Researcher Details |

Gillian Lake

Contact Details

Fg28

T: Ext. 9209
E: Gillian.Lake@dcu.ie

Assistant Professor In Early Childhood Education

T: (01) 884 2010
E: gillian.lake@dcu.ie

Biography

Gillian is an Assistant Professor in Early Childhood Education and Chair of Postgraduate Studies by Research at DCU Institute of Education. She is also a Fellow of Advance HE, (FHEA) in the UK. She was a Primary Teacher in Ireland for many years before first undertaking an MSc in Child Development & Education (University of Oxford). She was then awarded the Elfrida Talbot Scholarship to undertake a Doctorate of Philosophy in Education at University of Oxford, focusing on language development and Early Childhood Education. She has continued to work in this area, both as a lecturer (DCU & Oxford Brookes University, UK) and a researcher. Her current research projects in the area of Early Childhood Education have allowed her to collaborate with industry, the early childhood sector and international research partners. She was recently invited to join the review panel for the International Journal of Early Years Education and is a regular reviewer for the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. She supervises and welcomes PhD/EdD students in the areas of Early Childhood Education, Language Development, Oral language Interventions, Narrative Development, Play, Evaluation Research and Emerging Literacy.

Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	2018	'The Learning Relationship: Principles of Effective Learning and Practice in the Early Years' Lake, G (2018) 'The Learning Relationship: Principles of Effective Learning and Practice in the Early Years' In: Mary Wild (eds). Professional Dialogues: Rediscovering Early Years Pedagogy and Principles. Cheshire: Critical Publishing Ltd. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	2019	'Let's Talk! An interactive intervention to support children's language development' Lake, G;Evangelou, M (2019) 'Let's Talk! An interactive intervention to support children's language development'. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27 :221-240 [DOI] [Details]

Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
	2019	European Early Childhood Education Research Association, Lake, G, Urban, M, Giblin, F, French, G, Farrell, T (2019) TOY to Share, Play to Care - Impact Evaluation. [Oral Presentation], European Early Childhood Education Research Association, Thessaloniki, Greece , 20-AUG-19 - 23-AUG-19 [Details]
	2018	European Association Research in Learning & Instruction SIG 5 - Learning and Development in Early Childhood, Lake, G, Beckerle, C, Licandro, U, Broens, A (2018) Supporting children’s language development through reflexive interaction during planned pretend play in Symposium Individual language support in heterogeneous children’s groups for conference SIG 5 Conference 2018. [Oral Presentation], European Association Research in Learning & Instruction SIG 5 - Learning and Development in Early Childhood, Berlin , 28-AUG-18 - 30-AUG-18 [Details]
	2017	European Association Research in Learning & Instruction Main Conference, Licandro, U. Lake, G, Beckerie, C, Itel, N (2017) Symposium: Child Language in Preschool Settings: Development and Support. [Oral Presentation], European Association Research in Learning & Instruction Main Conference, Tampere, Finland [Details]
	2017	Intervention Development in the Early Years: from Inception to Implementation,, Lake, G (2017) Intervention devleopment. [Oral Presentation], Intervention Development in the Early Years: from Inception to Implementation,, BERA Conference, Brighton, UK [Details]
	2015	The Role of HLE in Language and Literacy Outcomes at Ages 4 and 5, Evangelou, M, Toulourmakos, A, Lake, (2015) HLE. [Oral Presentation], The Role of HLE in Language and Literacy Outcomes at Ages 4 and 5, Munich, Germany [Details]
	2015	Significance of the findings of a Randomised Control Trial of an oral language intervention in the Early Years, Lake, G (2015) RCT. [Oral Presentation], Significance of the findings of a Randomised Control Trial of an oral language intervention in the Early Years, School of Education, Oxford Brookes University [Details]
	2015	Let’s Talk: An intervention supporting children’s vocabulary and narrative development through storybook reading and sustained planned pretend play in the early years, Lake, G (2015) Description of Doctoral Research. [Oral Presentation], Let’s Talk: An intervention supporting children’s vocabulary and narrative development through storybook reading and sustained planned pretend play in the early years, BERA Conference, Belfast [Details]
	2014	Let’s Talk: An intervention supporting children’s vocabulary and narrative development through storybook reading and sustained planned pretend play in the early years, Lake, G (2014) Doctoral Research. [Poster Presentation ], Let’s Talk: An intervention supporting children’s vocabulary and narrative development through storybook reading and sustained planned pretend play in the early years, University of Oxford [Details]
	2014	Let’s Talk: An intervention supporting children’s vocabulary and narrative development through storybook reading and sustained planned pretend play in the early years, Lake, G (2014) Doctoral Research. [Invited Oral Presentation], Let’s Talk: An intervention supporting children’s vocabulary and narrative development through storybook reading and sustained planned pretend play in the early years, University of Oxford [Details]
	2012	Let’s Talk: Supporting oral language through sustained planned play and storybook reading in the early years, Lake, G (2012) Doctoral Research. [Oral Presentation], Let’s Talk: Supporting oral language through sustained planned play and storybook reading in the early years, EARLI Conference, Utrecht [Details]
	2012	Let’s Talk: Supporting oral language through sustained planned play and storybook reading in the early years, Lake, G (2012) Doctoral Research. [Poster Presentation ], Let’s Talk: Supporting oral language through sustained planned play and storybook reading in the early years, University of Oxford [Details]
	2011	Investigating the effects of The Forward Together Programme on Senior Infant (KS1) children’s literacy levels in Ireland Families, Lake, G (2011) Master's Research. [Invited Oral Presentation], Investigating the effects of The Forward Together Programme on Senior Infant (KS1) children’s literacy levels in Ireland Families, University of Oxford [Details]

