and scripted curriculum influence what is discussed and more importantly, what is avoided? Does this impact on our capacity to create learning spaces that reflect democratic principles?
How do we reconcile the values/ethos of a school or organisation with free speech and authentic exploration of controversial issues? How do we navigate the unclear boundaries between free speech, responsible speech and so-called political correctness?
What theoretical/conceptual lenses are useful when building a broader understanding of this complex topic?
This event was offered by the Ubuntu Network in association with the Education Department, Maynooth University as part of their New Foundations Research Ireland ‘Sharing the World’ project.
New Publication Implementing GCE in Post Primary Schools
Congratulations to Ubuntu Members Seanin Hoy, Gearoid O’Brien, and Stephen O’Brien on the recent publication of A Teacher’s Handbook on Global Citizenship Education in the Post-primary Classroom.
This exciting publication is written by teachers for teachers. It seeks to support those new to the profession, as well as those who are already experienced in post-primary school and further education settings. It is designed to sustain these professionals in their important – relational and pedagogical – work with children and young adults.
The book comprises 10 scaffolded lessons, that provide exemplars of how Global Citizenship Education can be taught and learned effectively. The first lesson is centred on exploring the foundational discipline of Global Citizenship Education. Each subsequent lesson focuses on a global theme and on creative ways to critically engage students in their own learning about the world.
These global themes include our own identity; belonging; inter-relationships; stereotypes; migration; seeking asylum; the role of the media.
Global Citizenship Education Research Showcase 2024
We are delighted to team with IDEA to present to you Global Citizenship Education (GCE) Research Showcase 2024 which takes place on Monday 25 November, online, 10.00am -12.30pm.
Research Showcase Details
The aim of this event is to showcase contemporary GCE research. You will be introduced to thought-provoking and engaging inputs and have an opportunity to reflect with fellow participants on the applicability of the concepts discussed to your GCE practice.
For the purpose of this event, the term research will be taken in its broadest sense, encompassing academic research; action research; documented practice; documented learning; conceptual research articles; case studies etc.
How Art and Design is Shaping Socially Conscious Teachers at NCAD
(2017 – 2024)
Who We Are
Institution: National College of Art and Design (NCAD), a leading art and design university dedicated to fostering creative excellence and social engagement through art education.
Project Leader: Fiona King and Tony Murphy lead the initiative, leveraging their extensive experience in art education to integrate global citizenship principles into the Professional Master of Education (PME) program.
Project Members: Each year, the project team consists of around 20-25 Professional Master of Education (PME) student teachers engaged in some 100 hours of GCE, supported by a cross-disciplinary team of faculty members and external experts from various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and educational sectors (including Mark O’ Kelly, Head of Fine Art Painting, NCAD; Dr Helen Mc Allister, Head of Textile Art and Artifacts, NCAD; Dr Audrey Bryan, Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Human Development, DCU and Tony Daly, 80/20).
What We Did
Our primary goal was to seamlessly integrate Global Citizenship Education (GCE) into the PME curriculum to empower future educators to address global inequalities and advocate for environmental sustainability through art and design.
Project Objectives:
To embed Global Citizenship Education (GCE) within the PME curriculum.
Equip student teachers with the skills and knowledge to address global inequalities and environmental issues through art and design.
Foster a deeper understanding and commitment among student teachers to utilize art as a tool for social justice and advocacy.
Develop and implement innovative teaching strategies that integrate GCE principles, focusing on sustainability, human rights, and ethical consumption.
Curricular Approach:
Pedagogical Development: Workshops and seminars support the art projects, where educators and experts from various fields introduce the student teachers to complex themes and teaching methodologies.
Curriculum Design: The Change Lab serves as the core component of the program, where GCE is embedded into the curriculum through practical, immersive experiences in a gallery setting converted into a dynamic learning environment.
Module Development: We introduced specific modules focusing on GCE, such as ‘Art as Social Practice,’ which encourages students to use art as a tool for social change.
Collaborative Art Projects: Student teachers collaborate on multi-week projects, creating artworks that reflect critical global issues, such as climate change, inequality, and human rights.
Professional Learning Initiatives:
Workshops and Seminars: Complementing the practical projects are a series of workshops and seminars led by experts in GCE, art, and pedagogy, enhancing the theoretical understanding and teaching skills of faculty and students.
Monitoring and Evaluation:
Student Feedback: Regular surveys and feedback mechanisms to gauge student engagement and satisfaction.
Performance Reviews: Analysis of academic reviews and project evaluations help assess the impact of GCE integration on student learning outcomes.
