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 also an Associate Editor of the leading Quartile 1 journal ‘School Leadership and Management', which has an impact factor of 3.3 (2024) and a five-year impact factor of 5.3.

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 led a Department of Education/Oide 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. 

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'.