About
87
Publications
53,312
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
516
Citations
Introduction
Mary Moloney currently works at the Dept. Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Her research interests include Early Childhood Teacher Education, International policy and practice, professionalisation, governance and inclusion. She is currently chairperson of PLÉ Ireland, the national association of Higher Education Institutions offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in early childhood education and care. Mary worked with Dr. Whitebook and Dr. Lea Austin at the centre for the Study of Childcare Employment at the University of Berkeley in 2018. Her latest publication: Challenges and Changes in School Age Childcare in Copenhagen is available at
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/GEhjVs4vHIt2jDqYFqtW/full?target=10.1080/03004279.2019
Current institution
Additional affiliations
September 2010 - present
Education
December 2006 - June 2010
September 2005 - September 2006
September 2004 - September 2005
Publications
Publications (87)
The benefits of book gifting schemes for infants, parents and families, are well documented. While book gifting schemes operate around the world, and are delivered in different ways (e.g., postal services, local libraries, maternity hospitals and community centres), little is known about the benefits and challenges for those involved in delivering...
According to UNESCO (2021) Universal Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) fosters inclusion by creating an expectation that all children regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, language, disability and so on, can access a minimum level of service. In the Irish context therefore, the Universal ECCE programme is critical to attaining SDG...
Earlier in this book, we referenced the need to establish a supportive mentoring environment for the mentee. What about the mentor? What conditions are required to support the mentor to fulfill their mentoring role? This chapter, which advocates for a supportive mentoring architecture, highlights organisational commitment to mentoring. Do you know...
Reflective practice permeates all aspects of teaching from Initial Teacher Education through to induction, and throughout the teaching career. It cannot be assumed however, that a teacher, regardless of where they are in the teaching continuum, pre-service, novice or veteran knows how to engage in reflective practice. Is it unfair to expect a mente...
Mentoring is essential during Initial Teacher Education and during induction, in particular. While the mentor must know how to establish and maintain the mentoring relationship, they must also have the capacity to inititate and sustain the mentoring relationship. As a process, mentoring involves a series of actions or phases. The first mentoring me...
Mentoring and coaching are both recognised as part of the culture of early childhood education and care, and of teaching. Both are relationship processes, and both are skilled activities. Both mentoring and coaching seek to achieve a smilar result- professional growth of the mentee/coachee. Indeed, the terms mentoring and coaching are often used in...
Effective mentoring creates a safe secure and supportive environment where the mentee feels comfortable to engage with and benefit from mentoring. Many of us know what it is like to be pushed out of our comfort zone, into a new, unfamiliar environment. We may have to establish relationships with people we don't know, undertake work practices that d...
I could have done something BUT I would have lost face; I could have spoken up BUT I chose to remain silent; I could have asked more questions BUT I was uncomfortable; I had the opportunity BUT being held accountable was too scary for me to pursue growth. I could have BUT I feared rejection and failure. We use these lines from the poem BUT by Tayo...
Having addressed a multitude of concepts and information about mentoring through many different lenses, in this chapter, we now step back, take stock and reflect. In doing so, we weave together the various strands in the book, using the Rolfe, Jasper & Freshwater (2001) ‘What’ model of reflection, to model and practice what we preach, as it were. T...
Did you know that a school or early childhood setting with a strong mentoring culture as well as a structured and comprehensive induction programme leads to higher teacher satisfaction and better retention? Mentoring is critical to supporting the professional formation of early childhood and primary school teachers, and is one of the most important...
What comes to mind when you think of the student teacher? Perhaps you envisage a young student that comes straight from secondary or high-school to university/college. However, as learning is a continuous, ongoing and lifelong process, the student population in university/college comprise both young and mature-age adult learners. Mature students ma...
Elsewhere in this book, feedback has been delineated as a core aspect of mentoring. Consequently, providing feedback is a core role of the mentor. Such is the importance of feedback, that Hattie (2009) placed it in the top five of over 100 factors influencing educational achievement. That is not to say that a mentor automatically knows how to craft...
Many early childhood teachers mentor pre-service teachers engaging in practicum within their settings. Given their significance in early childhood teacher preparation, mentors must be prepared for their mentoring role (Balduzzi and Lazzarri Citation2015). However, while early childhood teachers may be willing to mentor, they may be ill-equipped for...
