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Research at SMSI

Research Strategy

As part of the Society’s Strategy 2025, the College has developed a comprehensive Research Strategy to underpin and inform teaching and learning across the Society. This strategy informs both staff and student research policy and procedure which have been approved by QQI as part of the College’s re-engagement process.

The SNMCI Research Strategy seeks to encourage both staff and learners to focus on those themes in education where preliminary evidence and practice suggests that the Montessori philosophy can add significant value to learning and development.

In particular, we seek to explore these themes in the broad context of the following THREE areas:

  1. The Montessori Method
  2. Special Education
  3. Well-being and Education

Research KPIs

1. Increase quantity & quality of research 80%
2. Foster a culture of professional dev. 60%
3. Adopt an interdisciplinary approach 50%
4. Provide outreach to educators 25%
5. Develop research partnerships 33%

Staff Research Interests

Dr. Rachael Byrne

Research Interests: Playful pedagogy, music education, teacher education and professional learning

Steve Welsh

Research Interests: Learning technologies

Angela Hickey

Research Interests
Health behavior change interventions, Community-led and participatory research, Psychology - early intervention and prevention

Dr. Fabiola Neto

Research Interests: Child psychology and wellbeing

Dr. Laura Gormley

Research Interests: Applied Behavioural Analysis, Initial Teacher Education

Dr. Siobhan Doyle

Research Interests
The philosophy of religion, applied ethics, ancient philosophy, and educational philosophy.

Audrey Johnston

Research Interests: Teacher and pupil wellbeing, Mental Health in Education

Dr. Nicholas Breakwell

Research Interests: Learning technologies, Online learner engagement

Jennifer Brush

Research Interests: Montessori Ageing and Dementia

Ella Tuohy

Research Interests: Health psychology, long-term condition management during childhood and adolescence

Siobhan O'Reilly

Research Interests: Montessori Education 3-6

Dr. Michael Flanagan

Research Interests: History of Education

Upcoming Conferences

Montessori Europe Annual Congress 7 - 9 Oct 2022 Amsterdam
29th International Montessori Congress, Thailand 12-15th July 2023 https://montessoricongress2023.org/
BERA Conference 2022 5 September 2022 to 8 September 2022 University of Liverpool https://www.bera.ac.uk/conference/bera-conference-2022

Global Research Papers

Chan H.Y. et al (2021). Effects of a culturally adapted group based Montessori based activities on engagement and affect in Chinese older people with dementia: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Geriatrics 21, 24.

L’Ecuyer, M, Javier, B and Güell, F. (2020). “Four Pillars of the Montessori Method and Their Support by Current Neuroscience.” Mind, Brain, and Education 14 (4): 322–34.

Mavric, M. (2020). The Montessori Approach as a Model of Personalized Instruction. Journal of Montessori Research , Vol 6, No. 2.

Dansereau, D.R. and Wyman, B.M. (2020).A Child-Directed Music Curriculum in the Montessori Classroom: Results of a Critical Participatory Action Research Study. Journal of Montessori Research,Spring 2020, Volume 6, Issue 1.

Taggart, J., Fukuda, E., & Lillard, A. S. (2018). Children’s preference for real activities:  Even stronger in the Montessori children’s house. Journal of Montessori Research, 4, 1-9.

Marshall, C. Montessori education: a review of the evidence base. npj Science Learn 2, 11 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-017-0012-7

Lillard, A.S. Montessori Preschool Elevates and Equalizes Child Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 30 October 2017 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01783

SMSI Researchers in Focus

Dr. Siobhan Doyle

Siobhan Doyle

Research Interests
The philosophy of religion, applied ethics, ancient philosophy, and educational philosophy.

Research Profile

Dr Siobhan Marie Doyle completed her PhD in University College Dublin 2017. The research goal was a comparative study between the philosophical ideas of Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) and Plotinus (203-270 AD).

Since completing the PhD, she has been a teaching fellow and module co-ordinator in University College Dublin and is currently a faculty member of St Nicholas Montessori College of Ireland.

She is an active participant in the P4C programme in UCD, which is designed to introduce philosophy to children. She has also co-coordinated the Irish Young Philosopher Awards since its inauguration in 2018.

Dr. Doyle is currently a member of the Higher Educational Colleges Association (HECA) Research Committee, and in this role has been a co-coordinator of the HECA Student Research Awards 2021.

Recent Publications
Doyle, S. (2020). ‘Kierkegaard’s critique of religion within the limits of reason: duty as loving practical action’. Revue Roumaine de Philosophie, vol. 64, no.2.

