Dr. Mary Masterson

Research Interests

Dr Mary Masterson's research ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2483-4440;
https://www.drmarymasterson.com/

She has conducted a number of empirical qualitative studies with a focus on diversity in Irish schools in collaboration with her colleagues at the School of Education, University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, and with a number of international partners (Germany, Norway, Denmark, South Africa). Her research interest lies in the areas of teacher well-being, inclusive education, teaching and learning in online environments, blended learning approaches to education. Her work has been published in national and international peer reviewed education journals and she has given numerous presentations in many countries to peers and to practitioners alike. She is committed to teacher as researcher partnerships and supports the professional development of teachers through university-school partnerships. Her work is visible internationally and has attracted citations and the invitations to join international research networks demonstrates a growing interest in her work.

Her research interest in Linguistic & Cultural Diversity connects with Ireland's Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026 (Languages Connect) which seeks to enhance the quality of teaching and learning and ensuring a supply of skilled teachers and educators of foreign languages in schools and in the higher education sector. For recent research in this area, see Masterson, M (2017). Perception of the Self and Other and the Role of Language: An Exploratory Qualitative Study (Peter Lang); Masterson, M. (2018). Self-Discovery Through the Experiential Co-Construction of Life-Stories in the Foreign Language Classroom, Journal of Experiential Education (ISI, Q1, 2018); Parker-Jenkins, M. & Masterson, M. (2013) ‘No longer 'Catholic, White and Gaelic': schools in Ireland coming to terms with cultural diversity, Irish Educational Studies. (ISI, Q 4).

The area of Teacher Well-being is another area of research. This has been prompted by the successful conclusion of a joint application to the EU for a project entitled Teacher Well-being and Diversity: Managing language and social diversity in classrooms (Erasmus+ 2016-1-NO01-KA201-022081). The NCCA (2017) evidenced the significance of such research stating that: ‘Wellbeing in school starts with the staff. They are in the front line of the work and it is hard for them to be genuinely motivated to promote emotional and social wellbeing of others if they feel uncared for and burnt-out themselves'. She ahs contributed to a chapter in a co-edited volume, from this project, with Springer on ‘International Perspectives on Teacher Well-being – Insights from Diverse Classroom Teaching Contexts (Murphy and Mannix-McNamara, Spring 2021). She was the leader for the University of Limerick contribution to the Teacher Well-being Handbook (2020) for schools across the three sectors (early school years, primary school, post-primary) in conjunction with colleagues in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. This well-being manual is used as a resource for schools by both the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and by the Limerick & Clare Education Training Board.

In addition, currently she is conducting a research project on: Teacher Learning Communities and Teacher Reflexivity. This study explores the development of teacher reflexivity via Teacher Learning Communities with a view to enhancing teachers' practice.

She is also interested in the area of digital supported teaching and learning and is conducting research on the development and implementation of digitally enhanced teaching and learning. She is collaborating with a colleague in the School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences on a project exploring Teaching & Learning in Online Environments.

Recent research activities focus on exploring new technologies' initiatives for developing pedagogies that support more active participatory and reflective approaches. This work is timely considering the recent emergency move to remote teaching. These research activities connect with the new Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 (DES). Additionally, I have collaborated on a number of international intercultural online projects with a research team at Kassel University, Germany and have recently joined the international research network 'ANGEL' (Academic Network on Global Education and Learning) in order to make links with other researchers working in the area.