International organisations including the OECD and UNICEF characterise parental involvement in young children’s care and education as a fundamental right and obligation. This is reflected in early childhood curricula internationally. None-the-less, while the principle of parental involvement permeates early childhood curricula, the nature of such i...
The Covid-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to examine the initial policies
developed by Australian, Canadian, English, German, Greek and Irish governments to
limit the spread of the virus. This has revealed governments’ conceptualisation of the
early childhood sector and its workforce. This paper argues that neoliberal ideology and
neoliberal...
Although it is well established that reading with young children supports early language and literacy development, few studies have focused on the importance of parental beliefs about reading with infants. The current study, which sheds light on parental beliefs had three main aims. The first was to examine practices of shared reading in infancy (b...
The relationship between early childhood education and care (ECEC, birth to 8 years), children’s lifelong learning trajectory and the economy is undisputed. This relationship was particularly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an auto-ethnographical study, this chapter discusses government responses across 10 countries: Australia, Canada,...
Although it is well established that reading with young children supports early language and literacy development, few studies have focused on the importance of parental beliefs about reading with infants. The current study, which sheds light on parental beliefs had three main aims. The first was to examine practices of shared reading in infancy (b...
The relationship between early childhood education and care (ECEC, birth to 8 years), children’s lifelong learning trajectory and the economy is undisputed. This relationship was particularly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an auto-ethnographical study, this chapter discusses government responses across 10 countries: Australia, Canada,...
This paper draws upon research undertaken with ECEC managers in Irealnd, as well as representatives of the City and County Childcare Committees, Membership Organisations regarding the relationship between governance and management, and quality ECEC provision. It uses an ecological lens to examine ECEC governance across three domains: Macro-level go...
This collection brings together various cutting-edge and accessible perspectives and insights into the rich, complex and intriguing stage of life that is childhood. Contributions here relate specifically to the Irish context, with many seamless connections also made to the universal themes of childhood and their relevance within the international c...
In Ireland, the Early Childhood Education and Care [ECEC] sector, which is recognised as the period from birth to six years, has been central to political, social and economic agendas throughout the past two decades. While much attention has focussed upon issues of accessibility, cost and affordability for parents, the relationship between the ECEC...
This chapter describes the lived experiences of parents of six young children on the autism spectrum. It stresses the importance of attending to parent voices and the critical role of professionals in opening up or indeed limiting access to quality educational experiences for young children on the autism spectrum.The experiences of the six parents...
This chapter provides insight into a pilot book-gifting scheme for babies in areas of socio-economic disadvantage in Ireland. It reviews the benefits of the scheme, and considers the lessons learned from the Bookseed scheme. The chapter highlights the potential of a book gifting scheme to greater equality of access to reading opportunities at a you...
This research study, funded by CRANN explores the establishment of a professional body for the Early Childhood Education and Care sector in Ireland
Worldwide, millions of children have missed out on early childhood education and care (ECEC) due to the closure of their settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about the socio-emotional impact of these closures on young children. This paper draws upon a study of 506 parents of children aged 1–10 years in Ireland who complet...
Children are primed for learning from birth, and they learn at a rapid pace between birth and six years. The early childhood period provides a critical foundation for lifelong learning. The types of learning experiences and opportunities that young children encounter within classrooms at this point in their educational journey affects them as they...
Worldwide, millions of children have missed out on early childhood education and care (ECEC) due to the closure of their settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about the socio-emotional impact of these closures on young children. This paper draws upon a study of 506 parents of children aged 1-10 years in Ireland who complet...
This paper draws upon a doctoral study and encompasses three main components: (1) changes to national policy on inclusive education in recent years, (2) research recommendations regarding inclusive practice, and (3) the primary author’s lived experience of navigating the education system for her young child on the autism spectrum. It is concerned w...
Scientific research over the past 30 years strongly suggests that the most critical period of human development is from birth through to eight years old. During this period of early childhood, learning occurs at a pace that is unrivalled at any other time in a child’s development, resulting in sound physical and mental health, social and emotional...
This article, which focuses upon narrative inquiry as a means of including the voice and experience of children on the autism spectrum, draws upon a doctoral study that explores the experiences of young children as they and their families navigate the Irish Early Years’ Education System (both preschool and primary school). It focuses, in particular...
