TCD celebrates 100 years of its Chair of Education

Posted on: 23 November 2005

“The planned series of events, open to the public, are a contribution to this debate. For instance, A Philosophy of Education for a New Era seeks to come to terms with the vast social and cultural change, which has occurred in our own country.  The Future of the Irish Language in our Education System is relevant, contested and highly significant. Reform in the Universities and its clash with tradition is of major concern to us all”. 

Jostein Gaarder, a major figure in literature and author of ‘Sophie’s World’, will speak on Feeding the Imagination-Story and Fantasy on Saturday 17 December at 11.00am in a talk aimed at children, parents, teachers and the general public.

To celebrate the Centenary, the following events will take place throughout the academic year:

• Wed 23 Nov 05 ­ Ms. Susan Parkes: A History of Education as an Academic Discipline in Trinity College Dublin
• Sat 17 Dec 05 ­ Jostein Gaarder: Feeding the Imagination-Story and Fantasy
• Wed 18 Jan 06 ­ Panel discussion: The Future of the Irish Language in the Education System
• Wed 22 Feb 06 ­ Panel discussion: The Future of the University -Challenges & Opportunities
• Wed 15 March 06 ­ Prof. Enda McDonagh: A Philosophy of Education for a New Era (title to be confirmed)
• Wed 10 May 06 ­ Panel discussion: Educational Studies and the Future of Schooling

The Chair of Education in TCD is the oldest Chair in Education in Ireland’s Universities. In the one hundred years since its establishment, there have only been four professors of Education appointed to the Chair in TCD. The founding of a university Chair of Education in TCD was part of a broader movement to establish education as a subject of study worthy of a place in the university, and an element of this movement was the search to find a ‘Science of Education’ that would contain fundamental principles to underpin the processes of teaching and learning.