This event, organised by ETBI'S Professional Learning and Development Unit, took place on 14th June in Athlone.
Rosarii is FET Guidance, Information & Recruitment Officer, ETBI
She has more than 15 years’ experience working in Education including Further Education & Training (FET) and Guidance & Career Counselling. Experiences and knowledge gained in these employments have resulted in a strong sense of FET, its inclusivity and adaptability, and the educational and vocational pathways it provides.
Currently a PhD Candidate in the School of Education, Trinity College, Dublin, Rosarii completed a B.A. in Education in NUI Galway followed by a P.G. Dip. in Guidance Counselling in Trinity College, Dublin. She has a keen interest in the European perspective on guidance and career counselling and is an active member of the European network of career guidance and counselling practitioners.
The Evolving Role of the FET Guidance Practitioner
Fiona Maloney is the Director of the National Tertiary Office which was established with the goal of creating a more unified tertiary education system and is part of a wider reform agenda aimed at ensuring that Ireland's further and higher education system is well-equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Fiona’s role has responsibility for creating and strengthening strategic and regional partnership arrangements between Education and Training Boards and Higher Education Institutions to allow learners to progress in a clear, seamless manner between FE and HE with pathways that are clearly defined and easily accessed
Prior to this, Fiona was the ETBI Director of Further Education and Training and led the delivery of complex transformation projects including the transition of responsibility for FET Guidance strategy and policy over to the ETB sector.
FET Guidance and the New Tertiary Programmes in a Unified Tertiary System
Dr Carol Guildea is the Guidance Specialist (Assistant Principal Officer) in the new Guidance Unit within the Department of Education.
Carol has twelve years of experience as a Guidance Counsellor in a variety of post-primary school settings. She has also undertaken numerous additional roles during her eighteen years of practice in the wider education sector.
During her time working with the National Centre for Guidance in Education as Guidance Programme Coordinator (2019-2022), Carol coordinated and delivered a comprehensive programme of support for schools and contributed directly to the development of post-primary Guidance policy.
In 2021 Carol completed her PhD on stakeholder perspectives and assessment in second level education. She has co-authored and published two books to support students and parents as they navigate the Irish education system.
Carol holds a BA (Sociology and German), MEd (Specialisation in Guidance Counselling), GDEd (German and CSPE) and a PhD (Education Policy and Practice). She is also a Guidance Counselling Supervisor.
National Strategic Framework: Supporting the Future Landscape of Lifelong Guidance
Emma Kinsella is an Assistant Principal Officer in the Skills Policy and Enterprise Engagement Unit in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Her role is to support the implementation of the national skills agenda through the skills infrastructure and the labour market forecasting system and to develop strategic policy in relation to high level skills issues. In addition to acting as project lead for Ireland on the OECD Skills Strategy Review, Emma leads the Secretariat to the National Skills Council and is responsible for policy development for the Irish government in relation to Lifelong Learning and Career Guidance. In her career of over 20 years in the Public Service, Emma has developed a wealth of experience in a wide variety of areas across the skills and education ecosystem, and corporate functions such as HR, financial and audit management, and media relations.
Gráinne O’Donoghue is a Development Officer working in the Strategy Implementation unit of the Further Education and Training Team with ETBI. Gráinne is seconded from Youthreach with WWETB where she has worked for the past five years. A former FET student herself Gráinne is passionate about Further Education and Training and is a firm advocate of the many opportunities and supports that FET has to offer learners. Having embarked on a career change Gráinne began her training in Outdoor Education through FET and has worked extensively with young people and adults in outdoor settings, facilitated children with serious illnesses and their families to access adventure activities therapeutically. Moving indoors in recent years, Gráinne has worked with early school leavers who have chosen to complete their formal education in a setting other than mainstream post-primary school.
Education has been a continuous part of career development for Gráinne, having completed her Level 6 Outdoor Adventure Management Studies with Coláiste Dhúlaigh, she went on to complete her degree in Outdoor Education with GMIT, now ATU. She has just recently completed a Masters in Educational Practice where her specialist research area was Trauma Awareness and Trauma Sensitive Education. Other areas of research interest are Outdoor Learning and Learning Outside the Classroom. Further research in the area of Trauma Awareness in Education will be completed through future Doctoral studies.
Trauma Awareness: Supporting Our FET Learners
Carrie is Youth Mental Health Coordinator with Jigsaw, working in the FET and Higher Education team. She has worked in health and wellbeing for the last 8+ years and is qualified in health promotion, specialising in workplace settings.
She has worked in a wide variety of industries, including corporate and private industry, the HSE and other public sector agencies and in tech. She has worked closely with senior leadership teams in the development of health & wellbeing policies, strategies and interventions. She has also managed her own business, helping to support employees’ mental health in the digital age by improving behaviours around digital technologies.
Carrie is particularly interested in the topics of resilience, culture change and implementing health promotion, and brings a wealth of experience to the Further and Higher Education setting.
