Curriculum reform, initial teacher education with a particular focus on reflective practice and values in publicly managed schools.

Curriculum, philosophical values underpinning curriculum selection, curriculum and cultural change, pre-service teachers views regarding teachers role in curriculum/curriculum change

Dr Orla McCormack is a Senior Lecturer in Education in the School of Education and is the Programme Director for the Professional Master of Education. Her main teaching interests relate to Curriculum Policy and Reform, which she teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Her research interests focus on curriculum issues, pre-service education, particularly reflective practice. She has coordinated a number of internationally and nationally funded research projects, including Tempus and Erasmus+ projects. She is currently PI on a Horizon 2020 project looking at Education Outside the Classroom and co-director on the External Evaluation of the Junior Cycle Framework. She jointly led a project funded by the ETB sector, exploring, for the first time, the characteristic spirit and core values of ETB schools