Physical Education Team of Mary Immaculate College Honoured with DELTA Award

The coveted DELTA Award for excellence in teaching was given to the physical education teacher education team at MIC. The President of Mary Immaculate College (MIC) honored the Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) team for winning the Disciplinary Excellence in Learning, Teaching, and Assessment (DELTA) Award, citing them as “national leaders” in their field and a “model for best practice to others.”

A distinguished national honor, the DELTA award is given to discipline groups that exhibit a consistent track record of excellence in teaching and learning advancement.

The DELTA Framework was used by MIC’s PETE team to improve student learning in teacher education for physical education by fostering student-teacher partnerships and an integrated approach to teaching, learning, and assessment. Dr. Michelle Dillon served as the team’s leader. Other members of the group include Drs. Richard Bowles, Niamh Kitching, Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Laura Harrison, and Rosemarie Martin; postgraduate research students Grace Cardiff and Gráinne Regan; and undergraduate students Rachel Dwyer and Emma Tarrant.

The PETE team works with professional and regulatory bodies, such as the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the Irish Primary PE Association (IPPEA), to define standards and competencies in addition to their teaching duties at MIC. They also provide advice on disciplinary and pedagogical matters to these bodies. To encourage the practical application of their practice-based research, they have also worked in conjunction with educators and teacher trainers.

Congratulating the PETE team, Professor Eugene Wall, president of MIC, said: “The PETE team have shown a sustained record of excellence in teaching and learning enhancement and have used the DELTA framework as a way to create a path forward for the development of their teaching and programmes with the aim of enhancing the PE teachers of tomorrow. Déirdre, Niamh, Laura, Michelle, Richard and Rosemary have demonstrated how a teaching team can take control of their own development and, in so doing, stand as a model for best practice to others. They are national leaders in their area and on behalf of MIC, I congratulate them on this wonderful achievement.”

The PETE team teaches modules for the postgraduate Masters in Education (PME) and M Ed in Leadership of Wellbeing programs at MIC as well as the undergraduate Bachelor of Education, B Ed in Education and Psychology, B Ed International, and BA in Early Childhood Care & Education programs