Doyle, S. (June 2020). Kierkegaard:The Temporal and Eternal Structure of the Process of Forgiveness.  Dialectic Journal University of York . 1-10.

Doyle, S. (2019). ‘Kierkegaard’s commitment and loyalty to true faith’, Inscriptions, vol. 2, no. 2.

Doyle, S. (2016). ‘The Nature of Kierkegaard’s Relationship with Socrates’. Kierkegaard in Process, vol. 1.

Recent Conference Proceedings

Dublin  Business School (DBS) Parc 22

Conference: Practical Applied Research (May 2022)
Paper: ‘ Philosophy as Action’.

Boston (USA): Harvard University

Conference: The Human Flourishing Program: Kierkegaard and Love Workshop (November 2021)
Paper: ‘ The Paradoxical Nature of Kierkegaard’s Ethics of Love’.

Lithuania: Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas.

Conference: ‘Philosophy of Humour: New Perspectives’ (February 2021).
Paper: ‘Kierkegaard: The Power of Irony and Humour‘.

Poland: The Presence of Plotinus Conference (June 2021)

‘The self, contemplation, and spiritual exercise in the Enneads’,
Paper: Plotinus: The Self as the Logos of the Particularized Soul

Dublin: HAQEF Lunchtime Seminar
‘Building Trust in Online Teaching and Learning’
(October 2020).
Paper: ‘Ethics and Integrity in the Virtual
Learning Environment (VLE)’.
Manchester (U.K.): MANCEPT Workshops

Remembrance, Forgiveness, and Time’ (September 2020)
Paper:’ Kierkegaard: The Temporal and Eternal structure of the Process of Forgiveness’

Philadelphia (USA): The American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Conference:

‘The Søren Kierkegaard Society Session’ (January 2020)
Paper: Gender and the Practical Dimensions of Kierkegaard’s Existential Philosophy

Valparaiso University, Indiana, (USA):

‘Religious Experience and Description’ (October 2019)
Paper: Kierkegaard: The True Nature of God and Faith

Universit of Cambridge, (UK):

‘Plato’s Alcibiades I’ (September 2018)
Paper: Re-cognizing Plato’s Concept of Self through Kierkegaard

Dr. Rachael Byrne

Research Interests

  • Playful pedagogy
  • Music education
  • Teacher education and professional learning

Research Profile

Dr. Rachael Byrne completed her Doctorate of Education in DCU in 2021. Striving to expand opportunities for playful and engaging practices across the primary school, her doctoral work involved the development, and exploration, of a framework for playful music learning for Irish primary school teachers. In addition to music education and the theories of key pedagogues in this field, professional learning, ownership and creativity within playful pedagogies represented important components of her work.

Rachael has presented her research in the field of music education and professional learning in poster, presentation and workshop format for a wide range of audiences, both nationally and internationally. International conferences she has presented at include the International Society for Music education (ISME – Azerbaijan) and International Professional Development Association (IPDA – United Kingdom). In Ireland, based on her research, she has provided workshops and professional learning at the Society for music education (SMEI) for researchers as well as in Drumcondra Education Centre and at the Teaching Council’s annual ‘Féilte’ conference for teachers.Rachael is a long-standing committee member of the Irish branch of the International Professional Development association (IPDA- Ireland), where she has taken co-responsibility for social media and online professional learning, facilitating a number of Twitter SlowChats in the online space. She has recently acted as a panelist in the online IPDA-Ireland conversations (March 2021) and facilitated a Twitter SlowChat on the topic of ‘Marginalised Voices in Contemporary Times: Addressing Inequities Through Professional Learning and Education’ (November 2021).

Recent Publications

Coming soon  . . .

Recent Conference Proceedings

Coming soon . . .

Jennifer Brush

jennifer brush image

Research Interests
Montessori education in cognitive impairment, person centred care, ageing and dementia.

Research Profile

Jennifer Brush, MA, CCC/SLP is an award-winning Dementia Educator, author and consultant. Passionate about enriching the lives of people with dementia, Jennifer is on a mission to put the focus of care on the person’s preferences, interests and abilities. Jennifer has worked as the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on large number of grant funded Montessori education for dementia programmes and has published widely in the area, including authoring several books.

