Members of the executive board and EERA Council welcome Prof Joe O’Hara, who from September 2018 on will lead the European Educational Research Association. Theo Wubbels, EERA’s outgoing president says: “I am very happy to hand over my tasks to Joe O’Hara who is not only a respected academic with a broad range of experience but a person whom I also trust to head this association by fruitfully growing fresh ideas while keeping good traditions and working closely with the executive board and council.” Joe O'Hara is the Inaugural Professor of Education at the Dublin City University (DCU) Institute of Education and was, until recently, the Head of the School of Education Studies at DCU. He has worked in a variety of contexts: as teacher in Zimbabwe and Ireland, researcher, administrator and external examiner. He is specifically interested in the areas of educational evaluation, quality assurance, culturally responsive evaluation, leadership and initial teacher education. These interests have developed throughout an active career, starting at the School of Education, Dublin City University where he completed a Ph.D. in Educational Evaluation (2007). His experience as researcher has allowed him to successfully bid for a large number of EU funding programs. At national level he was awarded with the President’s Research Fellowship and the Government of Ireland IRCHSS Research Fellowship.
Professor Joe O’Hara has played key leadership roles in education: Between 2002 and 2004 he was appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland as a Director of APSO/ Irish Aid and later in 2012 he was appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills as a member of the Teaching Council of Ireland, which is the governing body for Teachers in Ireland responsible for standards, registration, programme evaluation and teacher recognition.
Joe O'Hara has significant experience in representing institutions and associations at national and international level. He is a Past President of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) and represented ESAI on the EERA Council from 2008 to 2013. He has been involved in EERA and ECER, for many years, gaining knowledge on the overall organization, EERA networks and the associations’ culture. He will now serve the association as a president until September 2022.
As he prepares to take up his role, Joe O’Hara said: “I am very much looking forward to taking over as EERA president. I am conscious, in particular, of the challenge of continuing the huge legacy of the current president, Prof Theo Wubbels. However I am sure that with the help of the executive board, the council, networks and all member associations we will be able to continue to grow EERA as dynamic and relevant organisation. I have known EERA as a council member in the past and have got to know it now in a different way as a president-elect. I cherish the cooperative working structure and spirit and hope I can build on this to fulfil the associations’ mission and strategies.”