Researcher Details |

Christina O'Keeffe

Christina O’Keeffe is an Assistant Professor in the School of Inclusive and Special Education. A graduate of the Bachelor of Education and Psychology programme at Mary Immaculate College Limerick, Christina’s teaching career has primarily involved working as a special class teacher for autistic learners, ranging in ages from three to thirteen years. During this time, she also completed a Graduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs (MIC).

In 2019, Christina received funding from the DCU Educational Trust to complete her PhD in the area of play for inclusion of autistic learners within early childhood education under the supervision of Dr. Sinéad McNally, School of Language Literacy and Early Childhood and Dr. Anna Logan, School of Inclusive and Special education, DCU, Institute of Education. This research aimed to address a significant gap in the research literature on children’s understanding of play and contribute innovative methodologies for consulting with autistic learners, as part of a children’s rights-based approach to research.

Christina has published in several peer-reviewed journals including the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, Journal of Early Childhood Research and the Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. She has also presented at national and international conferences including: OMEP Ireland Early Childhood Annual Conference; Children’s Research Network Annual Conference and; Play 2021, Birmingham University. She recently delivered one of the keynotes at the Irish-Research Council funded play symposium, convened by Dr. Sinéad McNally, on play in the pandemic, reporting on findings from their research on teachers’ perspectives of play in education during the pandemic and how we can use play to support children during such unprecedented times (O’Keeffe & McNally, 2021; 2022).

Christina contributes to a number of programmes within the School of Inclusive and Special Education in DCU, focusing primarily on supporting postgraduate teachers working with autistic learners.

Peer Reviewed Journal

	Year	Publication
	2025	Christina O'Keeffe and Sinéad McNally (2025) '‘“Like it’s making my heart run”: A strengths-based understanding of the play of autistic children’'. Autism, . [Link] https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613251315985
	2024	Christina O'Keeffe and Sinéad McNally (2024) '‘It’s one of your main things in life like’: How Children’s Conceptualisations of Play can inform Educational Practice'. Education 3-13, . [Link] https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2024.2405638
	2023	Kristy Howells., Alethea Jerebine., Wouter Cools., Eva D’Hondt., Kristine De Martelaer., Eline Coppens., Helena Sienaert., Nathan Hall., Jinxia Dong., Anne Soini., Christina O’Keeffe., Maura Coulter., Sinéad McNally., Patricia McCaffrey., Patrizia Tortella., Aldo M. Costa., Andrea Hernández-Martinez., Ann-Christin Sollerhed., Mark Urtel., Debra Vinci., Christopher Wirth., Carla Vidoni., and Arja Sääkslahti. (2023) 'Physical play - How do we inspire and motivate young children to be physically active through play? An International Analysis of Twelve Countries’ National Early Years Curriculum Policies and Practices for Physical Activity and Physical Play'. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 12 (1):253-276. [Link]
	2022	O’Keeffe, C.; McNally, S. (2022) 'Teacher experiences of facilitating play in early childhood classrooms during COVID-19'. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 20 . [Link] [DOI]
	2021	O’Keeffe, C.; McNally, S. (2021) '‘Uncharted territory’: teachers’ perspectives on play in early childhood classrooms in Ireland during the pandemic'. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 29 . [Link] [DOI]
	2020	O'Keeffe, C. &McNally, S. (2020) 'Review Paper on the Potential of Play to Support the Development of Relationships among Young Children on the Autism Spectrum'. An Leanbh Óg: OMEP Ireland journal of early childhood studies, . https://omepireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AN-LEANBH-OG-VOL13.pdf

Other Publication

	Year	Publication
	2023	O’Keeffe, C.; McNally, S. (2023) A Systematic Review of Play-Based Interventions Targeting the Social Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Contexts. [Link] [DOI]

Conference Contribution

	Year	Publication
	2022	O'Keeffe, Christina (2022) Dublin City University Postgraduate Research UnConference Navigating the ethical complexities of consulting with vulnerable and young children in research DCU Institute of Education, .
	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	O'Keeffe, Christina; Coulter, Maura; McNally, Sinéad (2021) AIESEP Early Years Special Interest Group Physical activity and play in the early years curriculum and education settings – Ireland Banff, Canada, .
	2021	O'Keeffe, Christina; McNally, Sinéad (2021) Play 2021 Prioritising play in the return to a ‘new normal’: teachers’ approaches to play in the early childhood classroom during the pandemic Birmingham University, .
	2021	O'Keeffe, Christina (2021) Dublin City University Postgraduate Research UnConference Unlocking the potential of play for social relationships and learning for young children on the Autism Spectrum-A Multi-Phase Mixed Methods Design DCU Institute of Education, .
	2021	O'Keeffe, Christina (2021) Children’s Research Network Pedagogical and Early Education Research Student (PEERS) Conference Play for inclusive early childhood education: Findings from Ireland Trinity College, Dublin, .
	2020	O'Keeffe, Christina (2020) Dublin City University Postgraduate Research UnConference The empowering role of play in supporting social relationships and learning among young children on the Autism Spectrum; A Vygotskian Perspective DCU Institute of Education, .
	2019	O'Keeffe, Christina (2019) SCoTENS Conference The importance of play in enhancing the learning and development of pupils on the Autism Spectrum: Conducting a systematic review within education research Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan, .
	2019	O'Keeffe, Christina; McNally, Sinéad; Balfe, Tish (2019) OMEP Ireland Annual Conference The empowering role of play in supporting the socioemotional development and learning of pupils on the Autism Spectrum Munster Technological University, .
	2019	O'Keeffe, Christina (2019) Children’s Research Network PhD Symposium The importance of play in enhancing the learning and development of pupils on the Autism Spectrum University of Galway, .

Invited Seminars

	Year	Publication
	2022	O'Keeffe, Christina (2022) “Moving things around to make it happen”: Teachers’ perspectives on play in early childhood education during the pandemic. DCU, IoE: INVS

Professional Associations

Association	Function	From / To
Mother Tongues	Member	-
Teaching Council	Graduate Member-Primary Teacher	-
Psychological Society of Ireland	Graduate Member	-
Children's Research Network	Member	-
Irish National Teachers' Organisation	Member	-
OMEP Ireland	Member	-

Honors and Awards

	Date	Title	Awarding Body
	24/06/2021	Category One (Year 1) Winner, Dublin City University, Tell It Straight Competition	DCU
	01/01/2019	Paul Kerley Scholarship/Stewardship Award, DCU Education Trust	DCU

Committees

	Committee	Function	From / To
	Graduate Research Studies Board (GRSB)		-

Reviews

	Journal	Role
	European Journal of Special Needs Education	Reviewer
	European Early Childhood Education Research Journal	Reviewer

Enterprise Engagement

	Year	Engagement Type	Client	Description
	2022	Other	Irish Universities Association	Contributed to national webinar series involving eight Irish universities (UCD, TCD, RCSI, DCU, MU, NUIG, UCC, UL) in relation to the research supervisor and support, based on my own experiences as a DCU postgraduate student.

Outreach Activities

	Year	Engagement Type	Organisation	Description
	2021	Community-based learning	Mother Tongues	Collaborated with researchers in the Early Learning and Language Lab at DCU IoE to contribute to Mother Tongues community of practice network involving teachers and practitioners in school settings. This involved the creation of video content and facilitation of an online webinar based on current evidence surrounding how best to support young children with EAL in the classroom.

Media

Title	Year	Type	Authors
Updated hygiene standards and concerns surrounding play as primary schools reopen	2020	Newspaper article (Print)	Sligo Weekender
40pc of Irish teachers fear effects of restrictions on play-based lessons	2020	Newspaper article (online)	Silicon Republic
Teachers concerned about how play and play based lessons will be affected by restrictions	2020	Newspaper article (online)	Nenagh Guardian
Teachers concerned over capacity for children's play when schools return-study	2020	Newspaper article (online)	Irish Examiner
40% of teachers concerned about how play-based lessons will be affected by COVID-19 restrictions	2020	Newspaper article (online)	thejournal.ie

Research Interests

Autism, Children’s Participatory Research, Play

Research Projects

	Title	Role	Description	Start date	End date
	Play for Inclusive Education across the Island of Ireland	Research Assistant		25/10/2021	30/11/2022

Internal Collaborators

Type	Name	Company	Role
Internal	Dr. Gillian Lake	DCU, Institute of Education	Academic
Internal	Dr. Sinéad McNally	DCU, Institute of Education	Academic
Internal	Dr. Maura Coulter	DCU, Institute of Education	Academic

External Collaborators

	Type	Name	Company	Role
	External	Professor Victoria Simms	Ulster University	Academic

Modules Coordinated

Term	Title	Subject
2023		SI610
2023		SI610A
2023		SI611
2023		SI611A
2022	Child Development 2	EC201