Academic biography

Dr Alan Gorman is Associate Professor and Chair of the DCU Doctor of Education (EdD) programme, where he also serves as the Area of Professional Focus Leader for Professional Learning and Teacher Education on the EdD. He is a recipient of the prestigious DCU President’s Medal for Excellence in Teaching (2022). He is the external examiner for the MSc in Educational Leadership at the University of Stirling, Scotland.

He has published widely in leading Q1 international journals. His research interests span educational change, with a focus on policy analysis, leadership, professional learning, and teacher education. He has successfully supervised numerous doctoral candidates to completion (EdD and PhD) in these fields.

He is currently co-leading a tri-nation funded research project on System Leadership with Professor Fiona King in collaboration with Professor Alma Harris and Professor Michelle Jones at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales, and Dr Romina Madrid at the University of Stirling, Scotland. This research offers a pioneering exploration of the Irish education system and in comparative contexts in Scotland and Wales 

He has been invited as a keynote speaker and panellist at international conferences on professional learning and teacher education, including engagements with the Ministry of Education and Teacher Training Agency in Zagreb, Croatia (2024) and the AI in Education Fair at the University of Florida (2025).

He has led and contributed to several national and cross-border studies, including research on early career principalship across Ireland and a teacher education initiative using AI-enabled virtual reality, which was featured on RTÉ news. His work has also appeared in RTÉ Brainstorm and TheJournal.ie.

He is a Research Fellow at the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre (ABC) and has contributed directly to national education policy. He undertook a policy audit (funded by the Department of Education), which was presented to the Oireachtas Committee as part of the 'Review of the 2013 Action Plan on Bullying'. This research has informed the recent development of the national 'Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying'. He has also published this research in the journal 'Irish Educational Studies'.