McArdle, Fiona

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Fíona is a highly experienced educator with both national and international teaching experience and has held a range of leadership positions, including serving as Principal of a primary school. She completed her primary degree in Communication Studies at Dublin City University (DCU), followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (Primary), during which she received a first-class result in her final teaching practice in Gaelscoil settings. She later completed a Master’s in Intercultural Education and Leadership and holds an Advanced Diploma in Education Law from the Honorable Society of King’s Inns. Her professional practice is strongly grounded in inclusion, social justice, and intercultural perspectives, and she continues to draw on these foundations in her teaching, supervision, and research. Fíona’s research interests include inclusion and diversity; educational leadership; and international, intercultural, and intersectional perspectives on children’s rights to, in, and through education. She has published in the International Journal of Early Years on play-based pedagogy in Irish primary classrooms (Disrupting the Aistear hour: working towards a play-based curriculum in early childhood classrooms in Irish primary schools). She has also collaborated with Children’s Books Ireland (CBI) and Dr. Margaret Kernan on Share a Story, an intergenerational reading guide for children aged 0–12. Launched during Global Intergenerational Week 2023, the guide highlights stories that foster meaningful connections between young and old, supporting families and educators in facilitating rich, age-diverse reading experiences. Fíona is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Education, where her work continues to explore inclusion, children’s rights, ethical practice, and intercultural perspectives within initial teacher education.

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    PublicationOpen Access
    Title: Play Always Matters: It matters even more in infant classes now
    (2022-04) O'Síoráin, Carol-Ann; Kernan, Margaret; Casey, Elva; McArdle, Fiona; Hibernia College; Hibernia College; Hibernia College; Hibernia College
    As teacher educators in a challenging world crisis, we are reconceptualising and revalidating our personal theories and ideologies of early childhood education. But is it causing us to change and adapt our practices to be more responsive and inclusive of the child’s voice in our schools? Initial findings from Covid 19 research suggests that children missed opportunities for play with peers which negatively impacts on social and emotional learning and language development (O’Keeffe C, McNally S. (2021). Play naturally draws self-identity and self-expression from the child, where the child’s own voice emerges. Play enables children to recreate and rehearse their personal life experiences and cultivate their place in their family, community, and peer group. It is time for a conscious ‘pause to reflect’ on the play-based event called the ‘Aistear Hour’ in mainstream primary infant classrooms. Recent published findings from Sloan, et. al. (2021) indicated that while teachers were generally enthusiastic about play and playful approaches ‘there was still some uncertainty over the approaches to teaching and learning advocated by Aistear and the lack of specialised training in such approaches’ Sloan, et. al. (2021, p. 30).
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    The role of story in strengthening intergenerational bonds in primary education
    (2023-04) Kernan, Margaret; McArdle, Fiona
    To mark Global Intergenerational Week (24th to 30th April 2023), Hibernia College is delighted to welcome Dr Margaret Kernan and Fíona Mc Ardle, who will present their work on intergenerational learning in primary education. They have collaborated with Children’s Books Ireland to highlight stories and storytelling as a way of strengthening intergenerational bonds and produced Share a Story, a carefully curated booklist for ages 0-12 featuring a diversity of friendships and relationships between old and young. They will also discuss other initiatives, in Ireland and internationally, that connect primary schools with community and illustrate a diversity of learning relationships between children and older adults. Our ageing population and the growing diversity of our communities calls for new perspectives on learning relationships. In this webinar you will hear about the benefits for children, for primary schools and community members of all ages of working intergenerationally. Dr Margaret Kernan is currently a Lecturer in Education and Research Methods in Hibernia College. Her research interests are in early childhood education; psycho-social wellbeing of children; play and learning and intergenerational learning. Margaret is also coordinator of the award-winning intergenerational learning programme Together Old and Young (TOY) http://www.toyproject.net/ Fíona McArdle is currently a Lecturer in Education, School Placement in Hibernia College and worked as a primary school principal prior to joining the college. Fíona also worked as a facilitator and coordinator with Rainbows Ireland for several years and taught kindergarten, in public schools, in the United Arab Emirates. Her research interests include areas of inclusion and diversity, leadership, and international, intercultural, and intersectional perspectives on children’s rights to, in and through education.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Disrupting the Aistear hour: working towards a play-based curriculum in early childhood classrooms in Irish primary schools
    (Taylor and Francis, 2024-01-01) O’Síoráin, Carol Ann; Kernan, Margaret; McArdle, Fíona; McArdle, Fiona
    In a climate of pandemic recovery and taking this opportunity to be reflective and reflexive in our practice we set out to examine how we can make a change to the playful experiences of children aged 4–6 years old in Irish infant primary classrooms. As teacher educators in play and play-based learning, in higher education, we are confronted by pedagogical cultures and classroom experiences within early primary settings that turn play on and off for a period during the day. This is a practice commonly referred to as the ‘Aistear hour’. The aim of this project was to explore our own current understandings and to improve our professional approaches to teaching student teachers about play- based pedagogy and practices. Participants (n = 9) in this small- scale survey research study were tutor colleagues involved in the teaching of elements of Early Childhood and Professional Practice Placement modules. The results indicate a serious need for a professional collective discussion on the adult ‘hijacking’ of play and the need for a rights-based approach to ensure very young children have control and voice in their play experiences in early primary classrooms.