Academic biography

After many years working in primary classrooms in Dublin, Lisa Clarke now holds the position of Assistant Professor of Primary Geography Education and Social and Environmental Education in the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies. 

Lisa's research interests include; place-based pedagogies, enquiry-based teaching and learning in primary geography, and continual professional development for teachers. 

Lisa has chosen to focus her doctoral research on Place-Based Learning in Irish primary schools. Over the last three years, Lisa has refined her research interests, gathered data from a number of schools and is now entering the final phase of the doctoral programme. She now hopes to ficus on ensuring her research has miximum impact on teachers' practices and understanding of Place-based Learning in the context of the new Primary Curriculum.

Lisa graduated with a Masters of Education from DCU in 2021, with a focus on enquiry-based learning in primary geography and Communities of Practice as continual professional development for primary teachers. 

Lisa is a member of the Geography Association (GA), a member of the  Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education at DCU and a Changemaker Schools Network Fellow. She helped steer the committee for the International Geographical Congress Olympiad, 2024. Working with local schools to optimise use of the locality in their teaching is a priority of her work.