Every year at National College of Ireland, the Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning team host The Festival of Education and Lifelong Learning. This year’s festival was dedicated to NCI staff, and took place on Thursday, June 20th, 2024, in our brand-new Spencer Dock building.
This highly anticipated event is made up of a series of free presentations and networking. This event is also live streamed on Microsoft Teams. Offering dual access to events when possible is always an appreciated bonus as this format ensures that everyone who wishes to attend the event can join, be it in person or online.
The theme of this year’s festival was “Teaching for Sustainability.”
It is understood that sustainability is hugely important. In all sectors, there is an ongoing challenge to ensure that sustainability measures are taken, and the idea of teaching for sustainability specifically is one that is highly likely to be an on-going theme across higher education for the foreseeable future. Sustainability is woven throughout all of NCI’s principles.
A unique aspect of this festival is that presenters are given free range to interpret the theme in different ways. This flexible approach allows for a broad range of ideas to be explored such as considering how do we actively teach about sustainability? How do we develop sustainability skills? How do we incorporate sustainability into continuous assessment and into apprenticeships? All excellent questions that allowed for some creative, thoughtful discussions to take place.
At National College of Ireland, we believe in “Changing Lives Through Education,” and it is at these events that we can put that mantra into practice. The Festival of Education and Lifelong Learning illustrates how we are, in fact, always learning and there will always be ways for us to improve, develop, learn, and grow. If we can do this as a staff, we can highlight this forever learning mindset to NCI students. We demonstrate how they are part of a campus that celebrates progression and expanding on innovative ideas.
"The Festival of Education and Lifelong Learning is a wonderful event that we look forward to every year. This year’s theme of sustainability was chosen as it is a universal challenge, and one that also aligns with NCI’s strategy. It was fantastic to see the broad range of ways that our presenters interpreted this theme and the passion at which they spoke. I look forward to seeing how this event influences teaching at NCI in the coming year." ~ Deirdre Tinnelly, Educational Research Assistant.
Congratulations and well done to all staff members who presented at this year’s festival. Every presentation was engaging, thoughtful, and very impressive. As part of NCI’s collaboration with Tree Nation to combat deforestation and climate change, each speaker was thanked with a tree planted in their name. Perfectly complementing this year’s theme, NCI’s Forest continues to grow. Conor Sisk and Brenda de Azevedo from the marketing team had the opportunity to give a presentation about NCI’s partnership with Tree Nation at the festival. It was wonderful to share more information about Tree Nation with staff members.
Read More About NCI X Tree Nation
We would like to say thank you and well done to Dr Leo Casey and Deirdre Tinnelly, the coordinators of this year’s festival. We would also like to extend our thanks and applause to the entire CELL team. Everyone’s hard work and commitment to lifelong learning was illustrated at this event.
Read About the Festival of Education and Lifelong Learning Through the Years
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