Conall Ó Breacháin
MR
Conall Ó Breacháin is an assistant professor in the School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education. He currently lectures in the area of literacy. Prior to joining DCU in early 2019, Conall was the Deputy National Director of the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), Ireland's largest single support service offering professional learning opportunities to teachers and school leaders in a range of pedagogical, curricular and educational areas. He has spent over 12 years working in teacher professional development with a particular focus on supporting teachers and school leaders in the areas of language, literacy and assessment. Conall has lead several national teams in the field of professional development and was chairperson of a number of interagency committees which oversaw the design and implementation of the professional development for a range of new curriculum specifications across the primary and post-primary sectors . He is a former member of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment's board for early childhood and primary education.
Conall is currently undertaking a PhD, under the tutelage of Professor Ciarán Sugrue (UCD), exploring the phenomenon of teacher agency for language curriculum innovation. Other research interests include curriculum advisor self-study and action research, impact of professional development, literacy policy implementation and literacy and professional development. Conall began his teaching carreer in 2002, in a primary school in north county Dublin. Creative Outputs
Research Interests
Research interests include teacher agency, literacy policy implementation, literacy policy implementation, literacy, communities of practice, initial teacher education, language acquisition and learning, pedagogy and curriculum, reflective practice, and teacher education/professional development (including evaluation of impact).