Dan O'Sullivan

Dr Dan O’Sullivan, PhD, is an education and youth studies researcher whose work focuses on Positive Youth Development, resilience, and wellbeing among marginalised young people, particularly early school leavers and those engaged in alternative education pathways. His research is grounded in a strong commitment to social justice, youth voice, and practice‑informed scholarship, and is shaped by extensive engagement with community‑based educational and youth work settings.

Dan’s doctoral research examined resilience and Positive Youth Development (PYD) among early school leavers, using a mixed‑methods design that integrated quantitative measurement (including the Child and Youth Resilience Measure) with rich qualitative insights into young people’s lived experiences. This work contributes to a growing evidence base on strengths‑based approaches within alternative and further education contexts, challenging deficit‑oriented narratives that often dominate policy and practice in relation to educational marginalisation.

A central strand of Dan’s research explores the role of experiential and outdoor education as a catalyst for emotional literacy, wellbeing, and relational development. His work on canoeing‑based interventions demonstrates how embodied, relational learning spaces can support anxiety regulation, teamwork, and personal growth among young people who have previously disengaged from formal education. This research offers practical insights for educators and youth practitioners seeking inclusive and trauma‑aware pedagogies.

Methodologically, Dan has a strong interest in Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and other participatory and co‑creative approaches. He has written on the use of YPAR as a tool for empowerment in alternative education settings, positioning young people not only as research participants but as knowledge producers whose insights can shape programmes, policy, and institutional practice.

Across his work, Dan is committed to bridging the gap between research, policy, and practice. His research speaks directly to educators, youth workers, programme designers, and policymakers concerned with equity, inclusion, and holistic development, and contributes to broader debates on educational justice, resilience, and young people’s agency.

A further strand of Dan’s research is his involvement in the FOLOU project, which focuses on mindset change research in relation to sustainability. This work examines how educational and experiential interventions can support shifts in attitudes, values, and everyday practices linked to sustainable futures. Through FOLOU, Dan’s research engages with questions of how learning environments can foster long‑term behavioural and perceptual change, positioning sustainability not solely as a technical or policy challenge, but as a developmental and educational process grounded in reflection, agency, and social responsibility.

Research Interests

• Positive Youth Development (PYD)
• Resilience and wellbeing
• Early school leaving and alternative education
• Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)
• Outdoor and experiential education
• Emotional literacy and regulation
• Sustainability education and mindset change
• Transformative learning for sustainable futures
• Marginalisation, inequality, and education
• Practitioner–researcher partnerships

Teaching & Supervision

Dan’s teaching interests centre on youth development, inclusion, community and adult education, sustainability, and experiential learning, with a strong emphasis on empathetic, reflective, and practice‑informed pedagogies. He is currently Course Director for the Professional Masters in Business Education (PME) and leads the Business Studies teaching team, with responsibility for pedagogies in Accounting, Economics, and Entrepreneurship.

Dan teaches across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, including EN6191 – Business Pedagogy 1, EN6181 – Business Education 1, EN6172 – Business Pedagogy 2, EN6173 – Business Pedagogy 3, and EN6804 – Business Independent Study, and contributes to EN4026 – Diversity of Learners: Inclusion and Special Educational Needs and EN4051 – Contemporary Understandings of Education: Philosophical Perspectives. His teaching is closely aligned with his research on Positive Youth Development, educational resilience, mindset change for sustainability, and alternative education pathways, and is informed by his extensive professional background in Youthreach and further education settings.

Dan is particularly interested in supervising postgraduate research that employs participatory, mixed‑methods, or practice‑based approaches, and that engages with marginalised young people, alternative and further education contexts, sustainability education, and community‑based learning environments.

Dan began his career in Education in Youthreach. The Youthreach programme provides two years integrated education, training and work experience for unemployed early school leavers without any qualifications or vocational training who are between 15 and 20 years of age. Dan worked in 5 different Youthreach centres over 12 years before joining the University upon completion of his PhD entitled, Positive Youth Development and Resilience among Early School Leavers. Dan teaches course on Business Education, Special Educational Needs and Inclusion and Philosophy of Education.

Dan hosts a podcast about educational disadvantage called “On the Margins”, episodes of the podcast can be heard on www.edonthemargins.com Dan runs an annual conference details of which can be found on the same website.

Dan is the winner of the UL Award for Excellence in Service to the Community 2026.

Dan was nominated for the Shannon Consortium, Excellence in Teaching Award 2023

RESEARCH PUBLICATION OUTPUTS

2026

O’Sullivan, D. and Murphy, T. (2026) Democratic Teaching for Pedagogical Wellbeing: Insights from DEIS Second Level Practitioners, University of Galway, Education Studies Association of Ireland, May.

O’Sullivan, D., Grace, C. and Leahy, J. (2026) FOLOU; Quantifying Food Waste and Food Loss in the Primary Production sector of Meat and Dairy in Ireland, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland, April.

