Researcher Details |

Caitriona NI Cassaithe

Ms.

Contact Details

Assistant Professor in History Education
Dublin City University, Institute of Education,
St. Patrick's Campus
Drumcondra
Dublin
T:00353 1 700 9170

E:caitriona.nicassaithe@dcu.ie

Caitríona Ní Cassaithe is an Assistant Professor in History Education in the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. Her expertise is in the areas of historical enquiry and the development of children’s historical thinking skills. Her other research interests include: heritage and place-based education, teaching controversial issues and disciplinary literacy.

Caitríona is co-chair of the History Educators International Research Network (HEIRNET), sits on the executive board of Public History Weekly and is the Irish coordinator of the History Teachers Education Network (HTEN). She is also on the steering committee of the Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship (CHRCE) at DCU and is a member of DCU Educational Disadvantage Centre and the DCU Centre for Literacy Research, Policy and Practice.

Caitríona is the Irish PI for the LETHE Erasmus Plus project looking at (e-)learning the invisible and hidden histories of Europe through material culture using object-based learning pedagogies.

Book Chapter

	Year	Publication
	2024	Barry,M.; Ní Cassaithe, C.; Whelan, P.; Oberman, R. (2024) 'Big Picture History for a contemporary crisis: Climate change education in the history classroom' In: Big Picture History for a contemporary crisis: Climate change education in the history classroom. Ireland : A. Dolan.
	2024	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Waldron, F. (2024) 'Making visible the invisible: Historical enquiry and the nature of historical knowledge' In: In M. Gago, I. Barca & L. A. Marques Alves (Eds.). Educação histórica: teoria e investigação empíric. Ireland : CITCEM.
	2024	Allen, A.; Kavanagh, A.M.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2024) 'Disrupting single narratives through the power of story' In: In A. Allen, A.M. Kavanagh & C. Ní Cassaithe (Eds.). Beyond single stories: Changing narratives for. Ireland : Information age Publishers.
	2024	Kavanagh, A.M.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2024) 'Seeing the world through alternative eyes: Using Indigenous stories and knowledge to teach about socio-ecological issues' In: In A. Allen, A.M. Kavanagh & C. Ní Cassaithe (Eds.). Beyond single stories: Changing narratives for. Ireland : Information age Publishers.
	2023	Pike, S.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2023) 'Teacher education. Literature review for integration in Social and Environmental Education' In: Social and Environmental Education: A Review of Research and Scholarship in Geography, History and E. Dublin, Ireland : National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
	2023	Pike, S.; Ní Cassaithe, C.; Whelan, P. (2023) 'Literature review for integration in Social and Environmental Education' In: Social and Environmental Education: A Review of Research and Scholarship in Geography, History and. Dublin, Ireland : National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
	2023	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Whelan, P. (2023) 'History. In: S. Pike, C. Ní Cassaithe, N. McGuirk, J. Usher, B. Mallon & R. Whelan, (Eds.) Social and Environmental Education: A Review of Research and Scholarship in Geography, History and Education about Religions and Beliefs in the Context of the Redeveloped Irish Primary School Curriculum' In: Social and Environmental Education: A Review of Research and Scholarship in Geography, History and. Dublin : National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
	2023	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Pike, S. (2023) 'Introduction. In: S. Pike, C. Ní Cassaithe, N. McGuirk, J. Usher, B. Mallon & R. Whelan, (Eds.) Social and Environmental Education: A Review of Research and Scholarship in Geography, History and Education about Religions and Beliefs in the Context of the Redeveloped Irish Primary School Curriculum' In: Social and Environmental Education: A Review of Research and Scholarship in Geography, History and E. Dublin, Ireland : National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
	2012	Ni Cassaithe, C. & Mooney, J. (2012) 'For whom the banshee wails' In: Census 3, The third seven towers anthology. Dublin : Seven Towers.

