30th Jul 2018

National Teaching Heroes at CCT, voted for by our students

padraigmichael
Padraig McDonagh and Michael Weiss, CCT’s Teaching Heroes, organized by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

Our College participated in the National Teaching Heroes initiative over the last year, which was organised and led by the National Forum for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.  The National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in partnership with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) presented 37 Teaching Hero Awards to teachers from Ireland’s higher education sector on Thursday 27 October 2016. The Awards marked the culmination of a 2016 Teaching Hero campaign that saw over 800 higher education teachers nominated by their students for these awards.  

Students described their most impactful teachers as being outstanding, knowledgeable communicators and again emphasised the human touch as being an essential characteristic.  Focused on innovative, creative and inspiring teaching and its impact on student learning, the 2016 awards honour the best of Ireland’s higher education teachers for the influence they have on the development of their students and the part they play in promoting educational excellence in higher education. The award recipients honoured come from universities, institutes of technology and private colleges.

This was an auspicious event held at Dublin Castle, which was addressed by the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton T.D., and Fintan O’Toole – Columnist and Literary Editor for the Irish Times.  We are proud of the CCT students who voted for the CCT Teaching Heroes Padraig McDonagh and Michael Weiss, who we are also extremely proud of!!  The relationship between teacher and student is at the core of higher education.  The fact that these awards were led by student’s voting and are all about the student voice, makes these awards even more special!  Link to some photos and more information here:  http://www.teachingandlearning.ie/priority-themes/student-led-teaching-awards/teaching-hero-awards-2016/   

Huge thanks to all at CCT for organising the student voting including Graham and Dermot Glanville, and our student representatives for the Teaching Hero Awards, Will Malone (Faculty of ICT), and Bharath Kumar (Faculty of Business).