Gillian Lake

Dr.

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Dr Gillian Lake 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 PhD 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 (Expert Advisor to Child Paths Ltd), the early childhood sector and international research partners (collaborators here).  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. Gillian was shortlisted for both the DCU President's  Award for Excellence in Teaching and the DCU President's Award for  Engagement in 2021.  She was presented with a Research Ally Prize from the Irish Research Council in December 2022 for her work in supporting and supervising research students.  She is DCU's representative on the National Academic Integrity Network.  Most recently, she and her colleague Dr Fiona O Riordan completed a project which investigated Awareness of Academic Integrity across all DCU stakeholder (National Forum for the  Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education).  

Book Chapter

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

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2023 McLean, K, Lake, G, Wild, M, Licandro, U, Evangelou, M (2023) 'Perspectives of play and play-based learning: What do adults think play is?'. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 48 (1). https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221130790
2022 Lake, G.; Urban, M.; Giblin, F.; French, G.; Farrell, T. (2022) 'Making a difference in the real world. User-centred impact evaluation of an eight-country, community-based early childhood programme'. Evaluation and Program Planning, 92 . [Link] [DOI]
2021 Gillian Lake (2021) 'Article to Action: Supporting Peer Mediated Intervention'. Young Exceptional Children, 24 (2):108-110. [DOI]
2019 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]

Conference Contribution

Year Publication
2023 MARIA EVANGELOU TSITIRIDOU; Gillian Lake; Eleni Tympa (2023) EARLI Conference 2023 Let's play and talk! An intervention to support vocabulary and narrative development for 3 year olds Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, .
2023 Eleni Tympa; Maria Evangelou-Tsitiridou; Gillian Lake; Vatou Athina; Vatou Anastasia; Evridiki Zachopoulou (2023) EECERA 31st Conference 2023 ‘Let’s play and talk!’ A development of an early years’ intervention to enhance children’s soft skills through sustained planned pretend play Lisbon, Portugal, .
2022 O'Riordan, Fiona; Lake, Gillian (2022) AHE An Academic Integrity Awareness Campaign Across a University Manchester, England, .
2022 Binabdulrahman, Hibah; Lake, Gillian (2022) 7th Lancaster Conference on Infant and Early Child Development Exploring preschool stakeholders' perceptions of the value of the development of critical thinking skills in early childhood in Saudi Arabia Lancaster, England, .
2022 O' Keeffe, Christina; McNally, Sinead; O'Toole, Andrea; Liu, Weiyi; Lake, Gillian (2022) 22nd European Conference on Literacy and the 46th Annual Conference of the Literacy Association of A Scoping Review of Early Childhood Education Literacy Instruction for Young Autistic Learners Dublin, .
2021 Lake, Gillian (2021) EECERA Annual Conference The use of software solution to support children’s transition from Pre-school to Primary School online, .
2021 Lake, Gillian (2021) Lancaster Conference on Infant & Early Child Development Supporting an ecological perspective for children’s transition from Pre-school to Primary School online, .
2021 Merrins-Gallagher, Aoife; Lake, Gillian (2021) EECERA Annual Conference Telling the Tale of An English-Irish Bilingual Oral Narrative Programme for Linguistically Diverse Junior Primary Classrooms online, .
2021 Binabdulrahman, Hibah; Lake, Gillian (2021) Pedagogical and Early Education Research Student (PEERS) Conference An exploration of preschool stakeholders’ perceptions of critical thinking skills for preschool children in Saudi Arabia online, .
2021 O Riordan, Fiona; Lake, Gillian (2021) International Center for Academic Integrity Academic Integrity Awareness Campaign Across a University online, .
2021 O Riordan, Fiona; Lake, Gillian (2021) AHE An Academic Integrity Awareness Campaign Across a University online, .
2021 Lieu, Weiyi; McNally, Sinead; Lake, Gillian (2021) Early Childhood Ireland Research Symposium Shared Book Reading in bilingual Irish-Chinese families and monolingual Irish families in Early Childhood online, .
2019 Lake, G, Urban, M, Giblin, F, French, G, Farrell, T (2019) European Early Childhood Education Research Association TOY to Share, Play to Care - Impact Evaluation Thessaloniki, Greece, 20/08/2019-23/08/2019.
2018 Lake, G, Beckerle, C, Licandro, U, Broens, A (2018) European Association Research in Learning & Instruction SIG 5 - Learning and Development in Early Childhood 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 Berlin, 28/08/2018-30/08/2018.
2017 Licandro, U. Lake, G, Beckerie, C, Itel, N (2017) European Association Research in Learning & Instruction Main Conference Symposium: Child Language in Preschool Settings: Development and Support Tampere, Finland, .
2017 Lake, G (2017) Intervention Development in the Early Years: from Inception to Implementation Intervention devleopment BERA Conference, Brighton, UK, .
2015 Evangelou, M, Toulourmakos, A, Lake, (2015) The Role of HLE in Language and Literacy Outcomes at Ages 4 and 5 HLE Munich, Germany, .
2015 Lake, G (2015) Significance of the findings of a Randomised Control Trial of an oral language intervention in the Early Years RCT School of Education, Oxford Brookes University, .
2015 Lake, G (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 Description of Doctoral Research BERA Conference, Belfast, .
2014 Lake, G (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 Doctoral Research University of Oxford, .
2014 Lake, G (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 Doctoral Research University of Oxford, .
2012 Lake, G (2012) Let’s Talk: Supporting oral language through sustained planned play and storybook reading in the early years Doctoral Research EARLI Conference, Utrecht, .
2012 Lake, G (2012) Let’s Talk: Supporting oral language through sustained planned play and storybook reading in the early years Doctoral Research University of Oxford, .
2011 Lake, G (2011) Investigating the effects of The Forward Together Programme on Senior Infant (KS1) children’s literacy levels in Ireland Families Master's Research University of Oxford, .

