Biography
Dr Elizabeth Mathews is an Assistant Professor with the School of Inclusive and Special Education at Dublin City University, Ireland. She holds a MA in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University and a PhD from Maynooth University, Ireland. Her work in deaf education spans research, policy change and practice. She is the project lead for the Irish Sign Language STEM Glossary Project, funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Her research interests are varied and include literacy, social-emotional development, and ideology in deaf education. She is the author of Language, Power, and Resistance: Mainstreaming Deaf Education published by Gallaudet University Press. In 2019, after ten years of campaigning, she developed an initiative that led to policy change in Ireland allowing Deaf people, for the first time in the history of the State, to become primary school teachers.
Projects
Access to Initial Teacher Education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Project lead: Elizabeth Mathews
Funded by the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education.
Read more here.
Irish Sign Language STEM Glossary Project
Project lead: Elizabeth Mathews
Funded by Science Foundation Ireland and the Institute of Physics
Read more here.
Literacy Outcomes for DHH Children in Mainstream Primary Schools
Researchers: Elizabeth Mathews and Margaret O'Donnell
Funded by the Education Partnership Group
Read more here.
Associated publication here
Life Skills and Vulnerable Deaf Adults
Researcher: Elizabeth Mathews with Ann Marie Shier
Funded by the Education Partnership Group
Associated publication here
Access to Initial Teacher Education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Higher Education Authority 01-SEP-17 - 30-APR-20 Project lead 164,933.00
Irish Sign Language STEM Glossary Pilot Project Science Foundation Ireland 01-JAN-18 - 31-DEC-18 DCU PI 48,815.06
Irish Sign Language STEM Glossary Pilot Project Dublin City University 01-JAN-18 - 31-DEC-18 DCU PI 1,750.00
Literacy Outcomes for DHH Children in Mainstream Primary Schools Education Partnership Group 01-NOV-15 - 01-SEP-18 Co-PI 41,350.00
Deaf Children in Gaelscoileanna College Research Committee 01-DEC-16 - 01-NOV-17 PI 908.00
Life Skills and Vulnerable Deaf Adults Institute of Technology Tallaght 01-SEP-14 - 31-AUG-16 PI (supervisor) 20,000.00
Shared Reading Programme Dept of Children and Youth Affairs National Lottery Grant Scheme 01-SEP-14 - 30-AUG-15 Project lead 10,000.00
Shared Reading Programme Ireland Funds 01-JUL-12 - 30-JUN-13 Project lead 6,000.00
Mainstreaming Deaf Education (PhD) Department of Children and Youth Affairs 01-JAN-06 - 31-DEC-08 PhD Candidate 44,700.00
Mainstreaming Deaf Education (PhD) John and Pat Hume Scholarship 01-JAN-05 - 31-DEC-07 PhD candidate 15,000.00
Academic biography
Elizabeth is a lecturer with the School of Inclusive and Special Education at DCU St. Patrick's Campus, where she specialises in the area of deaf education. She completed her MA in Deaf Education at Gallaudet University, Washington DC (2005) and her PhD with Maynooth University (2011). Previously, she was the coordinator of the Deaf Education Centre in Cabra, Dublin. She sits on the Board of Management of Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra and is a member of the Education Partnership Group.