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Faculties & Departments
Department of Education
Dr Aidan Mulkeen
Head of Education Department 
Education Department
NUI Maynooth
Co Kildare
Ireland
Telephone: +353 1 708 3466
Facsimile: +353 1 708 4610
Email: aidan.mulkeen@nuim.ie
Welcome to my webpage.
I am currently head of the Education Department at NUI Maynooth. This is a small but very dynamic department that provides courses of study aimed mainly at education professionals, engages in educational research and works in a variety of ways to promote quality and equity in education.
My own work in recent years has centred on education policy in a variety of countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. I have worked particularly on teacher policies, which are especially important given the vital role of teachers in education. For many low-income countries there are very difficult teacher challenges, including shortages of teachers, poorly qualified and equipped teachers, and the problem of finding teachers to work in practical difficult locations. As a result, many of the school students in low-income countries face a double obstacle of coming from homes that can provide little education support, and attending schools where they do not get adequate tuition. Addressing these issues is one of the great global educational challenges and is essential to ensuring that the most disadvantaged young people in the world get access to a good quality education.
I am also very interested in the role of Information and Communications Technology in education. ICT has attracted ambitious claims that include promoting thinking skills, changing the way we write, promoting world peace and enabling economic development. While the technology has not lived up to the most optimistic predictions, the availability of computers and access to the internet is gradually changing the way we think about and use information, with consequent implications for education.
Brief biographical note:
I joined the education department of NUI Maynooth in 1996, and have worked on issues of ICT and education and development. From 2004 to 2009, I was given leave of absence from NUI Maynooth and moved to the World Bank, where I worked on teacher issues in sub-Saharan Africa, and managed the Irish Education Trust Fund (supported by Irish Aid). In this role I worked in Lesotho, Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Liberia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Papua New Guinea and Zanzibar.
Prior to joining NUI Maynooth, I had been teaching development officer in University College Dublin, education adviser with Concern in Bangladesh, and had worked in the field of educational technology, in Ireland, Jordan, Greece and the West Bank. I initially trained as a secondary teacher, with a BA and HDE from University College Dublin, and later studied for an M.Ed. at UCD and a PhD in Education at Dublin University (Trinity College).
Recent Publications:
2009 |
Teachers in Anglophone Africa. World Bank, 2009. With Cathal Higgins: Multigrade Teaching in sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank, working paper No 173. |
2008 |
With Dandan Chen (eds). Teachers for Rural Schools, Experiences in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. Africa Human Development Series, World Bank. |
2007 |
With David Chapman and others, Recruiting, Retraining and Retaining Secondary School Teachers and Principals in sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank working paper no 99, Africa Region Human Development Series. |
2004 |
The secondary teacher crisis: challenges for teacher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Paper presented at the DCI conference ‘Globalisation and inclusion: Challenges for professional education in the third level sector’, May 2004.
ICT in Innovative Schools. Research report prepared for the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, OECD.. Information and Communication Technology in Schools. Paper presented to the Information Society Steering Group, April , 2004. Fool’s Gold or Silicon treasure? Where are the real gains with ICT in Schools? Paper presented to school leaders and ICT advisers, Kilkenny March, 2004. |
2003
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Schools for the Digital Age. The progress of ICT in Irish schools. A publication of the NCTE/ Department of Education and Science.
Selected findings from the review of literature on teacher recruitment, retention, and training in Africa. David Chapman and Aidan Mulkeen. Paper presented to support a World Bank Study of Secondary Education in Africa. Published online at: http://www.worldbank.org/afr/seia/conf_0603/selected_findings.doc Teacher professional development and the process of resource production: The progress of TeachNet participants 2003. Report to Atlantic Philanthropies and Citigroup, December 2003. Dissolving Boundaries: cross national co-operation through technology in Education, Roger Austin, Lesley Abbott, Aidan Mulkeen and Nigel Metcalfe, The Curriculum Journal, Vol 14, No 1, Spring 2003. pp55-84. What can policy makers do to encourage integration of information and communications technology? Evidence from the Irish school system. Technology, Pedagogy and Education. 2003, Volume 12 Number 2 pp277-293
The digital divide in Irish schools: should we be worried? Irish Educational Studies, 2003.Vol 22. No1 pp165-181. SchoolSat: Satellite Internet access for Schools. Pedagogical Evaluation Report. Report to the European Space Agency and the National Centre for Technology in Education, also published online at www.schoolsat.net |
2002 |
Learning to Change, Centre for Educational Research & Innovation, OECD 2001, ISBN 9264196528. Co-editor, with an international panel. with Conor Galvin, C. “The Schools Integration project (SIP): Background and early development.” In Galvin, C. (editor) Sharing Innovative Practice. NCTE 2002. 2002 ICT School Census. A report to the National Centre for Technology in Education. |
2001 |
with Galvin, C. and Austin, R. Editors Dissolving Boundaries: ICT and Learning in the Information Age. The Place of ICT in Irish Schools: Early indicators of the changes since IT2000, Irish Educational Studies, 2001.Vol 20. P45-58. |