Leading Educationalist Appointed Dean of Education at Mary Immaculate College

Kerry native and leading educationalist, Dr Emer Ring, has recently been announced as the incoming Dean of Education at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick.

From Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, Dr Ring is currently Head of the Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies and Programme Leader for the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Care and Education (BAECCE) at MIC where she lectures across early childhood and teacher education programmes and supervises research from undergraduate to doctorate levels. Emer began her teaching career as a mainstream class teacher in Aghatubrid National School and Filemore National School, Co. Kerry and was subsequently based in Scoil Dar Earca, Valentia Island and Presentation Convent, Caherciveen as a learning support and resource teacher respectively. Prior to joining Mary Immaculate College, Emer worked as a senior inspector with the Department of Education and Skills.

Dr Ring has been principal investigator on a range of national research projects covering areas such as early childhood, primary and post-primary education, inclusion, child/student voice, pedagogy and autism. She has published widely in the area of education and is co-editor and co-author of the recently published ‘Autism from the Inside Out: A Handbook for Parents, Early Childhood, Primary, Post-Primary and Special School Settings’ published by Peter Lang, Oxford.

More recently Dr Ring with her colleagues, Dr Lisha O’Sullivan, Marie Ryan and Patrick Burke completed ‘A Melange or a Mosaic of Theories? How Theoretical Perspectives on Children’s Learning and Development can Inform a Responsive Pedagogy in a Redeveloped Primary School Curriculum’ for the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). She is currently joint-principal investigator on the University College Cork (UCC) and MIC research team, which includes MIC’s Dr. Lisha O’Sullivan and Dr. Therese Brophy , evaluating the in-school therapy demonstration project across early years, primary, post-primary and special school settings commissioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

Speaking on her appointment Dr Ring said “I am truly humbled to have been appointed as Dean of Education at Mary Immaculate College. I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues across the College and the broader national and international education landscape in further contributing to MIC’s long tradition of excellence in early childhood and teacher education”.

Congratulating Dr Ring on her appointment was Professor Eugene Wall, President of MIC who said “I would like to warmly congratulate Dr Ring on her appointment as Dean of Education. Dr Ring is a highly respected scholar and educationalist and brings a wealth of expertise with her to this role. We very much look forward to working with her as she continues to make a worthy contribution to early childhood and teacher education”.

Dr Ring will take up the new position in January 2019.  Mary Immaculate College, founded in 1898, is a University-level College of Education and the Liberal Arts, academically linked with the University of Limerick. The College is a multi-campus institution, with campuses in Limerick and Thurles, and a student population of close to 5,000 students enrolled in undergraduate programmes in Primary and Post-Primary Education, Liberal Arts and Early Childhood Care and Education, as well as a range of postgraduate programmes at Diploma, MA and PhD levels.