Recent Publications

Funded Research Grants

  • National Institutes of Health Clinical Trial to study wayfinding in people with dementia living in long term care.
  • Phase I Small Business Innovative Research grant to develop and test a wayfinding system for persons with dementia living in long term care communities.
  • Creating Home and Building Community II: The Urban Experience, funded by the Hulda B. & Maurice L. Rothschild Foundation.
  • Meal Time Matters at Home, funded by the Home Instead Senior Care Foundation to develop and test educational program for home health care staff about dysphagia and safe feeding techniques.
  • Improving the Quality of Family Visits, funded by the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation to develop a guide to help families have successful visits with loved ones in long term care facilities. This project was awarded the Silver Medal in the 12th Annual National Mature Media Awards honoring the best in Educational Materials for Older Adults.
  • Improving the Dining Environment for Persons with Dementia, funded by the Extendicare Foundation to assess the impact of lighting on oral intake and behaviors in persons with dementia.

Dr. Fabiola Neto

Research Interests
ADHD, Applications of Grounded Theory, Montessori approaches in higher education.

Research Profile

Dr Fabiola Neto completed her PhD in University College Dublin 2019. The research focussed on the attitudes and practice of clinicians when treating children living with ADHD.

Since completing the PhD, she has been a lecturer at St. Nicholas Montessori College whilst also developing her own clincial practice and assessment service for children with ADHD and other needs. More recently, Fabiola has developed a new B.Sc. in Psychology at St. Nicholas which has been submitted for accreditation with the Psychological Society of Ireland, having been validated by QQI.

Recent Publications

2020 – Neto, F. Attitudes and reported practice of paediatricians and child psychiatrists regarding the assessment and treatment of children with ADHD in Brazil. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (under review)

2020 –Neto. F. Montessori Approach to Teaching in Third Level Education: Theories and Practice in Active Learning. Active Learning in Higher Education Journal (in preparation)

2020 –  “Misunderstood classic grounded theory researchers in the medical field”. Authors: Ecarnot F., Honorio Neto, F; O’Connor, N.  (in preparation) 

2017 – Honorio Neto, F., Tatlow-Golden, M., Mulligan, A., Gavin, B., & McNicholas, F. (2017). Attitudes and reported practice of paediatricians and child psychiatrists regarding the assessment and treatment of ADHD in Ireland. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine. http://doi.org/10.1017/ipm.2017.29.

Recent Conference Proceedings

2019 –”Think big, start small”: Improving Montessori teaching from the inside through research” at Montessori Europe Congress (October 2019)- organized by the Montessori Europe Research Group MERGe

Panel discussion (speaker): Pilot Study: A Case Study of Action Research in a College of Teacher Education
Conference Paper (speaker): Montessori from a therapeutic perspective: Exploratory play for children with ADHD. Authors: Honorio Neto,F.; Ward S.

2017 – Conference Paper (speaker): Methodological and theoretical framework presentation at QMiP Conference. Establishing credibility of methods variance in qualitative research: Comparing telephone and face-to-face in-depth interviews. Conference: British Psychological Society Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section Conference 2017

2016 – Oral presentation: ”The ADHD Tsunami?” Global Perspectives – Inaugural International Conference of UCD Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Launch the outcomes of the National ADHD Survey – at UCD (Oct/ 2016)

2015 – Poster presentation: Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland Conference: Better Outcomes for Children in Dublin (Dec/ 2015) – Research Study Day at Saint John of God Hospital (Nov/ 2014 & Nov/ 2015)

2015 – Poster presentation: Conference on “Mapping Out Existing and New Service Models and Systems of Care for Youth”- at UCD (Aug/ 2015) – Youth Mental Health Conference – at St Patrick’s Hospital (Aug/ 2015)

2015 –  Poster presentation: OLCHC Research and Audit Day – at Crumlin Hospital (May 2015). Transition from CAMHS to AMHS Research Day- at Lucena Rathgar Clinic (May 2015) – ADHD Research Day- at Lucena Rathgar Clinic (Oct/ 2014)

Ella Tuohy (PhD Candidate)

Research Interests
Health psychology, long-term condition management during childhood and adolescence

Research Profile

Ella holds a BA (Hons.) in Applied Psychology from University College Cork. In 2015, Ella completed an MA in Applied Psychology in University College Cork. Her MA research dissertation focused on the effect of viewing nature on sustained attention in older adults. Ella is currently completing her PhD at Dublin City University. The PhD is part of a Health Research Board funded project. Her PhD research is exploring adolescent perspectives on negotiating self-management responsibilities for type 1 diabetes with their parents using mixed methods.

