Abstract
BUILDING A STUDENT EMPOWERMENT AND PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME DRIVING
INNOVATION AND CHANGE ACROSS THE TECHNOLOGICAL HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR IN IRELAND
Dr Carina Ginty, Head of Teaching and Learning (ATU) and N-TUTORR ATU University
Lead + sectoral co-lead of the Student Empowerment work stream N-TUTORR (2022-2025)
Dr Moira Maguire, Acting Head of School of Health & Science (DKIT) and sectoral co-lead of the Student Empowerment work stream N-TUTORR (2022-2025)
This collection of essays is dedicated to showcasing work done through N-TUTORR (the National Technological University Recovery and Resilience project). In this introduction, we tell our version of the story of a significant initiative to foreground student empowerment and partnership across the Irish technological higher education section between 2022 and 2024 as well as introduce the essays included in this collection. Our work was part of N-TUTORR’s €40 million programme to transform learning and teaching, supported by the EU Next Generation fund. We discuss the context of our initiative and the drivers behind it, and we reflect on our experience, the impact of the work, and the lessons we learned.
For both of us, this was more than a project: it was an opportunity to build on the innovative work that was happening across Irish higher education and embed student empowerment and partnership. We have been actively involved in learning and teaching enhancement for many years, in leadership roles in our own institutions (CG in Atlantic Technological University and MM in Dundalk Institute of Technology) and nationally. We share a strong commitment to student empowerment and partnership. When we began to develop this work, we realised that we both wanted to find ways to make student empowerment and partnership central to learning and teaching enhancement. We hoped to contribute towards a culture shift whereby partnership would become the way to ‘do’ enhancement in the Irish technological sector.
Our own story, and the stories captured in the essays included in this issue of Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education (TLTHE), offer glimpses of some of what is possible when we shift toward partnership.
INNOVATION AND CHANGE ACROSS THE TECHNOLOGICAL HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR IN IRELAND
Dr Carina Ginty, Head of Teaching and Learning (ATU) and N-TUTORR ATU University
Lead + sectoral co-lead of the Student Empowerment work stream N-TUTORR (2022-2025)
Dr Moira Maguire, Acting Head of School of Health & Science (DKIT) and sectoral co-lead of the Student Empowerment work stream N-TUTORR (2022-2025)
This collection of essays is dedicated to showcasing work done through N-TUTORR (the National Technological University Recovery and Resilience project). In this introduction, we tell our version of the story of a significant initiative to foreground student empowerment and partnership across the Irish technological higher education section between 2022 and 2024 as well as introduce the essays included in this collection. Our work was part of N-TUTORR’s €40 million programme to transform learning and teaching, supported by the EU Next Generation fund. We discuss the context of our initiative and the drivers behind it, and we reflect on our experience, the impact of the work, and the lessons we learned.
For both of us, this was more than a project: it was an opportunity to build on the innovative work that was happening across Irish higher education and embed student empowerment and partnership. We have been actively involved in learning and teaching enhancement for many years, in leadership roles in our own institutions (CG in Atlantic Technological University and MM in Dundalk Institute of Technology) and nationally. We share a strong commitment to student empowerment and partnership. When we began to develop this work, we realised that we both wanted to find ways to make student empowerment and partnership central to learning and teaching enhancement. We hoped to contribute towards a culture shift whereby partnership would become the way to ‘do’ enhancement in the Irish technological sector.
Our own story, and the stories captured in the essays included in this issue of Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education (TLTHE), offer glimpses of some of what is possible when we shift toward partnership.
| Original language | English (Ireland) |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, International Journal |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Nov 2025 |
