The Future of Education

Dr Leah O’Toole is a Lecturer in Educational Psychology at Marino Institute of Education, an Associated College of Trinity College Dublin. Leah’s current research interests include: holistic, student-centred approaches to teaching and assessment; parental involvement in children’s education; theory-topractice in the context of the foundation disciplines in Initial Teacher Education; and bio-ecological perspectives on educational transition. She is particularly influenced by the theoretical work of Urie Bronfenbrenner, and her doctoral work explores the potential of Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological Model of Human Development (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006) as a framework for theory and research in psychology, sociology and education. Leah is particularly passionate about issues related to educational disadvantage and quality in early childhood education, and much of her work focuses on the transformative power of positive relationships between children and the important adults in their lives.