Dr Pauline Logue Collins wins GMIT President's Award for Teaching Excellence

GMIT is pleased to announce the winner of this year's GMIT President's Award for Teaching Excellence is Dr Pauline Logue Collins, a lecturer in Education, Religious Studies & Ethics.

Dr Logue Collins joined the staff of GMIT in 2003, first as a lecturer in the Dept. of Humanities in the Galway campus, and later (2007) as a lecturer in Education in the Letterfrack campus. Former Chair of the BSc (Hons) Design and Technology Education programme in Letterfrack, she is currently a team leader on the restructuring of the Teacher Education programme in collaboration with the Teaching Council and HEA. 

Dr Logue Collins holds a first class honours degree in Science, and a H. Dip in Education from NUI Galway, a first class honours degree in Theology & Psychology from All Hallows College, Dublin, a first class honours higher degree (STL) in Moral Theology from The Milltown Institute, and a PhD in the field of Social Ethics from the University of Leeds. 

GMIT President Michael Carmody, presenting the award to Dr Logue Collins, says: “The President’s Award for Teaching Excellence recognises outstanding teaching by a member of staff based on a portfolio of work which is evaluated by a panel of GMIT academic staff and student representatives. Dr Logue Collins was unanimously selected as the recipient of this year’s award.”

Prior to joining GMIT, Dr Logue Collins taught maths, science, and religion in secondary schools in Donegal and Dublin.  Subsequently she worked as a research supervisor in WIT, UCD, The Milltown Institute and All Hallows, and lectured part-time in St Angela’s College, Sligo, NUI Galway, and the Western Theological Institute (WTI).  On behalf of the Loreto Sisters (Ireland), she established an inner city education project – The Children and Adult Development Project (CADP) - in the Fatima Masion estate, inner city, Dublin.

Dr Logue Collins has in-depth knowledge of the philosophy, psychology and sociology of education. She has published in areas of teacher education, social ethics and religious culture, and has supervised a number of postgraduate research students in GMIT and other third level colleges. She has also acted as External Examiner at PhD level.

She embeds creativity and innovation into her teaching and, influenced by the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, internationally replaces the traditional lecturing approach (or ‘banking’ methods of education’) with co-operative learning approaches. She is particularly interested in educational innovations, and in this context, has developed a student-teacher peer assisted mentoring programme called Nest (Nurturing Excellence in Student Teachers). She has also experimented with creative modes of microteaching, piloted team teaching initiatives, and presented related research at Learning Innovation network (LIN) annual conferences and at the Association of Teacher Educators, Europe (ATEE).  In the interests of inclusion, she promotes learning partnerships with the wider community, such as through links with organisations such as VTOS and Youthreach (Co Galway) and the COPE Foundation (Cork).

Accepting her award, Dr Pauline Logue Collins, says: “I am deeply honoured to receive the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Receiving this award is a most humbling and affirming experience; one which inspires me to continue to contribute to teaching and learning with passion and enthusiasm in the years to come. I would like to take this opportunity to say that it is a delight to work in an institute that allows its staff to flourish, as educators, and it is a privilege to teach alongside so many warm and supportive colleagues, and such talented and creative students.”

Dermot O’Donovan, Head of GMIT Letterfrack, says Dr Logue Collins is deeply committed to education and has a passion for learning and teaching. “She displays the utmost level of professionalism in her approach to teaching and her students are fully engaged in their learning.  This becomes particularly apparent during micro teaching when students from the local primary school are hosted on campus for a teaching lesson by GMIT student teachers.  The level of innovation, preparation and professionalism displayed by her students is exceptional. Pauline also displays great compassion and understanding in her teaching role and has an excellent rapport with her students. She nurtures them in a manner that allows their ability to develop and blossom.”

The following are some graduate and staff testimonials:

 

 ‘In my 20 years in education, both as a student and as an educator, I have never met a person who went beyond the call of duty as Pauline did. … She has a gift of developing creative, active, enjoyable and, most importantly, effective lessons when delivering course material.’  

                           - Karl Dorney, Vicarstown, Cork, graduate of the BSc in Design & Technology Education

 ‘Pauline used all of the methodologies while teaching us. She involved every student in our class, the shy students spoke, the unconfident were determined and the distant students were engaged.’

            – Jason Kilgannon, Ballymote, Sligo, graduate of the BSc in Design & Technology Education

‘Pauline has been one of the most creative and innovative educators that I have even met with particular reference to her attention to detail in all aspects of her work; her encouragement to work to the highest standards while caring for the welfare of the individual students and the class as a whole, her vitality and vision of her role as educator and for that of her students.’ 

- Connie Masterson, Galway, graduate of the BA in Religious Studies

‘Her enthusiasm for and commitment to collegiality stimulates and encourages best practice amongst colleagues. I have been inspired by the privilege of working alongside her.’

            - Claire McLaughlin, lecturer in Art & Design, GMIT Centre for Creative Arts & Media