This code of Professional Responsibilities for Early Years Educators was developed by the Professionalisation Sub-Group of the Early Years Forum in Ireland. The value of quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) experiences for young children is widely acknowledged. In Ireland, this recognition has resulted in increased State investment (e....
Reading books with infants has many positive associations with child development. However, the age at which parents begin reading with their infants, and the frequency that they read with them, is affected by many factors. This paper considers some of those factors and examines the role baby book gifting programmes may play in supporting early shar...
In Ireland, a baby is born every eight minutes. This means that every eight minutes, a parent or parents, fall in love with a new born infant, and undertakes an enduring life-long commitment to nurture his development. While gazing lovingly at her three month old son recently, a first-time mother described her feelings to me, stating, ‘I can’t beli...
A major goal of Early Childhood Education and Care is directed towards relieving child poverty and, redressing educational disadvantage. Yet, notwithstanding the widely acknowledged association between quality and positive outcomes for children, investment in the ECEC sector is firmly placed on the bottom rung of the educational continuum. Many edu...
Kaitiaki explores the key roles and functions of early childhood managers. In the context of an increasing focus upon governance, management and accountability in early childhood, this presentation argues that the early childhood manager is the ultimate gatekeeper of children’s safety and well-being. Drawing upon personal experience, as well as res...
Despite the relevance of early childhood services to children, families and nation states, the sector is largely undervalued and under resourced and, is not recognised as an established profession. Using collaborative auto ethnography, researchers from six different countries (Australia, Chile, England, Germany, Ireland and the United States) all m...
The social pedagogic tradition has been integral to the culture of early childhood education including School Age Childcare (SAC) in Denmark for decades. Drawing upon interviews with multiple stakeholders: lecturers, representatives of an Education Research Institute, union activists an SAC provider and a policy maker, in Copenhagen, Denmark, this...
The project upon which this paper is premised, arose from discussion at the 2017 European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Conference Professionalisation Special Interest Group (P-SIG). Participants were engaged in vigorous debate around what the professionalisation of Early Childhood (the period from birth to eight years) me...
While the Early Childhood Education and Care sector in Ireland has been governed and regulated since 1996 by the Health Boards/Health Services Executive, responsibility for inspection transferred to TUSLA in 2014. Additionally, the DES Inspectorate (Department of Education and Skills) has been leading and organising focused inspections on the quali...
Research aims:
To explore EC academics’ understanding of the ways in which the sector is pursuing professionalisation across six countries
Relationship to previous research works - reference to existing literature and how it underpins your study:
Neoliberalism is a key political ideology influencing how EC policy is developed, and the ways in whi...
This book recognises diverse manifestations of special educational needs from communication difficulties and delays in learning, to social and physical disabilities, and considers ways in which these might be embraced within inclusive mainstream settings. Key to this is robust and purposeful leadership that removes barriers to learning, changes exi...
Early Childhood Teachers “require rigorous preparation for the dynamic professional responsibilities they will face as teachers” (Kennedy & Heineke, 2014, p. 229). While degree level programmes play a vital role in ECT preparation, having a degree may not be sufficient to ensure quality early education, or positive child outcomes (Sumrall, Scott-Li...
In 2007, the authors undertook research in Copenhagen, Denmark to explore how School Age Childcare provision was organised, governed, supported by Government etc. This presentation draws upon findings of follow up research in 2017 following Educational Reform in Denmark in 2016 which resulted in SAC being streamlined into primary schools. The findi...
There is much for PLÉ to celebrate, as the current iteration of draft award criteria and guidelines is reassuring in terms of existing approaches to programme design, delivery and content.
The intention to bring a level of consistency to the experiences and outcomes for students undertaking undergraduate ECEC degree programmes; attention to the in...
Every child has a basic fundamental right to survival, protection and education. These and many other rights are outlined in the UNCRC (1989), a legally binding international agreement. Yet the rights of children all over the world are violated on a daily basis, as they flee armed conflict and inconceivable atrocities in countries such as Syria, Af...
One of the hallmarks of having a professional association is the protection of the status and position of its members. Indeed members tend to share a singularly focused interest, a common bond which sets aspirations for the occupation. Currently such an association does not exist in Ireland. This article examines the evolution of the quality agenda...
