Una Mccabe
Dr
?Dr Una McCabe? is Head of the School of Arts Education and Movement at DCU Institute of Education. She specialises in drama education, and her work focuses on inspiring creativity and artistic expression with students of all ages. She is passionate about the importance of drama and the arts as catalysts for learning and development. With a wealth of experience as a teacher, teacher educator and teaching artist, Una brings extensive theoretical and practice based knowledge to her role as a researcher and educator. Her experience, research, and international publications are in the areas of drama pedagogy, sociodramatic play training, early years drama, play frameworks, interactions in arts rich classrooms, youth theatre, arts based research methods, creativity and education, and arts curricula.
Una was awarded a DCU Institute of Education Research Fellowship in 2019. She is a member of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Primary Arts Education Development Group; the Thematic Coordinator for Arts and Social Inclusion in Education for the Educational Disadvantage Centre at DCU; a member of DCU's Civic Engagement Committee; and a member of the (National) Arts and Culture in Education Research Repository committee. She sits on the editorial board of NJ: Drama Australia.
Una holds a degree in Drama from Trinity College Dublin, and a H.Dip.Ed. from Trinity College. She has also completed an M.A. at the National College of Art and Design entitled 'Artists, the Arts and Early Childhood Education' and obtained a Phd from University College Cork in which she investigated drama as a method of sociodramatic play training. Prior to joining DCU, Una lectured in St Patrick's College; DKIT, and the Froebel College of Education, as well as holding a variety of national and international roles as an arts education practitioner, leader and evaluator.
Book Chapter
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | McCabe, U. (2020) 'The role of drama in role-play' In: A Vygotskian Analysis of Children's Play Behaviours: Beyond the Home Corner. [Link] |
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | (2024) 'Playful (music) teaching and learning in Irish primary school classrooms'. Irish Educational Studies, 1 (21). https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2024.2330886 | |
| 2024 | Byrne, Rachael; Murphy, Regina; Ward, Francis (2024) 'Towards A Model of Playful Learning for Primary Music Classrooms'. British Journal of Music Education, . | |
| 2023 | McCabe, U. (2023) 'Humour, drama education, and drama curriculum in Ireland'. Research in Drama Education, 28 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2024 | McCabe, Una; Flannery, Michael (2024) 'Wellbeing and the arts in Irish primary teacher education: aligned or apart? A policy and self-study perspective'. European Journal of Teacher Education, 47 (3). [DOI] | |
| 2022 | Murphy, R.; Ward, F.; McCabe, U.; Flannery, M.; Cleary, A.; Hsu, H.P.; Brennan, E. (2022) 'Recasting embodied and relational teaching in the arts: teacher educators reflect on the potential of digital learning'. Irish Educational Studies, 41 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2021 | McCabe, U.; Farrell, T. (2021) 'Play, pedagogy and power: a reinterpretation of research using a Foucauldian lens'. International Journal of Early Years Education, 29 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | McCabe, Una (2017) 'The Drama in Sociodramatic Play: Implications for Curriculum and Pedagogy'. NJ-Drama Australia Journal, 41 (1). [Link] http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14452294.2017.1329689 | |
| 2015 | McCabe, U. (2015) 'So You Want To Know Who We Are: Review'. The Irish Literary Supplement, 35 (1). | |
| 2013 | McCabe, U. (2013) 'Learning to Play through Drama'. An Leanbh ?g: OMEP Ireland journal of early childhood studies, 7 . |
Conference Contribution
Published Report
Honors and Awards
Committees
Outreach Activities
Research Interests
Drama and pedagogy; Sociodramatic Play; Interactions in Arts Rich Classrooms; Arts-Based Methods; Creativity and Education; Play based Education
Research Projects
Teaching Interests
Drama, Play, Arts Education