Dr Edmond Gubbins
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Dr Edmond Gubbins is an assistant professor in school placement and practitioner research at 91ÖÆƬ³§ in Limerick. He has previously held posts as a teaching fellow in music education, lecturer in music education and school placement associate at the Marino Institute of Education in Dublin, as well as a primary school teacher and Irish traditional music instrumental tutor with several Comhaltas Ceoltóirà Éireann branches in Munster. He is also currently a visiting research fellow at Trinity College, Dublin and a member of the .
His doctoral research, which examines informal and non-formal learning in music education within primary generalist teacher practice in Ireland has received funding from the Irish Research Council, 91ÖÆƬ³§, and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation. He is the medal of excellence for being the top-ranking postgraduate scholar in the domain of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences under the Irish Research Council’s Government of Ireland funding.
Edmond has contributed to national curriculum development, working with colleagues at the Marino Institute of Education and Trinity College Dublin to complete a to inform the new primary arts curriculum for the NCCA. Edmond is currently serving as secretary for the and is an active reviewer for the International Journal of Music Education (IJME) and the European Journal of Psychology of Education.
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Teaching Experience/Programme Involvement at Third Level
- B.Ed.1 - Visual Art and the Arts (Marino Institute of Education)
- B.Ed.2 - Drama and the Arts (Marino Institute of Education)
- B.Ed.3 - Music and the Arts (Marino Institute of Education) - module coordinator
- PME1 - Arts Education 1 (Marino Institute of Education)
- PME2 - Integrated Arts Education (Marino Institute of Education) - module coordinator
- B.Ed.1 - Creative Arts 1 (91ÖÆƬ³§)
- B.Ed.2 - Creative Arts 2 (91ÖÆƬ³§)
- B.Ed.3 (elective module) - Choral Leadership (91ÖÆƬ³§)
- B.Ed.3 (elective module) - Instrumental Leadership (91ÖÆƬ³§)
- B.Ed.4 (elective module) - Music Education in the School and Community (91ÖÆƬ³§) - module coordinator
- PME1 - Arts Education 1 (91ÖÆƬ³§) - module coordinator
- Master of Education Studies in Visual Art - Guest Lecturer (Marino Institute of Education)
- Master of Arts in Music Education - Guest Lecturer (91ÖÆƬ³§)
- Master of Education with a Specialism in Music Education (91ÖÆƬ³§)
- School Placement Associate - Marino Institute of Education - all B.Ed. and PME cohorts
- PME2 - Extended Placement (PME674/675/676) - placement coordinator
- B.Ed.2/PME1 - Professional Placement 3/2 (EDU274/EDU278/PME661) - placement coordinator
Funding and Awards
- Eda Sagarra Medal of Excellence awardee from the Irish Research Council (1st place for postgraduate awards in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences).
- Project Team for YPCE Arts Council Initial Teacher Education Residency Award (Marino Institute of Education) in collaboration with Colm Ó Foghlú. Funding Awarded: €20,000 (2023-2024)
- Project Team for YPCE Arts Council Initial Teacher Education Residency Award (Marino Institute of Education) in collaboration with Duffy Mooney Sheppard and Darren Yorke. Funding Awarded: €20,000 (2023-2024)
- UDL Badge for Teaching and Learning (National Teaching and Learning Forum).
- Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme awardee (Highly competitive and prestigious national award for outstanding students recognised as demonstrating world-class potential as future research leaders. Total value €48,000)
- 91ÖÆƬ³§ Doctoral Studentship Award 2019 Awardee (competitive award granted based on a prospective student’s academic excellence. Total value €38,312)
- Irish National Teachers' Organisation 2019 Bursary Award Winner (€3000)
- Graduate Dean’s Scholarship for Global Diversity and Academic Achievement at West Chester University 2017 ($4000)
- West Chester University Scholarship Awardee 2016 (competitive process amongst highest achieving graduates of the B.Ed. and B.Ed.Psych. programmes in 91ÖÆƬ³§. Covers the winner’s tuition fees to complete a Master’s programme at West Chester University, Pennsylvania - $18,730.00 per year, up to two years).