Outreach/Advocacy:
Public Events: Annual public exhibitions of student work to raise awareness about global issues.
Community Engagement: Partnerships with local schools and communities to extend the impact of our GCE initiatives beyond the university.
Academic Events: Presentations at conferences highlight the project’s innovations and outcomes.
Artefacts of Learning
Change Lab Photobooks: These visually rich publications document the creative processes and outcomes of student projects, serving as a testament to their engagement with GCE. Exhibition Catalogues: Catalogues from our annual exhibitions, which have been instrumental in documenting and showcasing the impact of our students’ work on public audiences. Digital Media Presentations: A series of online galleries and virtual tours that have allowed us to extend the reach of our GCE initiatives globally.
‘Respond Research Create’ Creative notebook from student teachers
‘Respond Research Create’ Creative notebook from student teachers
‘Respond Research Create’ Creative notebook from student teachers
Impact Achieved
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Student Engagement/Educational Impact: Over 180 PME students have actively participated in the Change Lab, reporting enhanced understanding of global issues and their role as educators in advocating for change.
Example: In AY2023/24 GCE was integrated across the following modules: Global Citizenship Education Module: Change Lab and the Digital Media Module.
Example: The introduction of the “Change Lab” project facilitated PME students to develop and exhibit artworks that address global issues such as sustainability and social justice, culminating in an annual exhibition attended by over 300 educators, students, and community members annually.
We feel really lucky to have had this learning experience. The Change Lab experience has truly been transformative; the consideration of global inequalities has challenged our beliefs and our values both as teachers and as artists.
The Change Lab experience was very transformational for me; firstly on a personal level I learned a huge deal about these contentious issues. Also, it showed me how I can respond to these issues through the art making process – so it was empowering. Lastly, I think as an educator, this program has really encouraged me and empowered me to look at these issues and to bring them into the classroom. It has also shown me how I can encourage student voice in the classroom around these issues – it’s not about teaching more – it’s about teaching differently.
The Change Lab becomes a place making event whereby the student teacher explores how their practice as artists and as designers has a social, ethical and cultural dimension. The Lab becomes an immersive collaborative teaching and learning space, a thinking space to conceptualise and experience global citizenship education as an educational process.
Example: In collaboration with the project leaders, Fiona King and Tony Murphy artist teachers work collaboratively to compile research relating to their selected issue.
Curricular Innovations: The Change Lab has become a model for integrating GCE into art education, demonstrating how creative disciplines can effectively contribute to educational discourses on global issues. The introduction of GCE-focused modules has been highly successful, with student feedback highlighting the relevance and impact of these courses on their professional and personal development.
Example: In AY2022/23 and AY2023/24 PME students engaged in conceptualising GCE through active learning methodologies including unpacking the Change Lab Brief; discussion of role of reflective practice – Pause… for thought notebook brief; Introducing Global Citizenship Education – Rise, Shine and Connect mind-map; Newtown exercise (with Dr Gerry Jeffers) – building a community/reflecting on group dynamics; Critical visual Literacy workshop – working with imagery in response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
Example: Student teachers develop comprehensive portfolios that not only display their artistic skills but also their ability to engage with complex global themes. These portfolios often include digital media presentations, art installations, and detailed research projects.
The Change Lab was also a reminder of the range of cross-curricular links that art and design education has and also of our potential as teachers to educate young global citizens.
An external review from an educational accreditation body highlighted the effectiveness of the curricular innovations at NCAD, noting, “In particular, the panel were impressed by the innovative approach to teaching and learning, especially in the area of sustainable development and global citizenship in the change laboratory on the PME”
Community Outreach: Our exhibitions and community projects have reached over 5,000 participants, fostering a broader understanding and engagement with global citizenship themes. The annual exhibitions of student work have successfully engaged a wide audience, including educators, policy makers, and the general public, thus raising awareness and stimulating dialogue on the role of art in social change.
Example: In AY2023/24 NCAD collaborated with colleagues from Dublin City University (DCU) – InterChange: Exploring Climate Justice and the Arts Symposium (May, 2024). As part of this symposium, a workshop titled “The Change Lab at NCAD” was facilitated by Fiona King and Tony Murphy. This workshop, led by four NCAD PME student teachers, Maia, Eduard, Lucy and Anishta, facilitated students to present and discuss examples of their work, including their reflective pause… for thought and research respond create notebooks – to demonstrate the process they engaged in over the duration of the Change Lab and how they map their pedagogical approach onto to the art and design curriculum in secondary school.
