Preface
As the Education graduates of 2011 bid farewell to NCAD, they do so at a time of major changes, both in NCAD and in the wider world. Ireland’s economic difficulties will have a severe impact on the world of education, of schools and of teaching. But we are confident that the qualities of our graduates will shine in these challenging times. In particular their capacities to think creatively, to imagine new and better ways of doing things and to bring innovative ways of working into their school environments are precisely the qualities that our education system will look to foster in the coming generations of learners.
There are significant changes taking place in NCAD itself as well. The new Academic Alliance with UCD will provide rich opportunities for educational advancement. The new 3+2+3 academic structure of degrees and postgraduate studies will bring further changes in our practice. And in the education faculty, this year we say farewell not just to our graduating students but also to two long-serving and dearly valued colleagues – Ann Fitzgibbon and Alex Scott. As lecturers in the faculty, Ann and Alex have been pillars of our work and the gap they leave is enormous. It has been a privilege not just for students but equally for their staff colleagues to work with them over the years.
So to our graduating students and to our retiring staff, we wish you the very best in the years ahead.
Professor Gary Granville
Head of Faculty of Education
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A farewell wish to this year's graduates from Ann & Alex
"After many happy and rewarding years in the Faculty of Education, Alex and Ann would like to wish our final year graduates our sincere good wishes for the future.
We are very proud of all the students we have had the pleasure to teach in the past and particularly of this year's graduates."
