Staff / Faculty

Roisin (pronounced "Rosheen") McLaughlin

Teaching & Learning with HECUA Students

Since joining HECUA as director for the ‘Northern Ireland: Democracy and Social Change’ programme, I have enjoyed interacting with those students who have come to Northern Ireland and embarked on a unique journey of self-discovery that can only really come about when a person is removed from everything that is familiar to them. The four pillars of this programme are observation, participation, interaction and reflection and these techniques help students to develop their understanding of the dynamics of Northern Irish politics and society in a meaningful way and to then reflect on their own society at home. Students on this programme get the opportunity to meet and discuss pertinent issues with a wide range of politicians, community activists and academics. The internship component of the course has provided students with the chance to build personal and professional relationships with work colleagues and to see the Northern Irish situation through the eyes of those they encounter in their working environment. I have always been struck by the dedication and commitment of my past HECUA students and the personal growth they experience while in Northern Ireland – a number of them have commented that this is both the most powerful and unexpected outcome of the programme for them.

I think the main reason I enjoy teaching so much on the HECUA programme is that the whole ethos of the programme is underpinned by the idea of ‘cognitive equality’, which is just a fancy way of stating that as a learning community we recognise that everyone has valuable insights and experiences to share in our learning environment that we can all benefit from. As programme director I think it is crucial to ensure that all voices are heard in the group so that we become intentional about building a learning community that is founded on notions of respect and reciprocity. In doing so, we emulate in our group what we would like to see in the rest of society - the promotion of the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion.

My Research and Current Projects

When I am not teaching on the HECUA programme, I have a number of other projects that consume my thoughts and time. At the moment I am teaching Masters level modules in Human Rights Education and Education for Sustainable Development for the School of Education at the University of Ulster. I am also currently developing a minor pathway for all undergraduate students at the University of Ulster in International Development and we hope to be able to offer this course from September 2006.

In addition to my other teaching commitments at the university, I am the current Chair of the Human Rights Education sub-group for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Education Forum (convened by the NI Human Rights Commission), which is a group of key stakeholders in Northern Ireland who are interested in issues of human rights legislation compliance and implementation. I am also a referee for the Development Education journal, Focus and a member of both the Northern Ireland Refugee Action Group and the Anti-Racism Network. Both of these groups involve lobbying and direct peaceful action to protect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and to foster a more tolerant and inclusive society in Northern Ireland.

Presentations and Publications (see CV for a more extensive list)

Recent Publications:
Jacqueline Reilly, Ulrike Niens, and Roisin McLaughlin, ‘Education for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland’ in Audrey Osler (ed.) Teachers, Human Rights and Diversity: educating citizens in multicultural societies, Trentham Publications, 2005, pp.53-72.

Recently Presented/Accepted Conference Papers:
"Developing Culturally Appropriate Models for International Internships", NSEE/ICEL Annual Conference, October 2004 – co-presented with other HECUA staff
"Building a Culture of Service Learning for Civic Engagement on the Island of Ireland: A Comparative Analysis", CIEE Annual Conference, November 2005 – to be co-presented with Lorraine McIlrath, NUI, Galway with journal article planned to follow.

Resume / CV