Example: Collaborative projects with local schools engaged over 500 schoolchildren in workshops led by PME students, focusing on creating art that reflects social issues. In AY2023/24 Kriti, Jades and James work engaged with the children in Dublin 8, Fatima homework club, and their leader Sue, whose voices and insights about the lack of green spaces to play and grow within their communities are weaved into their mapping of Dublin 8 and the surrounding area (SDG: 3 Good Health and Wellbeing/Sustainable Cities).
We decided we wanted to make activist work which would call on members of the public to make small changes in their lives which would add up to make a big contribution to biodiversity in our city.
It was like we were put in a pressure cooker with creativity… It’s creating these bridges of communication between yourself and your colleagues, then creating other bridges with your tutors, creating bridges with the whole community. I think this was the first experience that we interacted with the whole community throughout the college
Recognition: The program has garnered significant recognition, receiving funding and accolades from educational bodies and NGOs (Irish Aid and the National Forum for Teaching and Learning), validating the effectiveness an necessity of our work.
Example: The project received the ‘Innovative Teaching Award’ from an international educational organization in 2021, recognising its effective integration of GCE into art education.
Statistical Outcome: The number of external partnerships with NGOs and educational institutions has doubled since the project’s inception, enhancing the project’s scope and impact.
Since 2008, the Ubuntu Network has supported the National College of Art and Design to integrate their global education program. Students’ engagement with social justice and global education issues through the exhibition shows how transformative this process has been. Students are more socially aware, they are more environmentally conscious, and most importantly as teachers, they show a real passion to bringing this into their teaching.
What We Learned
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Comprehensive Integration: Successful integration of GCE requires careful planning and alignment with existing curricular structures to enhance relevance and applicability.
So working in the Change Lab has definitely given me an opportunity to take this new teacher identity and this artist identity and look at them as more of a partnership instead of separate.
The Change Lab instils in our student teacher a strong commitment and motivation to teacher for social justice and sustainability through the lens of their practice as artists, researchers and teachers.
The work in the National College of Art and Design is a particularly good example of how to embed this perspective. I think that happens because – there is great staff buy-in to the idea that this is not some peripheral activity, not some tick-box exercise – this is a really central part of becoming a teacher in the 21st century – having a perspective of global justice, being very familiar with the sustainable development goals.
I think the NCAD project has been really successful in meeting with these students, in helping them to see the importance of these issues. As a funder of the project, and as someone involved within the Ubuntu Network, we see the NCAD project as being really successful, as being really impactful.
Community and Collaboration: Building a community of practice among student teachers and faculty enhances learning outcomes. Working with a diverse range of partners has enriched our program, bringing multiple perspectives and expertise that enhance the learning experience. Collaboration encourages sharing of diverse perspectives, which is vital in addressing global issues.
Example: The collaboration between NCAD and local schools through the “Change Lab” project allowed PME students to bring their artwork and GCE-focused lessons into classroom settings, providing real-world teaching experiences. These partnerships not only benefited the student teachers but also enriched the learning environment of the schoolchildren who participated.
The collaborative element of this project challenged our listening skills but I also feel it has bolstered our connection to one another.
The Importance of Contextual Learning: Integrating GCE within the context of art and design has proven highly effective in engaging students. Art provides a unique medium through which complex global issues can be explored and understood.
Example: The Change Lab projects have been instrumental in demonstrating how art can be used to explore and communicate complex global issues effectively.
It is through their practice as artists and designers that they make sense of and can conceptualise what global citizenship education means to them and this in turn shapes their identity as educators.
Flexibility and Adaptation: Adapting our approaches to meet the changing educational landscape, especially in response to challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, has been crucial. Moving some exhibitions online allowed us to reach a wider audience and maintain engagement during difficult times.
Example: Feedback from annual student and faculty surveys led to significant adjustments in the project’s approach, particularly in enhancing collaborative opportunities and refining project evaluation metrics.
What we have seen in the NCAD is, overtime it has become more and more integrated, so now we have a situation where you can say this is sustainable because everyone on the staff has bought into the idea that this is an essential part of initial teacher education.
In Ireland, curriculum is changing at an expansive rate, the art and design curriculum in particular has changed at Junior Cycle level, the NCAD project, the pedagogical process that the project refers to is really dovetailing with this new curriculum. The learning from the project can inform curriculum development, the teacher educators involved within the project are informing curriculum development, also being involved with consultation groups – the long term impact of this project is immense.
Student Teacher speaking at The Change Lab 2024
This case study serves as a testament to NCAD’s commitment to transforming art education by integrating a global citizenship perspective, preparing a new generation of educators who are equipped to use their creative skills to advocate for a just and sustainable world.
