Sabrina is Co-Director of CREATE—The Centre for Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education—and an Assistant Professor of Education in the School of Policy and Practice at IOE, DCU.
She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and leads several Education Theory modules on the Bachelor of Religious Education and English / History / Music programme (BRelEd) and the Bachelor of Education in Gaeilge and French/German/Spanish (BEdLan). Sabrina has a particular interest in Challenge Based Learning (CBL) pedagogy and ways to support students to bridge the theory-practice divide.
While she has engaged in research across a range of ITE topics, Sabrina is most keenly interested in educators' occupational wellbeing. For example, Sabrina's recent research explored wellbeing, burnout and rustout in HEI-based Teacher Educators in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
With colleagues in DCU CREATE, Sabrina is also engaged in collaborative research on the mental health and wellbeing of teachers, student-teachers, leaders, and HEI academics in Ireland and the UK.
Sabrina is a graduate member of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI).
Sabrina's research has been featured on RTE Drivetime, RTE Brainstorm, The Conversation, 'Let's Talk Education Research' Podcast, and the Education Matters Vodcast. She was an invited keynote speaker at the Westminster Education Forum Conference.
Peer Reviewed Journal
Year | Publication | |
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2025 | Fitzsimons, S.; Smith, D.S. (2025) '“Just plough on and pretend it’s not happening”: Understanding burnout in teacher educators in Ireland and the United Kingdom'. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 9 . [Link] [DOI] | |
2025 | Fitzsimons, S.; Boag, L.; Smith, D.S. (2025) 'Understanding Teacher Educators' Quality of Life: Insights from the PERMA Model'. Applied Research in Quality of Life, . [Link] [DOI] | |
2025 | Fitzsimons, S.; Smith, D.S. (2025) '‘Don’t do anything special for us coming’: the mental health impact of Ofsted inspections on teacher educators in England'. Cambridge Journal of Education, 55 . [Link] [DOI] | |
2024 | Fitzsmions, S.; sexton, pj; Lehane, P.; Donlon., E.; Karakolidis, A.; McDonald, E.; Keever, C. (2024) 'Understanding pre-service teachers’ improvement in professional practice: A quantitative perspective'. Irish Educational Studies, . [DOI] | |
2021 | Kavanagh, S; Sexton, P; Fitzsimons, S. (2021) 'Transforming Middle Leadership in Education and Training Board Post-Primary Schools in Ireland'. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH, 8 (1). [Link] [DOI] | |
2020 | Donlon, E., McDonald, E., Fitzsimons, S., & Sexton, P. (2020) 'Being and Belonging: Student-Teachers’ Contextual Engagement in Schools'. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 46 (6):95-113. [DOI] | |
2016 | Fitzsimons, S. and Farren, M. (2016) 'A Brave New World: Considering the Pedagogic Potential of Virtual World Field Trips (VWFTs) in Initial Teacher Education'. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH, Vol. 3 (1). [Link] https://doi.org/10.1515/ijtr-2016-0002 | |
2013 | Fitzsimons, S. (2013) 'The road less travelled: The journey of immersion into the virtual field'. Ethnography and Education, 8 . [Link] [DOI] |
Book Chapter
Year | Publication | |
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2013 | Fitzsimons, S. (2013) 'Conducting Research in a Virtual World' In: Crotty, Y and Farren, M(Eds.). Digital Literacies in Education. : Peter Lang. | |
2012 | Fitzsimons, S. (2012) 'Part Three: Online Ethnography and Education' In: Rethinking Education Ethnography: Researching On-Line Communities and Interactions. Barcelona : Esbrina. Universitat de Barcelona. [Link] |
Conference Contribution
Electronic Publication
Year | Publication | |
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2025 | Fitzsimons,S; O'Farrell, P.; Furlong, C. (2025) Crisis in the classroom: burnout and stress amongst Irish teachers. ELECP [Link] |
Media
Research Interests
- Mental Health - Mental health and Wellbeing in Education, for example, burnout in HEI academics, teacher educators, teachers, school leaders, student-teachers and others working in the field of education.
- Teacher Education - Student teachers' progression on placement, Student teachers' engagement with research, teacher identity, the role of the teacher in teacher education and other related themes.
- Innovative Practices - Teaching and learning in virtual environments, challenge-based learning, creative classroom practices (including the use of various technologies to support teaching and learning).
Teaching Interests
- The foundation disciplines (with a specific interest in the psychology of education)
- Practice-based research within Initial Teacher Education, Online/Virtual ethnography and other research methods.
- Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds.