Barry Morrissey

Dr.

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Dr Barry Morrissey is assistant professor in the School of Inclusive and Special Education at DCU, and a member of the university’s Centre for Inclusive Pedagogy. He has a diverse background in education, having worked as a teacher in both mainstream and special education settings, and as a curriculum advisor in Health & Wellbeing with Ireland’s Professional Development Service for Teachers. Prior to joining DCU, he was principal of the Limerick School Project. Barry has particular expertise in leading change, policy development, curriculum enactment and equity in education. His research interests are broad and are primarily concerned with the inclusion of marginalised learners within the education system – spanning critical areas such as school leadership, teacher education, curriculum studies and policy analysis. Barry has presented his research at conferences nationally and internationally and has published articles in a number of leading international journals, including the International Journal of Inclusive Education, Educational Management Administration & Leadership, Children and Youth Services Review and the British Journal of Special Education. Beyond his work in inclusive education, Barry has a strong interest in supporting and advancing doctoral education. He recently collaborated on a transatlantic research project between DCU and Arizona State University, examining the role of doctoral research in promoting equity and social justice, and presented the findings of the study to the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate and the American Educational Research Association. Barry is the Ethics Advisor for the School of Inclusive and Special Education in DCU.

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2025 Morrissey. B. (2025) 'De-mystifying the 'Cinderella' leadership model: Premia in the practice of curriculum leadership'. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, :1-21. [Link] https://doi-org.dcu.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/17411432251386325
2024 Morrissey, B.; King, F.; Keating, S. (2024) 'Conceptualising inclusive curricula for learners with complex special educational needs: narrowing the design gap between commonality and difference'. International Journal of Inclusive Education, OnlineFirst :1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2024.2365225
2024 Morrissey, B.; Keating, S.; King, F. (2024) 'Enacting a child safety education programme in special education contexts'. Children and Youth Services Review, 163 :1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107735
2021 Morrissey, B. (2021) 'Theorising leadership for inclusion in the Irish context: A triadic typology within a distributed ecosystem'. Management in Education, 35 (1):22-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892020620942
2021 Morrissey, B. (2021) 'A critical policy analysis of Ireland’s child protection procedures for schools: Emerging policy considerations'. Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 21 (1):2-17. https://doi.org/10.21427/1af9-t272
2020 Morrissey, B. (2020) 'Vehicle for inclusion or costly illusion? A critical policy analysis of the Special Needs Assistant scheme in Ireland'. British Journal of Special Education, 47 (4):467-488. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12330
2019 Morrissey, B. (2019) 'Distract, manage, encourage, reward: A behavioural intervention for a primary school pupil'. REACH - Journal of Inclusive Education in Ireland, 32 (2):84-100. https://reachjournal.ie/index.php/reach/article/view/10

Conference Publication

Year Publication
2025 Morrissey, B.; Nohilly, M.; Collins, B.; O'Sullivan, C; Knox, P. (Eds) (2025) Being, Becoming and Beyond: SPHE in Children and Young People's Lives Proceedings from the 6th SPHE Network Conference Marino Institute of Education, https://sphenetwork.ie/publications/
2023 Keating, S.; Morrissey, B.; Nohilly, M.; Maunsell, C. (Eds) (2023) Unmute Yourself! Communication and Education in Response to Crises Proceedings from the 5th SPHE Network Conference Dublin City University, https://sphenetwork.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2021-Conference-Proceedings.pdf
2021 Keating, S.; Collins, B.; Nohilly, M.; O'Sullivan, C.; Morrissey, B. (Eds) (2021) Diversities: Interpretations through the Context of SPHE Proceedings from the 4th SPHE Network Conference Mary Immaculate College, https://sphenetwork.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/conference_proceedings_2018.pdf

Conference Contribution

Year Publication
2025 Morrissey, B.; King, F.; Lake, G.; Marsh, J.; Markos, A. (2025) European Conference on Educational Research Insider dilemmas and moving towards continua of positionalities: Interpretations from a transatlantic qualitative study of doctoral students University of Belgrade, Serbia, 08/09/2025-12/09/2025.
2025 (2025) The 21st Biennial Conference of the International Study Association on Teachers & Teaching Shaping curricula to increase accessibility for learners with varying levels of special educational need: Insights from Ireland University of Glasgow, Scotland, 30/06/2025-04/07/2025.
2025 Morrissey, B. (2025) European Conference on Educational Research The curriculum dilemma for learners with special educational needs: A framework to mitigate tensions and support participation University of Belgrade, Serbia, 08/09/2025-12/09/2025.
2025 Morrissey, B.; King, F.; Lake, G.; Markos, A.; Peyton Marsh, J. (2025) American Educational Research Association Annual Conference Navigating positionalities in social justice doctoral research: Continua to support transparency in academic reportage Denver, Colorado, USA, 22/04/2025-27/04/2025.
2024 Morrissey, B.; King, F.; Lake, G.; Markos, A.; Peyton Marsh, J. (2024) International Professional Development Association Annual Conference Navigating insiderness in research on professional learning: Charting complex waters and taming dragons Aston University, Birmingham, UK, 15/11/2024-16/11/2024.
2024 Morrissey, B. (2024) Irish Learning Support Association Autumn Conference Tailoring SPHE provision for learners with SEN Mount Wolseley, Carlow, Ireland, 18/10/2024-18/10/2024.
2024 Morrissey, B. (2024) European Conference on Educational Research A mixed-methods evaluation of a mandatory child safeguarding education programme for children with special educational needs University of Nicosia, Cyprus, 27/08/2024-30/08/2024.
2024 Morrissey, B. (2024) Educational Studies Association of Ireland Conference Reimagining curriculum to mitigate dilemmas of difference for children with special educational needs Maynooth University, Ireland, 04/04/2004-06/04/2024.
2023 King, F.; Peyton Marsh, J.; Morrissey, B.; Markos, A. (2023) Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate Annual Convening ASU and DCU’s doctoral students’ experiences of collective responsibility and social justice University of West Florida, USA, 04/10/2023-06/10/2023.
2023 Morrissey, B. (2023) International Professional Development Association Annual Conference Teacher leadership and teacher professional learning: Two sides of the same coin? Aston University, Birmingham, UK, 28/06/2023-30/06/2023.
2023 Morrissey, B. (2023) British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society Annual Conference Distributed leadership: Teacher influence and the principal premium The Hilton Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, 14/07/2023-16/07/2023.
2023 Morrissey, B. (2023) IPDA England Lightning Conference The insider as a disruptor: Navigating positionality in social justice research Online, 25/11/2023-25/11/2023.
2023 Morrissey, B. (2023) European Conference on Educational Research Curriculum leadership in special education: Navigating horizontal and vertical power channels in individual and collaborative endeavours University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK, .
2022 Morrissey, B. (2022) Educational Studies Association of Ireland Conference A mixed methods study into the leadership and enactment of the curricular component to child safeguarding in special schools Marino Institute of Education, Dublin, Ireland, 07/04/2022-08/04/2022.
2022 Morrissey, B.; Keating, S.; King, F. (2022) European Conference on Educational Research Enacting a mandatory child safeguarding programme in special education contexts: Insights from Ireland Yerevan State University, Armenia, 01/09/2022-10/09/2022.
2021 Morrissey, B. (2021) European Conference on Educational Research Child protection policy in Ireland: The case of special schools Geneva (Online), Switzerland, 06/09/2021-10/09/2021.
2020 Morrissey, B. (2020) International Professional Development Association Annual Conference Developing teachers as child protection practitioners: Professional paradoxes, within a compliance architecture, in Irish special education settings Online, 27/11/2020-28/11/2020.
2020 Morrissey, B. (2020) 8th European Conference on Education Child protection and special education: The policy landscape in Ireland University College London, UK, 16/07/2020-19/07/2020.
2020 Morrissey, B. (2020) Postgraduate Research Unconference Sampling and recruitment conundrums: Designing a research census Dublin City University, Ireland, 27/05/2020-27/05/2020.
2019 Morrissey, B. (2019) Educational Collaborative for International Schools: Student Support Conference Physical education for the wheelchair user in a mainstream primary classroom: A framework for planning and differentiation International School of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, 28/09/2019-28/09/2019.
2019 Morrissey, B. (2019) 7th National Child Protection and Welfare Social Work Conference A critical policy analysis of the child protection procedures: The special education lens University College Cork, Ireland, 24/10/2019-24/10/2019.
2019 Morrissey, B. (2019) European Educational Research Association Doctoral Summer School Conference Researching child protection policy in Ireland: The special education lens Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia, 08/07/2019-12/07/2019.
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2025) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Professional Associations

Association Function From / To
The SPHE Network Chairperson 01/09/2022 -
American Educational Research Association Member 01/01/2025 -
Educational Studies Association of Ireland Member 01/09/2022 -
International Professional Development Association Member 01/09/2020 -
European Educational Research Association Member 01/06/2019 -
Limerick Primary SENCO Community of Practice Chairperson 01/09/2019 - 30/08/2022

Honors and Awards

Date Title Awarding Body
01/11/2020 John Smith Doctoral Award and Scholarship Dublin City University

Reviews

Journal Role
Management in Education Reviewer
Practice: contemporary issues in professional learning Reviewer
Curriculum Journal Reviewer

Research Interests

Social inclusion for learners with special educational needs / disability; school leadership and management; leadership for inclusion; teacher professional learning; education for social justice and equity; curriculum studies; policy analysis; child safeguarding; SPHE.

Teaching Interests

Curriculum Studies; School Leadership and Management; Leadership for Inclusion; Policy Analysis; Special Education.