Alicia Curtin

Dr. Alicia Curtin is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at University College Cork, where she has been teaching since 2012. She serves as MEd Modular Deputy Programme Director and has previously led the MEd Modular Programme (2023) and Education Gaeilge (2019-2022) as Programme Director. She teaches across multiple programs including BScEd (UG), BEDSSPE (UG), PME (PG), MEd Modular (PG) and Cohort PhD (doctoral).

Dr. Curtin's research explores sociocultural perspectives on education, with particular focus on learning as identity, power and agency in teaching and learning, in and out of school literacies, alternative learning settings, and children's literature as literacy pedagogy. Her work connects academic, practitioner, professional and learner worlds to develop innovative pedagogical approaches. She has published 4 books, 3 invited chapters in international education handbooks, 6 reports of international standing, and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles.

Her most recent publication, Reading and Writing Pathways through Children's and Young Adult Literature (2023), has been nominated for the UKLA Academic Book of the Year Award 2023. This work explores how teachers and learners can engage with literature and authors to develop literacy in classroom practice through collaborative approaches that connect reader and writer identities.

• UKLA Academic Book of the Year Award 2023 nomination
• Literacy Association of Ireland Award Winner 2017 (for student MEd thesis)
• Multiple School of Education Research Support Fund awards (2015-2023)
• CACSSS Research Support Fund Awards (2012-2019)
• Participative Research and Policy Funded CPD Award (2013)

Dr. Curtin has supervised 3 PhDs, 29 MEd theses (including the Literacy Association of Ireland Award Winner 2017), and 62 Professional Research Papers to completion. She currently supervises 6 PhD students and various postgraduate research projects. She serves as Deputy Chair of the School of Education Learning and Teaching Committee and participates in multiple committees and working groups within UCC. She also acts as an External Programme Reviewer at Trinity College Dublin and External PhD Examiner at The University of the Free State, South Africa.

Her research projects include "Documenting Early Career Primary and Post Primary Principals' Identity Formation" (SCOTENS funded), "A Continuum of Teaching and Learning in Ireland and the EU" (EU Jean Monnet), and "Developing Literacy Pedagogies through Children's Literature with Authors" (2019-2023). She has also contributed significantly to the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET) as Ireland's Literacy Representative.