Prof Noel Purdy

General Information

Teaching Responsibilities

• M Ed Coordinator of module EDC9075 ‘International Perspectives on Bullying’
• B Ed Coordinator of module SES3041 ‘Contemporary Issues in Pastoral Care’
• Ed. Tutor on SES2006/2076 ‘Learning and Assessment in Diverse Classrooms’

External Interests / Community Service

• Independent Chair of Expert Panel on Educational Underachievement, appointed by Minister of Education, Peter Weir MLA, September 2020 – May 2021
• Northern Chair, Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South (SCoTENS) 2016 to present
• Deputy Editor, Pastoral Care in Education – An International Journal of Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• External Examiner PGCE Primary, Durham University (2017-2021)
• UCETNI representative on Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum 2011- present (Chair 2013-2016)
• President of Northern Ireland branch of NASEN (National Association for Special Educational Needs) 2014-2016.
• Parent representative on Board of Governors of Tor Bank Special School, Dundonald

Research Interests

• Pastoral Care in Education
• Bullying in Schools
• Educational underachievement
• Special Educational Needs
• Initial Teacher Education

Background & Qualifications

• Teacher in two NI post-primary schools 1996-2003
• BA Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge 1995
• PGCE, Queen’s University, Belfast 1996
• M Ed, Queen’s University, Belfast 2001
• MA (Ed.) Open University 2003
• PhD Queen’s University, Belfast
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy 2009
• Fellow of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education 2012
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy 2014
• Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute 2019

Research & Scholarship

Reports for Government

Purdy, N., Logue, J., Montgomery, M., O’Hare, K., Redpath, J. (2021) A Fair Start: Final Report and Action Plan of the Expert Panel on Educational Underachievement in Northern Ireland.  Bangor: Department of Education.  Available at: https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/publications/fair-start-final-report-action-plan

Journal Articles

Clarke, L., Galvin, C., Campbell, M., Cowan, P., Hall, K., Magennis, G. O’Doherty, T., Purdy, N. & Abbott, L. (2021) ‘Assessing the value of SCOTENS as a cross-border professional learning network in Ireland using the Wenger–Trayner value-creation framework’, Oxford Review of Education, 47 (1) 79-97.  DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2020.1835624

Purdy, N. (2021) “Pastoral care in challenging times: embracing the opportunity of change” [Editorial], Pastoral Care in Education, 39:1, 1-3, https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2021.1880056

O’Toole, L., McClelland, D., Forde, D., O’Keefe, S., Purdy, N., Säfström, CA, Walsh, T. (2021 published online) ‘Contested childhoods across borders and boundaries: Insights from curriculum provisions in Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in the 1920s’. British Educational Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3708

York, L., MacKenzie, A., and Purdy, N. (2021 in press) ‘Attitudes to Sexting Amongst Post-Primary Pupils in Northern Ireland: a Liberal Feminist Approach’. Gender and Education.

York, L., MacKenzie, A. and Purdy, N. (2021 in press) ‘The Challenges and Opportunities of Conducting PhD Participatory Action Research on Sensitive Issues: Young People and Sexting’. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education.

Purdy, N. & Spears, B. (2020) ‘Coparticipatory approaches to research with children and young people’ (Editorial), Pastoral Care in Education, 38:3, 187190, https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2020.1788816

Hamilton, J., Purdy, N., Willems, R., Smith, P.K., Culbert, C., Brighi, A., Fiedler, N., Guarini, A., Mameli, C., Menin, D., Scheithauer, H., Völlink, T. (2020) ‘Using the Quality Circle approach to empower disadvantaged youth in addressing cyberbullying among adolescents: An exploration across five European countries’, Pastoral Care in Education (Special Issue), vol.38, issue 3, pp. 254-272 https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2020.1788127

Purdy, N., Hunter, J. and Totton, L. (2020) ‘Examining the legacy of the Warnock Report in Northern Ireland: a Foucauldian genealogical approach’. British Educational Research Journal (published online) DOI: 10.1002/berj.3604

Warwick, D. and Purdy, N. (2019) ‘Cartoons as visual representations of the development of primary school children’s understanding of bullying behaviours’ in Pastoral Care in Education, 37,3, 257-275.

Clarke, L., Abbott, L., Campbell, M., Cowan, P., Galvin, C., Hall, K., Magennis, G., Purdy, N. (2018) ‘Stories from an Ongoing Conversation: SCoTENS as a forum for sustaining cross-border cooperation for teacher education’. The Journal of Cross Border Studies in Ireland. Vol 13. pp. 79-90.

Purdy, N. (2018) “Warnock and Northern Ireland: time to break free from the Slough of Despond”. Support for Learning – Special Issue.  Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/14679604/homepage/warnockvirtualissue

Purdy, N. (2016) The Addressing Bullying in Schools (Northern Ireland) Bill and Act 2016. Education Law Journal, 17, 3, 164-172.

