This article is from page 32 of the 2008-09-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 32 JPG
A NEWMARKET-ON-Fergus lec- turer has scooped a top accolade at the University of Limerick.
Dr Caoilfhionn Ni Bheachain (Vaughan) has been awarded the University of Limerick Teaching Ex- cellence Award for 2008. The award, a silver medal, was based on feed- back from her students and her col- leagues at the university.
Caoilfhionn lectures in commu- nications at the Kemmy Business School and has taught at the univer- sity for the past seven years.
She was brought up in Newmar- ket-on-Fergus, where teaching, mu- sic and sport were prevalent in her family. Her late father Brendan (who
died three years ago) was heavily involved in the GAA was the prin- cipal of St Senan’s National School in Shannon. Her mother Deirdre O’Brien-Vaughan is a music teacher in Newmarket-on-Fergus. Caoilf- hionn’s brother Donnacha is also teaching, in Poland.
Caoilfhionn was educated at St Senan’s National School and then at St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon. She then studied English and Archaeology at Trinity College Dublin and then did her PhD in Eng- lish at NUI, Galway.
She was thrilled to be nominated for this award and subsequently emerge as the winner.
“T am delighted to get it. It is a love- ly thing. I was shortlisted, based on
student evaluations and observations from my peers. The board then went through a short list,” she said.
Given that her students had a say in who won the award, her methods of teaching undoubtedly played a cru- cial role in her success.
“A lot of it would be teaching phi- losophy, with emphasis on relation- ships within the classroom. Relation- ships are based on mutual respect and mutual learning; not just dictat- ing to students,” she said.
Her curriculum focuses on the workings of communications and marketing. “Students get to reflect a lot on their skills and there is a lot of personal development,” she added.
Her love for her work has stood to her, not just in winning this award,
but also in her everyday teaching.
“It’s a subject I love teaching. I am very lucky. I am interested in non- traditional spaces for learning,’ she said.
While Caoilfhionn is dedicated to her teaching, she is also immersed in rq he: Re UM MCC T-Dme-lOLW AVAL Aloe mnv CoM OOO UE versity. She is involved in running the farmers’ market at the university, while she is also a member of the environmental committee. This en- sures that she enjoys a busy life, bal- ancing work and leisure activities.