Peer Reviewed Journal

	Year	Publication
	2023	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Chapman, A. (2023) 'The ‘British’ Isles: Complex histories or simple geographies?'. Public History Weekly, 11 (5). [Link]
	2023	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Janssen. L. (2023) '“Shadows cast by our shared past” – the Irish Famine'. Public History Weekly, 11 (5). [Link]
	2022	Kavanagh, A.M.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2022) 'Unsilencing the histories of Ireland’s indigenous minority'. Public History Weekly, 10 (2). [Link]
	2022	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Waldron, F.; Dooley, T. (2022) '“We can’t really know cos we weren’t really there”: Identifying Irish primary children’s bottleneck beliefs about history'. HISTORICAL ENCOUNTERS-A JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS HISTORICAL CULTURES AND HISTORY EDUCATION, 9 (1):78-100. [DOI]
	2022	Chapman, A.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2022) 'Sounding the silences: History, revision and inclusion'. Public History Weekly, 10 (2). [Link]
	2021	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Chapman, A. (2021) 'History education in a climate of crisis'. Public History Weekly, 9 (1). [Link]
	2021	Lynn, T.; Ní Cassaithe, C.; Rosati, P. (2021) 'Recording the Irish experience in Ireland and abroad: The Irish Covid-19 oral history project'. Oral History Review, 49 (1).
	2021	O’Connell, C.; Mallon, B.; Ní Cassaithe, C.; Barry, M. (2021) 'Addressing the complexity of contemporary slavery: Towards a critical framework for educators'. Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, 32 :10-32. [Link]
	2022	Ní Cassaithe, C., Waldron, F., & Dooley, T. (2022) '“We can’t really know cos we weren’t really there”: Identifying Irish primary children’s bottleneck beliefs about history'. HISTORICAL ENCOUNTERS-A JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS HISTORICAL CULTURES AND HISTORY EDUCATION, 9 (1). https://doi.org/10.52289/hej9.105
	2022	Arthur Chapman & Caitríona Ní Cassaithe (2022) 'Sounding the silences: History, revision and inclusion'. Public History Weekly, 10 (2). [Link] [DOI]
	2022	Anne Marie Kavanagh & Caitríona Ní Cassaithe (2022) 'Unsilencing the Histories of Ireland’s Indigenous Minority'. Public History Weekly, 10 (2). [Link] [DOI]
	2021	O'Connell, C., Mallon, B., Ní Cassaithe, C., & Barry, M. (2021) 'Addressing the complexity of contemporary slavery through critical development education'. Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, 31 .
	2021	Ní Cassaithe, C. & Chapman A. (2021) 'History Education in a Climate of Crisis'. Public History Weekly, 9 (1). [Link] [DOI]

Other Journal

	Year	Publication
	2021	Lynn, T., Ní Cassaithe, C., & Rosati, P. (2021) 'Recording the Irish experience in Ireland and abroad: The Irish Covid-19 oral history project' 49 (1) :27-29.
	2018	Ní Cassaithe, C. (2018) 'When a picture paints more than a thousand words: Visual literacy in the history classroom' :60-62. [Link]