O’Sullivan, D. (2026) Chief Editor, Journal of Education on the Margins (Vol. 1, Number 1) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18420906 ISSN 3088-7097

2024

O'Sullivan, D. (2024) 'Empathetic Pedagogies in Education Settings- Narrative 4 story exchange and restorative practice', presented at University of Glasgow Best Practice in Social Sciences Teaching Workshop, August.

O'Sullivan, D. (2024) 'Implications of Empathetic Pedagogies to Classroom Practice', presented at Transformative Narratives, June.

2023

O Sullivan, D. (2023) Youthreach Learners, All Grown Up . The Adult Learner, The Irish Journal of Adult and Community Education, December 2023, pp 78-92  https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1409919

O Sullivan, D., & Heneghan, C. (2023).  Guidance provision in Youthreach centres. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 50, 1, 75-84.  https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.5008

O’Sullivan, D. (2023) Promoting Equal Access for Adult Learners , presented at The Adult Learner Journal, December.

2019

O'Sullivan, D. (2019) Positive youth development and resilience amongst early school leavers, thesis (Ph.D.) Mary Immaculate College, available: https://dspace.mic.ul.ie/handle/10395/2900

O'Sullivan, D. (2019) 'Accessing Public Funding', invited speaker, breakout discussion, presented at The Irish Adventure Tourism Association, November.

2018

O Sullivan, D. (2018) Positive Youth Development and Resilience among Early School Leavers . The Adult Learner, The Irish Journal of Adult and Community Education, December 2018, pp 83-94 https://eric.ed.gov/?q=Positive+youth+development+resilience+and+early+school+leaving+&id=EJ1197456

O’Sullivan, D. (2018) Marginalisation and Early School Leaving , presented at The Adult Learner Journal, December.                 

2017      

O’Sullivan, D. (2017) Challenging the Cartesian Daemon , presented at Young people s perspectives on culture, identity and cultural participation on the island of Ireland today, Cultural Policy Observatory Ireland, September. https://culturalpolicyireland.org/2017/09/26/spaces-to-belong-to-presentations/

2016

O’Sullivan, D. (2016) Youthreach and Internalised Stereotypes, a view from the Crow's Nest, presented at Connect, April.       

2015

O’Sullivan, D. (2015) Youth Participation, presented at Connect, April.                        

2011

O'Sullivan, D. (2011) Can Synchronous Co-located Online Integrated Learning help build Ireland s Knowledge Economy , thesis (Masters) Mary Immaculate College.

RECENT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

University of Limerick

Assistant Professor in Education

Course Director: Professional Masters in Business Education

10/2022 – Present

Tipperary Education and Training Board

Youthreach Teacher

Subjects: Social Education, SPHE, ICT, German and Leisure & Recreation Teacher, Office Administration and Customer Care

02/2009 – 10/2022

Griffith College

Course Tutor (ICT and Professional Practice, Referencing & Academic Writing Style)

Bachelor of Engineering

01/2017 – 10/2022

Munster Kayak Adventures Ltd

Company Director

04/2018 – Present

HIGHEST ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION

PhD

Education

Mary Immaculate College

2019

NFQ 10

Master’s Degree

Education

Mary Immaculate College

2011

NFQ 9

Graduate Diploma

Adult and Community Education

Mary Immaculate College

2010

NFQ 8

Bachelor’s Degree

Business Studies

University of Limerick

2007

NFQ 8

Ordinary Degree

Industrial and Systems Engineering

Griffith College

2021

NFQ 7

Certificate

Work Measurement & Time Study

South Eastern Technical University

2021

NFQ 8

Other Qualifications and courses:

Certificate Control of Infectious Diseases 2020, Limerick & Clare Education & Training Board

Certificate Web Design and Computer Networking 2010, Limerick College of Further Education

Adult Literacy Tutors Training Course 2009, Limerick City Adult Education Service

Teaching English as a Foreign 2007, Langue Practical and Grammar Awareness Module

Level 2 Kayak Instructor, Canoeing Ireland

COVID-19 Officer Training 2020, Sport Ireland

First Aid Response, Pre Hospital Emergency Care Council

Rescue Emergency Care 3

GAISCE President’s Award Leader

Narrative 4 Facilitator

ACADEMIC SERVICE

Course Director Professional Masters Business Education

2021 – Present

Board Member Engage in Education Charity

https://engage-edu.ie/

2023 – Present

Organiser School of Education Research Writing Group

2022-2024

Co-Chair Guidance and Counselling Research Group.

2022-2024

Module Coordinator

EN6191- Business Pedagogy 1

EN6181- Business Education 1

EN6172- Business Pedagogy 2

EN6173- Business Pedagogy 3

EN6804- Business Independent Study

Teaching on

EN4026 Diversity of Learners Inclusion and Special Educational Needs

EN4051 Contemporary Understandings of Education Philosophical Perspectives 

Co Chair Teaching and Learning Committee

2023- 2026

Senior Leadership Team School of Education

2023 – 2024

Learning Teaching and Assessment Committee

2023 – 2026