Prof. Catherine Furlong

Professor Catherine Furlong is a Professor in the School of Policy and Practice at Dublin City University’s Institute of Education (St Patrick's Campus) and Co-Director of CREATE (Centre for Collaborative Research in Teacher Education across the Continuum). A distinguished leader in Irish higher education, she brings 26 years of higher education experience to her work, including 17 years in programme leadership—highlighted by her prior service as Chair of both the Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Master of Education (MEd) programmes—and 6 years as Director of School Placement.

Catherine began her career as a primary school teacher across diverse classroom settings before moving into educational research, contributing to an international project examining school culture and ethos. At DCU, she teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate levels, contributing to the BEd, Professional Master of Education (PME), MEd, and Doctor of Education (EdD) programmes, with teaching and research expertise centered on Educational Leadership and Management, School Effectiveness and Improvement, and Educational Review and Evaluation.

Beyond her academic role at DCU, Catherine engages extensively with national policy, quality assurance, and public discourse. She is currently serving a four-year term as a Ministerial Appointee to the Teaching Council. Demonstrating strong policy impact across Ireland and Northern Ireland, Catherine’s research has been cited in parliamentary proceedings north and south of the border. Her findings have been recorded in the official transcripts of Seanad Éireann, the Joint Committee on Education and Youth, and the Northern Ireland Assembly (Stormont), while also underpinning cross-party policy positions in both systems. Her quality assurance work includes extensive service as an External Examiner for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. An invited speaker across professional networks, she recently delivered a keynote address at the ASTI Convention and her reserach commentary has appeared in print media, tv and radio

Her research experience spans key areas of educational leadership, school placement, teacher education, professional identity and organisational culture. Her recent work focuses on occupational wellbeing across the profession, with a particular focus on teachers and school principals.