Conference Contribution

	Year	Publication
	2023	Barsch, S.; Clares, E.; Egea, A.; Johansson, M.; Kaskikis, K.; Mathis, C.; Ni Cassaithe, C.; Nordgren, K; Pinto, H.; Whelan, P. (2023) Paper presented at HEIRNET 2023: History in Times of Uncertainty LETHE Project. (e-)Learning the invisible history of Europe through material culture Stockholm, Sweden, .
	2023	Li-Ching Ho; Keith Barton; Crystena Parker-Shandal; Anne Marie Kavanagh; Caitriona Ní Cassaithe; Tricia Seow; Quynh Dang; Kyle OBrien; Yun-Wen Chan; Min Yu (2023) 103rd National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference Symposium: Hope and critical harmony: Civic education and global possibilities Nashville, Tennessee, United States, .
	2023	Velez, A.; Johansson M.; Reich, G.; Kitson, A.; Barsch, S.; Ní Cassaithe, C.; Nordgren, K. (2023) HEIRNET 2023: History in times of uncertainty Opening panel, at HEIRNET 2023: History in times of uncertainty Stockholm, Sweden, .
	2023	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Pace, J. (2023) 103rd National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference Building Young children’s critical capacity to understand controversial history: Comparing two cases from Ireland and England Nashville, Tennessee, United States, .
	2023	Kavanagh, A.M.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2023) Paper Presented at the Academic Network on Global Education & Learning (ANGEL) Conference 2023 Unsilencing our storied past: Using indigenous stories and knowledge systems to imagine a more sustainable world Council of Europe, Paris, France, .
	2023	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Kavanagh, A.M. (2023) Paper presented at HEIRNET 2023: History in Times of Uncertainty Seeing the world through alternative eyes: Using Indigenous stories and knowledge to teach about socio-ecological issues Stockholm, Sweden, .
	2023	Zanazanian, P.; Ní Cassaithe, C.; Whelan, P.; Apostolidou, E.; Reich, G. (2023) Paper presented at HEIRNET 2023: History in Times of Uncertainty Community activists and historical consciousness: Uses and implications of schematic narrative templates in their sense-making for positive social change Stockholm, Sweden, .
	2022	Kavanagh, A.M.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2022) Paper presented at Irish Travellers / Mincéirs & the State, 1922-2022: The Struggle for Equality Using Mincéir knowledge systems to think differently about the natural environment Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway, .
	2022	Kavanagh, A.M; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2022) Paper presented at Social Science Education Consortium Conference.DCU Institute of Education Unsilencing our storied past: Using Irish indigenous stories and knowledge in primary education DCU Institute of Education, Dublin, .
	2021	Waldron, F.; Ní Cassaithe, C.; Barry, M.; Whelan, P. (2021) Paper presented at HEIRNET 2021: Public history, historical culture, identity and pedagogy Using the CHEC framework to think critically about the past online, .
	2021	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Whelan, P. (2021) Paper presented at HEIRNET 2021: Public history, historical culture, identity and pedagogy The men (and women) beyond the wire: How the historical consciousness of republican ex-prisoner community activists informs decision making in promoting the Irish language Online, .
	2020	Ní Cassaithe, C. (2020) Paper presented at ESAI Conference 2020: Opening Up Education: Options, Obstacles and Opportunities Narratives of the nation among Irish student primary teachers: A longitudinal study (DCU online), Dublin, Ireland, .
	2019	Ní Cassaithe, C. (2019) Research Seminar: ‘Enhancing historical reasoning: measuring and developing students' epistemologica Challenging children’s epistemic beliefs about history through learning trajectories The University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, .
	2018	Ní Cassaithe, C. (2018) HEIRNET 2018: History Education and Meeting the Challenges of Immigration, Regionalism and Sectarian A scaffold to break out of the cage?’ Primary children’s beliefs about history Ionian University, Corfu, Greece, .
	2018	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Watkins, N.; Whelan, P. (2018) Literacy Association of Ireland 42nd Annual Conference: Literacy without Borders Dismantling curricular borders: Meaningful integration in the teaching of English and history Marino Institute of Education, Dublin, Ireland, .
	2017	Ruane, B.; Ni Cassaithe, C.; Waldron, F.; Whelan, P. (2017) HEIRNET 2017: History Education In Challenging Times: Meeting ‘The Other’ Across Time And Space Remembering our nation’s past: Narratives of the nation among student primary teachers Dublin, Ireland, .
	2017	Ni Cassaithe, C. (2017) HEIRNET 2017: History Education In Challenging Times: Meeting ‘The Other’ Across Time And Space ‘The apparatus can't mistake’: Children’s ideas about historical images Dublin, Ireland, .
	2015	Ni Cassaithe, C. (2015) Presentation at the Sarah Lundberg Summer School Teaching primary history, no textbook required Dublin, Ireland, .
	2019	Caitriona Ni Cassaithe (2019) HEIRNET 2019: Public history, historical culture, identity and pedagogy Children’s epistemic beliefs about history and how they may be addressed The University of Vienna, Austria, 02/09/2019-04/09/2019.
	2015	Caitriona Ni Cassaithe (Co-presented with children from 3rd class, St. Joseph’s Co-ed., East Wall (2015) Sarah Lundberg Summer School Teaching primary history, no textbook required Dublin, .
	2019	Caitriona Ni Cassaithe (2019) Research seminar: 'Enhancing historical reasoning: measuring and developing students' epistemological understanding Children’s epistemic beliefs about history and how to address them The University of Amsterdam, 09/09/2019-11/09/2019.
	2019	Caitriona Ni Cassaithe (2019) HEIRNET 2019: Public history, historical culture, identity and pedagogy Narratives of the nation among Irish student primary teachers in the centenary of commemorations The University of Vienna, Austria, 02/09/2019-04/09/2019.
	2018	Caitriona Ní Cassaithe (2018) HEIRNET 2018: History Education and Meeting the Challenges of Immigration, Regionalism and Sectarianism ‘A scaffold to break out of the cage?’ Children’s beliefs about history and how to address them Ionian University, Corfu, Greece, 31/07/2018-02/09/2018.
	2017	Caitriona Ni Cassaithe (2017) HEIRNET 2017: History Education In Challenging Times: Meeting ‘The Other’ Across Time And Space 'The apparatus can't mistake’ (Dion Boucicault, 1859) Children’s ideas about historical images and how to address them Dublin, .