Recent Publications

Tuohy, E., Rawdon, C., Gallagher, P., Glacken, M., Murphy, N., Swallow, V., & Lambert, V. (2019). Children and young people’s experiences and perceptions of self-management of type 1 diabetes: A qualitative meta-synthesis. Health Psychology Open, 6(2).

Cassarino, M., Tuohy, E., & Setti, A. (2019). Sometimes Nature Doesn’t Work: Absence of Attention Restoration in Older Adults Exposed to Environmental Scenes. Experimental Aging Research, 45(4), 372-385.

Recent Conference Proceedings

Tuohy, E., Gallagher P., Rawdon, C., Glacken, M., Murphy, N. & Swallow, V. & Lambert, V. (2019). Examining the relationship between adolescent type 1 diabetes-specific quality of life and parent-adolescent communication. 43rd Annual International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes. Boston, USA October 30 – November 2, 2019 (Poster Presentation).

Tuohy, E., Gallagher P., Rawdon, C., Glacken, M., Murphy, N. & Swallow, V. & Lambert, V. (2019). Investigating the relationship between adolescents self-managing their type 1 diabetes and diabetes-specific conflict with parents. 33rd Annual Conference of European Health Psychological Society. Dubrovnik, Croatia September 3-7, 2019 (Oral Presentation).

Tuohy, E., Gallagher P., Rawdon, C., Glacken, M.,Murphy, N. & Swallow, V. & Lambert, V. (2019). Investigating the relationship between adolescent self-management of type 1 diabetes and open parent-adolescent communication. British Psychological Society Health Psychology Annual Conference. Manchester, UK, July 10-11, 2019 (Poster Presentation).

Tuohy, E., Lambert, V., Gallagher P., Rawdon, C., Glacken, M., Murphy, N. & Swallow, V. (2018). Barriers and Facilitators to Talking about Type 1 Diabetes Self-Management: Adolescent Perspectives. 16th International Conference on Communication in Healthcare. Porto, Portugal, September 1-4, 2018 (Oral Presentation).

Angela Hickey (PhD Candidate)

Research Interests

  • Health behavior change interventions
  • Community-led and participatory research
  • Psychology – early intervention and prevention

Research Profile

Angela Hickey, a Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin. Angela’s research focus is on prioritizing adolescence as it is a critical time for the development of healthy behaviours, delivering accurate health information, and exploring ways to challenge health risk behaviours. Angela’s knowledge base and skill set in psychology have focused on child and family health and welfare. Her work opportunities have been with vulnerable populations to support their health and well-being. 

Angela’s current research focus is to establish a national and international reputation for high-quality scientific research that enhances future health outcomes and promotes health equity with socially disadvantaged populations. She has presented her research in the field of health psychology with oral poster presentations at the 10th IUHPE – Health Promotion in the Life Course, Trondheim, Norway (May 2018), was awarded the Health Research Board (HRB) Conference Attendance Bursary, Galway ( August 2018) and attended and presented at the European Health Psychology Society Conference (EHPS 2019) Conference, Dubrovnik (August 2019).

Previous positions that Angela has held have included assistant researcher on the ENRICH research programme with NUI Maynooth psychology department and as a volunteer with the, “Mind the Mind – to Combat the Stigma of Mental Disorders”  educating secondary-level students about mental health and mental disorders, while decreasing negative beliefs and the stigma towards individuals affected by mental disorders. 

Recent Publications

Coming soon  . . .

Recent Conference Proceedings

Coming soon . . .

Steve Welsh (PhD Candidate)

Research Interests

  • Online and Blended Learning Design
  • Critical Media Literacy
  • Digital Pedagogies

Research Profile

Steve Welsh, Instructional Designer at St. Nicholas, is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University Teachers College in the Communications, Media, and Learning Technologies Design (CMLTD) programme. His doctoral research focuses on educational opportunities to strengthen critical media literacy amidst an erosion of trust in institutional authority. Prior to joining St. Nicholas, Steve worked at Columbia University’s Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, as well as the University of Michigan’s Office of Academic Innovation, where he designed and conducted research on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). 


Recent Publications

Coming soon  . . .

Recent Conference Proceedings

Steve has presented research on many topics in instructional design and online learning, most recently co-authoring an editorial entitled “Ireland’s Online Learning Call” in the Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning in July 2021. Among the forums in which Steve has presented research are the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) (2019), SxSW EDU (2018), Educause (2017), New Media Consortium (2017), and Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) Conference (2016). He has presented research talks on learning design at Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Cornell, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Michigan in the United States, and has published in the proceedings of the International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge (2019).