Published Report

Year Publication
2021 Mathias Urban, Gillian Lake, Geraldine French, Fiona Giblin, Therese Farrell (2021) TOY for Inclusion Impact evaluation and policy recommendations. Executive summary. ICDI, .
2020 Urban, M., Lake, G., French, G., Giblin, F. & Farrell, T. (2020) TOY to Share, Play to Care Impact evaluation and policy recommendations: Final report. International Child Development Initiatives(ICDI), . [Link]
2022 French, G.; McKenna, G.; Giblin, F.; Concannon-Gibney, T.; Farrell, T.; Gillic, C.; Halligan, C.; Lake, G.; Ni Dhiorbhain, A.; Ni Laimhin, M.; O'Neill, S. (2022) Literature review to support the updating of Aistear, the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, . [Link]
2022 French, G., McKenna, G., Giblin, F., Concannon-Gibney, T., Farrell, T., Gillic, C., Halligan, C., Lake, G., Ní Dhiorbháin, A., Ní Láimhín, M. & O’Neill, S. (2022) Literature review to support the updating of Aistear’s themes of Well-being, Identity and Belonging, Communicating and Exploring and Thinking. NCCA, . [Link]

Newsletter

Year Publication
2021 Aoife Merrins Gallgher, Gillian Lake (2021) A Tale of Two Halves Collaboratively Supporting Children with English as an Additional Language (EAL). NEWSL [Link]

Blog

Year Publication
2022 Lake, Gillian (2022) Hackathons: A Creative Approach to Developing Researchers and Solving Educational Challenges. BLOG https://blog.eera-ecer.de/hackathons-in-educational/

Web Page

Year Publication
2022 Lake, Gillian (2022) Hack to Transform 2021 - Case Study for CBL. WEBP https://www.dcu.ie/teu/challenge-based-learning#tab-73111-5

Editorial

Year Publication
2022 McLean, Karen; Lake, Gillian; Wild, Mary; Licandro, Ulla; Evangelou, Maria (2022) Perspectives of play and play-based learning: What do adults think play is? Comment. ED [DOI]
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2023) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Professional Associations

Association Function From / To
British Education Research Association Member 01/01/2017 - 01/01/2020
European Early Childhood Education Research Association Member 01/01/2015 -
European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Member 01/01/2017 -

Honors and Awards

Date Title Awarding Body
01/12/2022 Research Ally Prize Irish Research Council
01/04/2021 Shortlist: President's Award for Engagement DCU
01/04/2021 Shortlist: President's Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning DCU
01/01/2015 BERA Conference 2015 Presentation Award BERA
01/01/2012 Talbot Scholarship, University of Oxford University of Oxford