Honours and Awards

	Year	Title	Awarding Body
	2015	BERA Conference 2015 Presentation Award	BERA
	2012	Talbot Scholarship, University of Oxford	University of Oxford

Professional Associations

Association	Function	From / To
British Education Research Association	Member	01-JAN-17 / 01-JAN-20
European Early Childhood Education Research Association	Member	01-JAN-15 /
European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)	Member	01-JAN-17 /

Committees

Committee	Function	From / To
National Academic Integrity Network	DCU Representative	2020 / 2022
Faculty Research Admissions Panel	Chair	2019 / Ongoing
Graduate Research Studies Board	Co-opted Member	2019 / 2021
Kilcloon Parents' Association	Committee member	2018 / 2019

Employment

Employer	Position	From / To
Oxford Brookes University	Senior Lecturer in Child Development & Education	01-SEP-14 / 17-JAN-18
Oxford Brookes University	Associate Lecturer	01-JAN-11 / 31-AUG-14
University of Oxford	Temporary Research Assistant	01-MAY-11 / 01-SEP-11
Ratoath JNS	Mainstream Primary Teacher (Permanent)	01-SEP-03 / 01-SEP-10

Education

Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
2019	ILM/DCU	Professional Skills for Research Leaders	Leadership in Research
2017	Oxford Brookes University	Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education	Teaching in Higher Education
2015	University of Oxford	DPhil in Education	Education
2011	University of Oxford	MSc in Education (Child Development & Education)	Education
2006	Royal Irish Academy of Music	Associate Diploma in Speech and Drama (Teacher)	Speech and Drama
2003	St Patrick's College, Drumcondra	Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary)	Education (Primary)
2001	DIT, Aungier St	MA in Public Relations	Public Relations
2000	UCD	BSSc (International)	Social Science

Languages

	Language	Reading	Writing	Speaking
	FRENCH	Functional	Functional	Functional

Reviews

	Journal	Role
	Oxford Review Of Education	Reviewer
	International Journal Of Early Years Education	Reviewer
	European Early Childhood Education Research Journal	Reviewer

Enterprise Engagement

	Year	Engagement Type	Organisation	Description
	2017	Consultancy	Gatsby Foundation, London	Invited to give workshop on 'Reading Research Reports - Statistics'
	2016	Consultancy	University of Oxford, Education Endowment Foundation, Behavioural Insights	Invited to deliver training and advice on language assessments to research assistants on an extensive UK-wide research project.

