Ombudsman for Children Launches Educaring from the Heart
Posted 26 November, 2024
On Thursday November 21st Dr Deirdre McGillicuddy was delighted to welcome Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon to UCD to officially launch her book “Educaring from the Heart: How to nurture your wellbeing and re-discover your purpose in education”.
Dr Muldoon spoke about the important contribution the book will play in enhancing the wellbeing of educators and children across the education system, emphasizing the importance of doing so to realise children’s rights. Dr Muldoon was joined by Prof Colin Scott, Prof Judith Harford, Alan Morgan and Prof Niamh Moore-Cherry who each highlighted the role of the book in contributing to wellbeing across the continuum of education.
Deirdre, a former primary school teacher, wrote this book as a result of her own experience with burnout. She is passionate about wellbeing and ensuring that we look after those most important in our education system - our students, educators and the wider school community.
A thriving education system is so important to making sure we have a thriving society. Educator wellbeing is one of the biggest factors to ensuring student wellbeing and academic engagement in school. Relationships are key to nurturing wellbeing between educators and students. Burnout in education is on the increase, yet little has been done to provide educators with the opportunity to support their own wellbeing. This book presents ways in which educator and student wellbeing can be brought into everyday classroom interaction. Inviting readers on a journey of self-reflection, Educaring from the Heart offers an approach to education which places care, empathy, and compassion at the core of the educator’s role. Practical exercises are woven throughout to allow the reader to critically engage with how they understand themselves and their values as educators, and how this then shapes their wellbeing and practices in the classroom.
The book is divided into three distinct sections including, The “I” as Educator; The “Us” as Educator and Student; The “We” as Cocreators for Wellbeing. With a focus on nurturing wellbeing and learning within the classroom, as well as the power of co-creativity, this book is an essential read for any educator seeking to re/discover their purpose within education and to foster positive outcomes for their students. Deirdre believes that this book and the approach it promotes will make a meaningful difference in how educators, and children/young people experience school.
Educaring from the Heart can be purchased online from Routledge ((opens in a new window)https://www.routledge.com/Educaring-from-the-Heart-How-to-Nurture-Your-Wellbeing-and-Re-discover-Your-Purpose-in-Education/McGillicuddy/p/book/9781032717876) and other online book retailers. You can find further information on Deirdre’s work on the UCD website https://people.ucd.ie/deirdre.mcgillicuddy. You can see a preview of Deirdre’s book on her youtube channel through the following link (opens in a new window)https://youtu.be/D4NKU2qjD7A.