Documentary

	Year	Publication
	2018	Gallagher, B. (2018) Radio Documentary: Busy with words: celebrating the life of Irish writer John D. Sheridan. DOC
	2018	Brian Gallagher (2018) Busy with words: celebrating the life of Irish writer John D. Sheridan. DOC

Web Page

	Year	Publication
	2017	Caitriona Ní Cassaithe (2017) How can intercultural expertise, skills and competences be deepened?. WEBP [Link]

Book

	Year	Publication
	2024	Allen, A.; Kavanagh, A.M.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2024) Moving beyond single stories. (2024). Ireland: Information age Publishers.
	2023	Mallon, B.; Waldron, F.; Cassaithe, C.N. (2023) Pushing the Boundaries of Human Rights Education: Concepts, Challenges and Contexts. [Link]
	2023	(2023) Beyond single stories: Changing narratives for a changing world. Charlotte: Information Age Publishers.

Other Publication

	Year	Publication
	2022	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Mallon, B. (2022) Modern Slavery: Joining the dots in the classroom. [Link]
	2021	Ní Cassaithe, C.; Mooney, J.; McGuinness, H (2021) Video Documentary (Narrators/Producers). War and Peace in a Docklands Hotel.
	2020	Laffan, D.; Ní Cassaithe, C. (2020) Could teachers use video games to teach history?.
	2020	(2020) Bringing the ethical back into enquiry-cased practices. [Link]
	2018	Ní Cassaithe, C. (2018) When a picture paints more than a thousand words: Visual literacy in the history classroom.

Thesis

	Year	Publication
	2020	Ní Cassaithe, Caitríona. (2020) “Which is the truth? It’s actually both of them”: a design-based teaching experiment using learning trajectories to enhance Irish primary children’s epistemic beliefs about history. PhD thesis. THES [Link]

Published Report

	Year	Publication
	2023	Pike, S.; Ní Cassaithe, C.; McGuirk, N.; Usher, J.; Mallon, B.; Whelan, P. (2023) Social and Environmental Education: A Review of Research and Scholarship in Geography, History and Education about Religion and Beliefs in the Context of the Redeveloped Irish Primary School Curriculum. National Council for Curriculum & Assessment (NCCA), .
	2022	(2022) Observatory on History Teaching in Europe (OHTE). (2022). Pandemics and natural disasters reflected in history teaching. Council of Europe, .

Professional Associations

Association	Function	From / To
Irish Association of Professional Historians	Member	-
Historical Association	Member	-
History Educators International Research Network (HEIRNET)	Committee Member	-
Public History Weekly	Blog Journal	-

Honors and Awards

	Date	Title	Awarding Body
	01/07/2020	IoE Teaching & Learning Project Funding Scheme	IoE

Committees

Committee	Function	From / To
HEIRNET Committee		20/02/2024 -
Public History Weekly/De Gruyter	Public History Weekly is a peer-reviewed academic international BlogJournal is journal on all aspects of public history	-
Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education	The Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education (CHRCE) champions educational policy and practice which promotes human rights, children’s rights, global justice and environmental sustainability.	-

Employment

	Employer	Position	From / To
	Department of Education	Primary Teacher	15/08/2003 - 01/09/2017
	St. Patrick's College	Part-time lecturer in History Education	17/01/2008 - 17/01/2016

Education

Start date	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	St. Patrick's College	Degree
	DIT	Post Graduate Diploma
	CDVEC	Certificate
	DCU	Advanced Diploma in Education
01/09/2014	Dublin City University	M.Ed. - PG Dip. Ed (History, Geography & Local Studies)	History, Geography & Local Studies

Languages

	Language	Reading	Writing	Speaking
	English
	Irish

Reviews

	Journal	Role
	HISTORICAL ENCOUNTERS-A JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS HISTORICAL CULTURES AND HISTORY EDUCATION	Reviewer
	Teaching and Teacher Education	Reviewer

Other Activities

	Description
	https://www.dcu.ie/chrce/index.shtml
	https://heirnetonline.com/

Enterprise Engagement

Year	Engagement Type	Client	Description
2022	Consultancy	Observatory on History Teaching in Europe (OHTE) Council of Europe (COE)	Irish Principal Investigator for the OHTE Thematic Report “Pandemics and Natural Disasters as Reflected in History Teaching”
2020	Invited talk/presentation	PastFwd	Ni Cassaithe, C. (2020). Bringing the ethical back into enquiry-based practices. Video presentation for #PastFwd
2020	Invited talk/presentation	Irish Institute of Digital Business	Interview with Daire Keogh and Caitriona Ní Cassaithe (Covid 19 Oral History Project)
2023	Invited talk/presentation	History Teacher Educators Network	Using story as a culturally sustaining pedagogy for teaching about environmental crises and sustainability

