Wednesday Morning

Wednesday Afternoon

Thursday

Barry O’ Rourke and Seán Fearon

Professor Emer Ring

GRAHAM Donaldson

Honorary Professor,

University of Glasgow

Paul Fields

Director of Schools, ETBI

Dr John Mescal

Assistant Professor and Director of the PMEP, Hibernia College

Prof EMER RING

Dean of Early Childhood and Teacher Education in Mary Immaculate College/ University of Limerick

Owen Evans is responsible for the inspection of education and training in Wales, as well as the management, staffing and organisation of Estyn. He provides independent advice to Welsh Ministers which contributes to the development and review of policy in Wales. Owen also plays a key role in working closely with the other inspection, audit and regulation bodies in Wales, to underpin joint planning and working. In addition, as Estyn’s Accounting Officer he ensures that resources are used properly and provide value for money. The Chief Inspector also publishes an Annual Report on the standards and quality of education and training in Wales.

Welsh speaking, Owen was educated at Ysgol Penweddig and Coleg Ceredigion, Aberystwyth before graduating in economics from Swansea University. Owen joined Estyn from his position of Chief Executive of S4C, the Welsh language Broadcaster. Prior to joining S4C, he was Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Government, responsible for Education and Public Services. Between 2008 and 2010 he was director of Business in the Community Wales and for 10 years before that he worked for BT, including as a member of the UK team developing BT's broadband strategy. He has served as a member of the Welsh Language Board and previously chaired the Cardiff Education Development Board.

He is currently a member of Marie Curie's advisory board in Wales, is part of the Speakers for Schools programme and chairs WEPCo. He is a member of Aberystwyth University's Council.

Matthijs van den Berg is director of the research department of the Dutch Inspectorate of Education. This department is concerned with: monitoring statistics, data-analysis, scientific systemic research, and the evaluation programme of the Dutch Inspectorate. It reports yearly about the state of education, outlining developments and key themes in Dutch education.

Faustina is the Chief Inspector of the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) in the Department of Education. She brings a wealth of experience to the post having spent her entire career working in a range of roles in education, including teacher, inspector and senior policy director in the Department. More recently before returning to ETI, she was Director for Curriculum, Qualifications & Standards, which included leading the Department’s work on qualifications and distance and remote learning during the pandemic. Since returning to ETI she has worked extensively with all education stakeholders, in the co-design of a new Quality Improvement Framework.

Graham Donaldson, a former teacher, headed Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education from 2002–2010. As chief professional advisor to successive Scottish ministers on education, he took a leading role in Scotland’s major reform of its curriculum. Following retirement from HMIE, his reports Teaching Scotland’s Future (2011) and Successful Futures (2015) led to major reform programmes in Scotland and Wales, respectively. He has recently completed an independent review of the education inspectorate in Wales (A learning inspectorate). In addition to extensive consultancy work, including serving as an international expert to various OECD projects, Graham is an honorary professor at the University of Glasgow, past president of the International Professional Development Association, advisor on educational reform to the Minister for Education and Skills in Wales and to the First Minister of Scotland. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 for services to education and received the Robert Owen Award as an inspirational educator from the Scottish Government in 2015.

Rachel Doogue is an Executive and Team Coach. She coaches leaders and teams to help their development and career progression. Rachel believes that great leadership is something that you find inside of you by being more of, not less of, yourself. Her clients liberate themselves to do their best work. They accept discomfort and relish the challenge of achieving personal and professional growth in highly complex environments.

Paul Fields has been Director of Schools for ETBI since 2020. Prior to this he spent almost four years in the role of Schools’ Director at Laois & Offaly ETB. Before his involvement with ETBs, he worked for ten years in the area of CPD provision for teachers as Director of Kilkenny Education Centre. He has a passionate interest and background in school planning and worked as Regional Co-ordinator for the School Development Planning Initiative , Department of Education and Skills, for five years. He has been a School Principal, Guidance Counsellor and a teacher.

He has acted as advisor to many agencies on various educational initiatives and has also tutored for NUIG, DCU, UL. He holds a Higher Diploma in Professional Educational Studies, NUIG, a Higher Diploma in Guidance Counselling and a Masters in Guidance from UCC.

Dr John Mescal, Assistant Professor and Director of the Professional Masters in Education Primary (PMEP), Hibernia College.

John Mescal is the Programme Director for the Professional Masters in Education Primary within Hibernia College and is also a member of its Academic Leadership Team. The programme is the largest provider of primary teachers in the country and operates two intakes of student teachers annually. John is on career break from the Inspectorate where he has worked as both a District Inspector (2007-2015) and Divisional Inspector (2015-2023). During his time with the Inspectorate, he has worked within BU2, BU3, BU8 and in the Office of the Chief Inspector.

Prior to his appointment to the Inspectorate, John was seconded to the Primary Curriculum Support Programme (PCSP) where he worked as an Assistant National Co-ordinator with responsibility for Social Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE) and lead the Regional Curriculum Support Service (RCSS) for South Dublin and the South East. Subsequent to his role as Assistant National Co-ordinator, he worked as a Music and Science Trainer and Cuiditheoir with PCSP. He taught in Straffan NS, Co Kildare and Archbishop Ryan NS, Clondalkin.

John holds a Doctor of Education (EdD) with a Specialism in Leadership from Maynooth University, Master’s in Educational Leadership from Dublin City University (DCU), Diploma in Irish (Maynooth University), Higher Diploma in Educational Leadership (Maynooth University), Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Trinity and All Saints, University of Leeds) and a Bachelor of Arts Degree (English and Irish) from DCU.

Prof Emer Ring is Dean of Early Childhood and Teacher Education at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), [University of Limerick]. Emer leads one of the largest Education Faculties in Ireland, which includes early years, primary and post-primary programmes for teachers at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Emer previously worked as a primary mainstream class teacher, teacher of children with special education needs. a senior inspector with the Department of Education and Head of Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies at MIC. Emer’s professional experience spans the roles of class teacher, literacy and numeracy support teacher, teacher of children with special educational needs, inspector, lecturer, researcher and supervisor of students on practicum.

Emer’s research interests include education law and policy development; the teacher education continuum; child voice; inclusion; early childhood education; autism; play and responsive pedagogy. Emer is co-editor of the Peter Lang publications Autism from the Inside Out: A Handbook for Parents, Early Childhood, Primary, Post-Primary and Special School Settings and Leading Inclusion from the Inside Out: A Handbook for Parents and Early Childhood Teachers in Early Learning and Care, Primary and Special School Settings. Emer recently completed Special Education in an Independent Ireland 1922-2022: Insights from a Journey Through the Century for the National Council for Special Education, and an academic legal review paper for the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 commissioned by the Department of Education. Emer is currently co-author with Dr Lisha O’Sullivan for Play from the Inside out: Perspectives from Theory, Research and Practice due to be published by Peter Lang in early 2025.