Purdy, N. and Smith, P.K. (2016) ‘A content analysis of school anti-bullying policies in Northern Ireland’. Educational Psychology in Practice, 32, 3, 281-295.

Purdy, N. and York, L. (2016) ‘A critical investigation of the nature and extent of cyberbullying in two post-primary schools in Northern Ireland’. Pastoral Care in Education, 34, 1, 13-23.

Purdy, N. and McGuckin, C. (2015) ‘Cyberbullying, Schools and the Law: A comparative study in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland’. Educational Research, 57, 4, 420-436.

Purdy, N. and Meneely, H. (2015): ‘Good news for the poor? – A case study of church and school collaboration in inner-city Belfast‘, Pastoral Care in Education: An International Journal of Personal, Social and Emotional Development, 33, 3, 147-153.

Purdy, N. and McGuckin, C. (2015) ‘Disablist Bullying: giving a voice to student teachers’, Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 15, 202-210.

Purdy, N. and McGuckin, C. (2014) ‘Disablist Bullying in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: An investigation of student teachers’ knowledge, experience, and confidence’, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 29, 4, 446-456.

Purdy, N. and Mc Guckin, C. (2013), ‘Treating ignorance with ignorance: A cross-border Irish study of student teachers’ knowledge, experience, and confidence in dealing with disablist bullying’, Trinity Education Papers, vol. 2, no.2, 36-51. ISSN: 2009-6003. (Edited by Fiona Smyth and Michael Shevlin.) Trinity College, Dublin.

Purdy, N. and Ferguson, J. (2012) ‘Newcomer pupils: facing up to the cultural and linguistic challenges’, Critical and Reflective Practice in Education, vol. 3, 31-41.

Gibson, K. and Purdy, N. (2012) ‘Reflect-Select-Defend: a model for student teacher reflection’, Critical and Reflective Practice in Education, vol. 3, 14-30.

McKenzie, L. and Purdy, N. (2010) ‘An evaluation of a programme of diversity visits for student teachers in Northern Ireland’, Intercultural Education, 21, 5, 415-427.

Fisher, A., Russell, K., MacBlain, S. F., Purdy, N., Curry, A. and MacBlain, A. D. (2010) ‘Re-examining the culture of learning in ITE: engaging with the new demands of the 21st. century’, Critical and Reflective Practice in Education, 2, 1, 92-102.

Purdy, N., Siberry, L., Beale, G. (2010) ‘Primary Languages in Northern Ireland: too little too late?’, Language Learning Journal, 38, 2, 149-158.

Purdy, N. (2009) ‘The attitudes of male student teachers towards a career in special education’, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 24,3,323-330.

Purdy, N. & Morrison, H. (2009) ‘Cognitive neuroscience and education: unravelling the confusion’, Oxford Review of Education, 35, 1, 99-109.

Purdy, N. (2008) ‘Neuroscience and Education: how best to filter out the neurononsense from our classrooms’, Irish Educational Studies,27,3,197-208.

Purdy, N. & Gibson, K. (2008) ‘Alternative Placements in Initial Teacher Education: An Evaluation’, Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 2076-2086.

Research Reports

Purdy, N., Harris, J., and Winter, F. (2022) Beyond the Stereotype: Approaches to Educational (Under)achievement in the Controlled Sector in Northern Ireland. Belfast: Stranmillis University College & Transferor Representatives’ Council

Purdy, N., Finn, P., McDade, B., Harris, J. and Winter, F. (2021) Loyalist and Republican Perspectives on Educational Underachievement in Northern Ireland. Belfast: Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement, Stranmillis University College.

Purdy, N., Harris, J., Dunn, J., Gibson, K., Jones, S., McKee, B., McMullen, J., Walsh, G., and Ballentine, M. (2021) Northern Ireland Survey of Parents/Carers on Home-Schooling during the Covid-19 Crisis: 2021, Belfast: Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement

Harris, J., Purdy, N., Cummins, B., Rogers, C., McKenzie, H., McMenemy, R., Winter, F. (2020), What’s the (Gender) Difference?: Views on Male Primary Teachers from Three Controlled Primary School Communities. Belfast: Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement, Stranmillis University College

Henderson, L., Harris, J., Purdy, N. and Walsh, G. (2020) Educational Underachievement in Northern Ireland: Evidence Summary. Stranmillis University College, Belfast: Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement

Purdy, N., Beck, G., McClelland, O’Hagan, C., Totton, L., Harris, J., (2019) Too Little, Too Late: The views of parents/carers on their child’s experiences of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) process in mainstream schools. Belfast, UK: NICCY

Book chapters
Purdy, N. (2020) ‘School Policies, Leadership and School Climate’ in Peter K Smith and James O’Higgins Norman (Eds.) Handbook of Bullying. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell [book chapter – forthcoming]

Purdy, N., Hamilton, J., Smith, P.K., Culbert, C., Scheithauer, H., Fiedler, N., Brighi, A., Mameli, C., Guarini, A-L., Menin, D., Völlink, T., Willems, R. (2020 forthcoming) ‘Using focus groups and quality circles to enable pupil voice in European teenagers from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds’ [book chapter] in L. Schiamberg and M. Wright (Eds.) Child and Adolescent Exposure to Online Risks, Elsevier.