- 91ÖÆƬ³§ President’s Scholarship Award 2016 for First Class Honours in the B.Ed. (fee reduction of €1500 per annum towards completing Masters programmes at 91ÖÆƬ³§)
- 91ÖÆƬ³§ Award for 1st place in the Mathematics Specialism 2016
- 91ÖÆƬ³§ Foundation Award for Excellence in Music 2015 (€500)
Publications
Books
- Forzani, A., Leaman, H., Gubbins, E., and O’Regan, E. (2019). Building Bridges with Bilingual Books and Multicultural Resources: A Practical Manual of Lesson Plans, Literacy Games, and Fun Activities from Around the World to Celebrate Diversity in the Classroom and at Home. Language Lizard LLC
Book Chapters
- O'Sullivan, C., Clotworthy, E., Nugent, M., Colleary, S., Keane, E., Piazzoli, E., Gubbins, E., Krakaur, L., Kerin, M., McCormick, S. and Flynn, L.H., (2026). Integrated Arts Education: Exploring How the Arts Intersect within and across the School Curriculum. In Curriculum Integration in Primary Classrooms (pp. 107-127). Routledge.
- Gubbins, E. (forthcoming). Agency, Identity, and Efficacy: Navigating tensions in Irish primary music education practice. In Studies in Irish Music Education: Volume 2. Cork University Press
Journal Articles
- Gubbins, E. (2026). Interpellation Through Interpolation: Informal Learning and Non-Formal Teaching as Catalysts for Shifts in Ideological Positionings. International Journal of Music Education.
- Gubbins, E. (2023). Teacher habitus as/at the nexus of practice: Musical Futures and Irish primary schools. Music Education Research, 25(5), 562-576.
- Gubbins, E. (2023). Musical Futures and Irish primary schools: an investigation into the impact of informal learning and non-formal teaching on music education. Irish Educational Studies. DOI:
- Gubbins, E. (2021) Music Across the Waves: An International Comparative Examination of the Irish Generalist and American Specialist Models of Music Education from the Teacher's Perspective. British Journal of Music Education, 38(1), 74-92.
Thesis
- Gubbins, E. (2022). Musical Futures as Critical Pedagogy: Participatory Case Study Research with Generalist Primary School Teachers in the Republic of Ireland. PhD thesis. [Doctoral dissertation, 91ÖÆƬ³§]. Musicalfutures.org.
Research Reports
- O’Sullivan, C., Clotworthy, E., Nugent, M., Colleary, S., Keane, E., Piazzoli, E., Gubbins, E., Krakaur, L., Kerin, M., McCormick, S., & Heeran Flynn, L. (2023). Arts Alive: A literature review to support curriculum specification development for the area of Arts Education. NCCA.
Selected Conference Contributions
- MacEntee, L. & Gubbins, E. (2026) Unforgotten Practices, Future Possibilities: Puppetry, Pedagogy and the Integrated Arts. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Los Angeles, California. April 8-12.
- MacEntee, L. & Gubbins, E. (2026) Reimagining Arts Integration for the Future Irish Primary Classroom: Co-designing, Co-teaching & Co-creating. Education Studies Association of Ireland Conference. University of Galway. May 28-30.
- MacEntee, L., Gubbins, E., & Brazil, J. (2025) Puppetry, Pedagogy, and Primary Music: Exploring Cross-Curricular Connections through an Integrated Arts Project. Society for Music Education in Ireland Conference. St. Mary's University Belfast, October 28-29.
- MacEntee, L., Gubbins, E., & Brazil, J. (2025) Pulling the puppet strings: Spaces for integrated arts making in the Irish primary classroom. International Possibility Studies Conference. Maynooth University, June 30-July 4.