The ECEC sector is beset by change. Many providers are struggling to embrace and comply with new and complex requirements from an increasing array of sources. This article examines a number of concerns relating to the proposed introduction of an apprenticeship model into the ECEC sector in Ireland. While the article acknowledges the value of an app...
The OECD is initiating the International Early Learning Study (IELS), a cross-national assessment of early learning outcomes involving the testing of children between 4.5 to 5.5 years in 3-6 participating countries initially (OECD, IELS Tender, 2016, p.18). Rather than fast-forwarding children’s education (Palmer, 2009), this paper argues that it i...
As the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (2016) engage in consultation on the time and structure of a revised primary school curriculum, this paper explores the implications of the proposals for children, educators, and primary school teachers.
In May 2012, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs with the Department of Education and Skills commissioned research through the Irish Research Council (IRC) to examine concepts of school readiness among parents of children availing of the free pre-school year.The views of early years educators, managers of early years settings, primary scho...
The provision, cost, quality and accessibility of childcare has dominated social, political and economic discourse in Ireland since the late 1990s. In terms of cost, the OECD (2014) assert that a family with two children can pay between 24% and 35% of net income for a dual earner family, and 40% of the net income of a lone parent family. Within thi...
The Early Childhood Education sector around the world is constantly changing, whether because of the unprecedented demand for ECE services globally, accelerated social change, or the introduction of pedagogical and regulatory practices. Based upon empirical inquiry, Early Childhood Education Management examines the somewhat controversial concept of...
The Early Childhood Education sector around the world is constantly changing, whether because of the unprecedented demand for ECE services globally, accelerated social change, or the introduction of pedagogical and regulatory practices. Based upon empirical inquiry, Early Childhood Education Management examines the somewhat controversial concept of...
Caring for and educating young children is highly skilled and complex, and is dependent upon the educator's education and training, work environment, salary and work benefits. This paper which draws upon two annual BA ECEC Graduate Occupational Profile Surveys undertaken in 2013 and 2014, explores the perceptions of graduates about seeking employme...
Childcare regulations ensure children's rights to Early Childhood Care and Education settings that protect them from harm and promote their healthy development. To ensure that settings comply, power is vested with regulatory bodies that are tasked with enforcing regulations. Using a qualitative methodology, 43 interviews were undertaken with Early...
Those working in the Early Childhood Care and Education sector have struggled for
professional recognition and status. While professional identity, or lack of it, is
associated with a multiplicity of factors, this paper explores the interplay of gender,
knowledge and skills, qualifications, integrated systems and vested interests. It
compares the i...
Presentation to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children on affordability, accessibility and quality in childcare provision in Ireland
This chapter looks at the concept of inclusion in early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Ireland by engaging with the experiences of children with special educational needs (SEN) and early childhood practitioners
1
in 14 settings during the implementation of a draft framework for action (DFA) for the inclusion of children with SEN. It draws...
Childcare regulations ensure children’s rights to Early Childhood Care and Education settings that protect them from harm and promote their healthy development. To ensure that settings comply, power is vested with regulatory bodies that are tasked with enforcing regulations. Using a qualitative methodology, 43 interviews were undertaken with Early...
In May 2013 an exposé of verbal, physical and emotional abuse of young children attending three early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings in Ireland was aired on national television in a documentary called Breach of Trust. This paper argues that while the programme raised public awareness of fundamental flaws within the ECCE system in Irel...
International definitions of early childhood locate the field with the care and education of children between birth and six years. In Ireland, this definition applies to both pre-school and the infant classes of primary school. While primary school teachers in Ireland must hold a Bachelor of Education degree, there is no minimum training requiremen...
Concepts such as child-centred practice, children's agency and active participation feature strongly within Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) policy. They have been shaped by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Thus children are increasingly recognised as being "able, willing and reliable contributors within their own signi...
This paper explores perceptions of professional identity in the early childhood care and educations sector (ECCE) in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). It is concerned with the status, salary and conditions of those working with children aged four to six in pre-school and primary school settings. Using qualitative methodology, the study garnered person...
Internationally, early childhood care and education policy is increasingly informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (198955.
1989. “United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)”. Geneva, , Switzerland View all references). In the Republic of Ireland, the importance of this convention was reflected...