Purdy, N., Dunn, J. and McClelland, D. (2018) ‘Building Positive Relationships with Children and Parents’ in Primary Teaching Primary Teaching: An exploration of learning and teaching in primary schools today (Edited by Catherine Carden) London: Sage/Learning Matters.

Purdy, N. and Boddison, A. (2018) ‘Special educational needs and inclusion’ [Unit 6.2] in Teresa Cremin and Cathy Burnett (Eds.) Learning to Teach in the Primary School (4th edition). London: Routledge.

Book
Purdy, N. (ed.) (2013) Pastoral Care in Schools 11-16: A Critical Introduction, London: Bloomsbury.

Periodical Articles & Practitioner Journals

Purdy, N. (2021) ‘Moving Forward Together, Learning from the Past’, in Family and Community Engagement in Education – Learning from the Pandemic.  A Collection of perspectives on how responses to the COVID-19 pandemic can inform actions to tackle educational inequalities. Belfast: Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

Purdy, N. (2018, January) “Funding HEI research post-Brexit” in AgendaNI, Issue 86, p.120.

Purdy, N. (2016) ‘School Bullying’, Special (NASEN periodical). November issue. pp. 14-15.

Purdy, N. (2016) ‘From Victim to Hero – Comment’. Methodist Newsletter, April issue (p.7)

Purdy, N. (2016) ‘Autism: Making a Difference Together’. Special (NASEN periodical). March issue. pp. 34-35.

Purdy, N. (2015) ‘Across the Water – an overview of the SEN scene in Northern Ireland’, Special (NASEN publication), May Issue.

Purdy, N. (2014) ‘Students teachers @twitter? #whatevernext?’, Special (NASEN publication), March Issue [pp.46-47].

Conference papers

Warwick, D. and Purdy, N. (2020) ‘Cartoons as visual representations of the development of primary school children’s understanding of bullying behaviours’. Concise Presentation/Poster at the Education Studies Association of Ireland annual conference (online) 16th September 2020.

Purdy N., Hamilton J., Rowan, A., Smith P.K., Culbert C., Scheithauer H., Fiedler N., Brighi A., Mameli C., Guarini A., Menin D., Völlink T., Willems R.A. (2020) ‘Blurred Lives Project – a crossnational, coparticipatory exploration of cyberbullying, young people and socioeconomic disadvantage: initial findings’. Paper presented at the Education Studies Association of Ireland annual conference (online) 46th September 2020.

Harris, J. Henderson, L., Purdy, N., Walsh G.(2020) ‘Educational Underachievement in Northern Ireland: an Evidence Summary’. Paper presented at the Education Studies Association of Ireland annual conference (online) 46th September 2020.

Clarke, L., Campbell, M., Cowan, P., Galvin, C., Hall, K., and Purdy, N. (2019) ‘Teacher Education Networks across a contentious border in the island of Ireland –the case of SCoTENS’. Presentation given at the 17th Annual SCoTENS Conference, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan, 17-18th October 2019.

Purdy, N. (2019) ‘Rip it up and start again’: Addressing the implications for school leadership and Initial Teacher Education of the Challenges facing the SEN System in Northern Ireland. Presentation given at the 17th Annual SCoTENS Conference, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan, 17-18th October 2019.

Clarke, L., Campbell, M., Cowan, P., Galvin, C., Hall, K., and Purdy, N. (2019) ‘Teacher Education Networks across a contentious border in the island of Ireland –the case of SCoTENS’. Presentation given at the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), Hamburg, September 2019.

Purdy N., Hamilton J., Rowan, A., Smith P.K., Culbert C., Scheithauer H., Fiedler N., Brighi A., Mameli C., Guarini A., Menin D., Völlink T., Willems R.A. (2019) ‘Blurred Lives Project. A cross-national, co-participatory exploration of cyberbullying, young people and socio-economic disadvantage’. Presentation given at the Annual Conference of the European Association of Developmental Psychology (EADP), Athens, August 2019.

Purdy, N. (2019) “A participatory approach to prevent cyberbullying along socially disadvantaged students in secondary school”. Invited presentation at the international colloquium on “Prevenire il bullismo e il cyberbullismo e promuovere il benessere a scuola”, at the Freie Universität Bozen/Libera Università di Bolzano, Italy (18-19 June).