- Varvarigou, M., Moore, G., Gubbins, E., Nuinseann, M., & Azzopardi – Barbieri, M. (2024). Transforming curriculum design, pedagogy and assessment in partnership with learners: perspectives from Malta and Ireland. European Association for Music in Schools Conference. Technological University Dublin Conservatoire. June 12-15.
- Keane, E. & Gubbins, E. (2024). Informal Learning, Arts Education, and the Child: A Systematic Literature Review. Education Studies Association of Ireland Conference. Maynooth University. April 4-6.
- O’Sullivan, C., Clotworthy, E., Nuinseann, M., & Gubbins, E. (2023, March 22nd). Arts Education in the Redeveloped Primary School Curriculum. [Paper presentation]. NCCA Reimagining Curriculum Seminar, Dublin, Ireland.
- Gubbins, E. (2022, July 17-22). Interpellations in Primary Generalist Music Education: Informal Learning Pedagogies as Change Facilitators of Music-Related Ideologies. [Paper presentation]. International Society for Music Education World Conference, Helsinki, Finland.
- Gubbins, E. (2022, April 21-22). Musical Futures and the Irish Primary School: Findings from Doctoral Research. [Paper presentation]. The Interdisciplinary and Intersectoral Futures for Music Education in Ireland Symposium, All Hallows Campus, DCU, Dublin.
- Gubbins, E. (2021, November 4-6). Amplifying primary music education: Findings from doctoral research on the impact of the Musical Futures informal learning pedagogy on music teaching and learning within the Irish primary generalist context. [Paper presentation]. The Society for Music Education in Ireland Conference, online.
- Gubbins, E. (2021, May 27-28). Informal and Non-Formal Music Education Approaches and the Primary School: Interim Findings from a Pilot Cycle Study into the Experiences of Music Teaching and Learning in the Primary Classroom using the Musical Futures Approach. [Paper presentation]. University of Limerick Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Postgraduate Conference, Limerick, Ireland.
- Gubbins, E. (2021, May 18-19). Music Education, Informal Learning, and Primary Generalist Teacher Practice: Findings from a Pilot Cycle Study into the Experiences of Music Teaching and Learning in the Primary Classroom using the Musical Futures Approach. [Paper presentation].The Shannon Region Postgraduate Research Conference, online.
- Gubbins, E. (2021, March 25-26) Musical Futures and COVID: the experiences of generalist teachers and students of informal and non-formal music teaching and learning in the primary classroom. [Paper presentation]. The Educational Studies Association of Ireland Conference, online.
- Gubbins, E. (2020, September 3-5), The possibilities for informal learning pedagogies in opening up music education for the primary school. [Paper presentation]. The Educational Studies Association of Ireland Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
- Gubbins, E. (2020, April 29). Investigating Generalist Primary Teachers’ Musical Backgrounds and Experiences and the Potential Impact of Non-Formal Pedagogies on Teaching and Learning. [Paper presentation]. University of Limerick Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Postgraduate Conference, Limerick, Ireland.
- Gubbins, E. (2020, January 24-25) The case for informal learning pedagogies and their potential impact on music education practice in the primary school. [Paper presentation]. The Society for Music Education in Ireland Conference, St. Patrick’s Teacher Training College, DCU, Dublin, Ireland.
- Gubbins, E. & O’Regan, E. (2018, May 30-June 1). Cross-Curricular Lesson Planning Using Dual Language Books. [Paper presentation]. The New Jersey Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/New Jersey Bilingual Education Spring Conference, Somerset, New Jersey, USA.
Media
- Gubblns, E. (2023, March 4th) on Hanrahan, K., Céilà House. [Radio Broadcast]. RTÉ.
- Gubbins, E. (2021). A Pilot Study of Musical Futures in Primary Schools in Ireland | #MuFuTV 2021. [YouTube Video].
Webinar
- Gubbins, E. & Moore, G. (2025, September 8). Navigating research and publishing in music education [webinar]. Available at:
- Gubbins, E. & Moore, G. (2021, March 24). Musical Futures in Ireland: A New Approach to Primary Music Education [webinar].