Committees

Committee Function From / To
Faculty Research Commitee -
National Academic Integrity Network -
Faculty Research Admissions Panel -
Graduate Research Studies Board -
Kilcloon Parents' Association 01/10/2018 - 01/09/2019
Leixlip Parent Teachers Association -

Employment

Employer Position From / To
Oxford Brookes University Senior Lecturer in Child Development & Education 01/09/2014 - 17/01/2018
Oxford Brookes University Associate Lecturer 01/01/2011 - 31/08/2014
University of Oxford Temporary Research Assistant 01/05/2011 - 01/09/2011
Ratoath JNS Mainstream Primary Teacher (Permanent) 01/09/2003 - 01/09/2010
Dublin City University 18/01/2018 -

Education

Start date Institution Qualification Subject
ILM/DCU Professional Skills for Research Leaders
Advance HE Aurora Leadership Programme
Oxford Brookes University Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education
University of Oxford DPhil in Education
University of Oxford MSc in Education (Child Development & Education)
Royal Irish Academy of Music Associate Diploma in Speech and Drama (Teacher)
St Patrick's College, Drumcondra Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary)
DIT, Aungier St MA in Public Relations
UCD BSSc (International)

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

Creative Outputs

Year Title Type
2021 An Academic Integrity Awareness Campaign Across a University Recording

Enterprise Engagement

Year Engagement Type Client 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.
2023 Other Child Paths Ltd Advisory Work

Outreach Activities

Year Engagement Type Organisation Description
Presentations/Talks to an external audience Kilcloon Parents' Association Talk to Kilcloon Parents' Association. The Importance of Play in Young Children's Development
DCU in the Community DCU IoE - DCU TY Access Week DCU Access: Transition Year Uni Week. Meetings with students over DCU Access week
Advisory Work Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick External Examiner on BA Early Childhood Practice
Advisory Work Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick External Examiner on Bachelor of Education
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'
2021 DCU in the Community Leixlip PTA Committee Member - Leixlip PTA

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

Creative pedagogy, curriculum and formative assessment



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

 PhD/Masters by Research and EdD Supervision

Research Projects

Title Role Description Start date End date
Academic Integrity Awareness PI 15/02/2021 15/06/2022
Supporting Transition of young children from preschool to primary school PI 28/09/2020 03/01/2022
Literature Review: Updating of Aistear, The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework Researcher 01/09/2021 01/03/2022
Literature Review: National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy Review Researcher 10/06/2021 13/01/2022
Evaluating Let’s Talk - Early Years Professionals’ perceptions of the implementation of a language programme for young children PI 08/06/2020 07/06/2021
Space Academy Evaluator 06/04/2020 06/06/2021
Evaluating the Impact of TOY to share, Play to Care Individual Paper at EECERA Conference 20/08/2019 23/08/2019
Suite Science - Evaluation Report Evaluator 15/05/2019 14/02/2020
TOY to share, Play to care Researcher 31/01/2019 30/01/2021
International Collaborative Meet on Language Development in the Early Years, Germany Convenor 01/05/2018 31/07/2018
Partnership perspectives on the research, parent and practitioner triumvirate in the Early Years PI 01/04/2017 15/01/2018
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 Principal Investigator 03/10/2011 30/06/2015

Current Postgraduate Students

Student Name Degree Supervision
Liu ,Weiyi PhD Supervisor
Binabdulrahman ,Hibah PhD Supervisor
Leonard ,Shane PhD-track Supervisor

External Collaborators

Type Name Company Role
External Ciaran Flynn Child Paths Industry
External Dr Karen McClean Institute For Learning Sciences & Teacher Education, ACU Academic
External Dr Suzy Edwards Institute For Learning Sciences & Teacher Education, ACU Academic
External Camille Catlett Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Academic
External Anne Heffernan Mind the Gap Films Industry
External Kildare County Childcare Committee Kildare County Childcare Committee Other
External Dr Maria Evangelou University of Oxford Academic
External Professor Mary Wild Oxford Brookes University Academic
External Professor Ulla Licandro University of Oldenburg Academic
External Sandra Mathers University of Oxford Academic
External Professor Eva Lloyd University of East London Academic
External Bea Stevenson Family Links Oxford Other
External Rebecca Matthews Oxford Brookes University Academic

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 Title Subject
2022 Formative Assessment of Early Learning EC321
2021 Description of 2022_EC328 EC328
2023 GTEIE