Purdy, N. (2019) “The Blurred Lives Project: initial findings and ongoing analysis”. Invited research paper at University of Brighton, 15th May 2019.

Purdy, N., Hunter, J. and Totton, L. (2019) ‘Examining the legacy of the Warnock Report in Northern Ireland: a Foucauldian genealogical approach’, paper presented at the Education Studies Association of Ireland annual conference, St Angela’s College and Radisson Blu Hotel, Sligo, 11-13 April.

Purdy, N. (2019) ‘Education in Times of Change, Choice and Challenge’, invited panel presentation at the Education Studies Association of Ireland annual conference, St Angela’s College and Radisson Blu Hotel, Sligo, 11-13 April.

Clarke, L., Campbell, M., Cowan, P., Galvin, C., Hall, K., and Purdy, N. (2019) ‘The value of a cross-border professional learning network in Ireland – from the Good Friday Agreement to Brexit: looking backward to look forward’, paper presented at the Education Studies Association of Ireland annual conference, St Angela’s College and Radisson Blu Hotel, Sligo, 11-13 April.

Purdy, N. (2018) “The churches and underachievement” –  presentation to the Executive Committee of Irish Council of Churches, 13th Sept 2018, Duncairn Centre, Belfast.

Purdy, N. (2018) “Bullying among children with disabilities”. Invited presentation at Conference on Pathways to Prevention and Intervention against Violence in Schools and for the Promotion of Well-Being (Prevenire i Fenomeni di Aggressività e Promuovere il Benessere a Scuola). University of Bologna, 19-20 June 2018.

Purdy, N. and Galvin, C. (2018) ‘The Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South (SCoTENS), Ireland: a social history.’ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, 14th April 2018.

Purdy, N. (2018) “A Critical Review of Anti-Bullying Developments in Northern Ireland”. Invited Presentation to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bullying, 5th February 2018 1.00 pm – Committee Room 19, House of Commons.

Campbell, M., Clarke, L., Cowan, P., Galvin, C., Hall, K., Magennis, G., O’Doherty, T., Purdy, N. (2017) “A Wengerian value-creation framework analysis of the SCoTENS project: reflections on learning and boundary-crossing in evolving landscapes of practice”. Paper presented at the ESAI Annual Conference 20-22 April, Cork.

Purdy, N. (2017)  « Le harcèlement scolaire : exemple de l’Irlande du Nord » Paper presented at L’ESPE Val de Loire, Orléans, France 30th March.

Purdy, N. (2017) ‘The future challenges for education in shaping the future of relationships: within, across and beyond these islands’, invited panel presentation at ‘Building and Maintaining Relationships: Within, Across and Beyond these Islands, the Annual Conference of the Centre for Cross Border Studies, Armagh, 23-24th February 2017.

Purdy, N. (2016) ‘Bullying in Schools: legislation, policy and conceptual confusion’. Paper presented at the BERA conference, 13-15th September 2016, University of Leeds.

Purdy, N. (2016) ‘What do we know about bullying?’ Presentation given at VOYPIC [Voices of Young People in Care] Workshop/Conference on Understanding Bullying and the Looked After Child held in The Duncairn Centre, Belfast  27th June 2016.

Purdy, N. and Meneely, H. (2016) “Good news for the poor? – A case study of church and school collaboration in inner-city Belfast. Research presentation given at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society Northern Ireland Branch, Carlingford, 4th March 2016.

Purdy, N. and McGuckin, C. (2015) Cyberbullying, Schools and the Law: A comparative study in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Presentation at British Educational Research Conference, Belfast, 16th September, 2015.

Purdy, N. and McGuckin, C. (2015) Cyberbullying, Schools and the Law: A comparative study in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Presentation at European Educational Research Conference, Budapest, 8th September, 2015.

Purdy, N. (2015) ‘Understanding School Bullying’. Guest presentation to Education and Training Inspectorate (Training Conference), Canal Court Hotel, Newry. 4th September, 2015.

Blog post
Purdy, N. (2014) ‘Cyberbullying by parents and pupils takes toll on teachers’, The Conversation, published 21st April. Available online at https://theconversation.com/cyberbullying-by-parents-and-pupils-takes-toll-on-teachers-25679

Purdy, N. (2017) ‘With bullying, take into account that SEN students may struggle to recognise the behaviours involved’ (11th February) Teachwire.  Available online at http://www.teachwire.net/news/with-bullying-take-into-account-that-sen-students-may-struggle-to-recognise

Recent Media Appearances
Purdy, N. (29 Sept 2020) Interview on BBC Radio Ulster “Evening Extra” on NI Audit Office Report on SEN in NI.