Outreach Activities

Year	Engagement Type	Organisation	Description
2018	Presentations/Talks to an external audience	Kilcloon Parents' Association	Talk to Kilcloon Parents' Association. The Importance of Play in Young Children's Development
2019	Advisory Work	Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick	External Examiner on BA Early Childhood Practice
2020	Advisory Work	Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick	External Examiner on Bachelor of Education
2019	Presentations/Talks to an external audience	St John Baptist Infant School, Clontarf	Talk to St John Baptist Infant School, Clontarf. 'Supporting young children's development through play - tips and tricks'

Media

	Title	Year	Type	Authors
	Newstalk: Between the Lines: Childhood Early Years and the Importance of Play	2019	Radio Interviews	Lake, G

Research Interests

Oral language Intervention
Emerging Literacy
Narrative Development
Pretend Play Early Years
Partnership in the Early Years
Enabling Parents in the Early Years
Evaluation research
Professional Development in the Early Years
Early Years Pedagogy

Chair of Postgraduate Studies by Research (PhD/Masters by Research)

In addition to the PhD Supervisees listed, I am supervising David Henson in his EdD at Oxford Brookes University, UK.

Research Projects

Title	Funder	From - To	Role	Award
Supporting Transition of young children from preschool to primary school	Child Paths Ltd	28-SEP-20 - 03-JAN-22	PI	5,122.00
Evaluating Let’s Talk - Early Years Professionals’ perceptions of the implementation of a language programme for young children	Previous consultancy	08-JUN-20 - 07-JUN-21	PI
Space Academy	Science Foundation Ireland/Mind the Gap Films	06-APR-20 - 06-JUN-21	Evaluator	4,500.00
Evaluating the Impact of TOY to share, Play to Care	DCU IoE Elevator Fund	20-AUG-19 - 23-AUG-19	Individual Paper at EECERA Conference	600.00
Suite Science - Evaluation Report	UCD Insight Centre/SFI	15-MAY-19 - 14-FEB-20	Evaluator	4,500.00
TOY to share, Play to care	Erasmus+	31-JAN-19 - 30-JAN-21	Researcher	50,000.00
International Collaborative Meet on Language Development in the Early Years, Germany	DCU IoE Elevator Fund	01-MAY-18 - 31-JUL-18	Convenor	925.00
Partnership perspectives on the research, parent and practitioner triumvirate in the Early Years	Oxford Brookes University	01-APR-17 - 15-JAN-18	PI	2,000.00
Let’s Talk! An intervention supporting children’s vocabulary and narrative development through sustained planned pretend play and group shared storybook reading in the early years	University of Oxford	03-OCT-11 - 30-JUN-15	Principal Investigator	10,000.00

Current Postgraduate Students

Student	Degree Type	Supervision Type
Binabdulrahman , Hibah	PhD-track	Supervisor
Alshehri , Arwa	PhD-track	Supervisor
Merrins-Gallagher , Aoife	PhD-track	Supervisor
Liu , Weiyi	PhD-track	Supervisor

External Collaborators

Name	Organisation / Institute	Country
Ciaran Flynn	Child Paths	IRELAND
Camille Catlett	Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	U.S.A.
Anne Heffernan	Mind the Gap Films	IRELAND
Kildare County Childcare Committee	Kildare County Childcare Committee	IRELAND
Dr Maria Evangelou	University of Oxford	UNITED KINGDOM
Professor Mary Wild	Oxford Brookes University	UNITED KINGDOM
Rebecca Matthews	Oxford Brookes University	UNITED KINGDOM
Professor Ulla Licandro	University of Oldenburg	GERMANY

Teaching Interests

Chair of Postgraduate Studies by Research (PhD/Masters by Research)

Child Development
Language Development
Early Education
Intervention Research
Research Methods
Psychology of Learning
Undergraduate and postgraduate research supervision

Modules Coordinated

	Term (ID))	Title	Link	Subject
	2020	Formative Assessment of Early Learning	EC321	Formative Assessment of Early Learning