Biography

Dr Louise Heeran Flynn is an Assistant Professor in Teacher Education in the School of Education, Trinity College Dublin where she acts as School Placement Coordinator on the Professional Master of Education (PME) initial teacher education programme. Louise supports student teachers across their mandatory school placements, leading both the School Placement (Year 1) and Advanced School Placement (Year 2) modules. In the role of School Placement Coordinator, Louise liaises extensively with schools and external stakeholders. She also sits a number of national and international educational advisory groups. She has previously held the role of Registrar for the PME programme in the School. Louise also supervises student theses at PME, M.Ed and doctoral level.

Over the past twenty-six years, Louise has held a variety of roles in education, gaining fifteen years’ experience in senior management positions, and nineteen years’ experience working with post primary student teachers. She is a qualified post primary teacher, having been a post primary English teacher and principal before moving in to third level. She has held roles such as Head of School Placement and Director/Coordinator of the Professional Master of Education across three different initial teacher education institutions in Ireland.

Louise’s research interests lie in the field of initial teacher education (ITE), its research, policy and practice, viewed through the specific lens of inclusion which underpins all of Louise’s work. She has a particular interest in inclusive teaching, learning and assessment practices such as UDL 3.0 and drama in education.