Outreach Activities

Year	Engagement Type	Organisation	Description
2018	Educational Outreach/Public Engagement	Newstalk	Gallagher, B. (2018). Radio Documentary: Busy with words: celebrating the life of Irish writer John D. Sheridan.https://www.mixcloud.com/newstalkdocumentaries/busy-with-words-documentary-on-newstalk/
2020	Educational Outreach/Public Engagement	RTE Brainstorm	Laffan, D. & Ní Cassaithe, C. (2020). Could teachers use video games to teach history? https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0824/1160945-video-games-teaching-history/
2020	Presentations/Talks to an external audience	East Wall History Group	Ní Cassaithe, C. (2020). Contagion, Cromwell and the case of the disappearing island. Video presentation for Short Stories, Tall Tales https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-SKN7OsHwY

Media

Title	Year	Type	Authors
Contagion, Cromwell and the case of the disappearing island	2020	Documentary	Caitriona Ni Cassaithe
War and Peace in a Docklands Hotel	2021	Documentary	Ní Cassaithe, C., Mooney, J., & McGuinness, H.
Blacklegs and cabbage stalks - East Wall School-Boys strike 1911	2020	Documentary	Caitriona Ni Cassaithe
Busy with words: celebrating the life of Irish writer John D. Sheridan	2018	Documentary	Brian Gallagher

Research Interests

Caitriona’s research interests include: the learning and teaching of history at primary and post-primary level, digital technologies in teaching history (particularly Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality), the teaching of controversial / contested issues in primary history, museum, heritage and place-based education and disciplinary literacy. She is also interested in social justice education, education for sustainable development, intercultural education, human rights education and global citizenship education through a historical lens.

Research Projects

Title	Role	Description	Start date	End date
(e-)Learning the invisible history of Europe through material culture	DCU PI		01/02/2022	31/01/2025
Social and Environmental Education: A review of research and scholarship in geography, history and Education about Religions and Beliefs in the context of the redeveloped Irish Primary School Curriculum	DCU PI	A report commissioned by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to inform the ongoing development of Ireland’s curriculum for primary and special schools. The report is the result of a desk-based literature review to investigate the research evidence for learning in the subjects that make up SEE in the curriculum, that is geography, history and ERB.	02/09/2022	19/05/2023
Thematic Report on Pandemics, Epidemics and Natural Disasters as Reflected in History Teaching	DCU PI		02/05/2022	31/12/2022

Teaching Interests

Caitriona’s main teaching interests are in the areas of initial teacher education at undergraduate and postgraduate and Masters level. She designs and delivers lectures, workshops and seminars on history education, place-based education and digital pedagogies. Her courses focus on the blending of theory and practice for innovative education rooted in the ethical dimensions of teaching and learning.

Courses Taught:

Undergraduate

ED 1023 BEd1 History Education - Early Years

ED 1024 BEd1 Teacher as Reflective Practitioner

ED 2026 BEd2 History Education - Senior classes

ED 2023 BEd2 Teacher as Reflective Practitioner

ED 3056 BEd3 Local Studies and Outdoor Learning in history, geography & science

ED 4059 BEd4 Self-Study Projects (History Education)

Postgraduate

ED 9063 PMEP1 History Education - Junior and Senior Primary History

Specialisms

SG 218 BEd2 Developing Teachers' Practice and Planning in History

SG 219 BEd2 Bringing Story into History (Disciplinary Literacy)

SG 319 BEd3 Controversial Issues in History

SG 320 BEd3 Citizenship and History

SG 419 BEd4 Digital Literacy in History

Masters in Education

MEDLPP EC909 Disciplinary Literacy in History

Courses Co-ordinated

Module co-ordinator of ED9063 (History, Geography, Science & Global Citizenship)

Module co-ordinator of SG218 Developing Practice and Planning in Historical Enquiry (Specialism)

Module co-ordinator of SG419 Digital Literacy in History (Specialism)

Modules Coordinated

Term	Title	Subject
BEd 1	History Education (2019-2022)	ED1026
PMEP 1	Teaching Primary History	ED9063
BEd 4	Digital Literacies in History	SG416
BEd 2	Purpose and Practice in History	SG218
PMEP 1	Social, Environmental, Scientific & Global Education	ED9063