Muireann Ranta graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy at SETU’s Kilkenny Road conferring ceremonies in 2025.
Muireann was among the record number of forty-three PhD graduands who were conferred at SETU that year, the University’s highest number to date, and the first PhD graduate from SocialCORE in Carlow.
Receiving her PhD
After years of study, Muireann shares what it meant to finally receive her PhD, stating, “I find it very difficult to pinpoint how I feel about receiving a PhD. Obviously, I am incredibly proud of myself, and I love that my children have seen me do it. My perseverance in getting it over the line is layered. Foremost, having the opportunity to show each young participant how valuable their ideas were was very important. Not everyone has the opportunity to be heard or indeed have the confidence to speak.”
Continuing, Muireann stated, “Supporting our youngest children to express their views is a very effective way for them to experience their human rights in their everyday lives. So much more needs to be done to make human rights education in Ireland effective, to the point that I often despair. Providing evidence and practical strategies to support rights-respecting learning and research spaces gives me hope for a richer understanding and realising of human rights for all people.”
Favourite parts of her study
Muireann shared, “My favourite aspect of the research was, of course, working with the children. When I started the data collection phase first, my head was very much tied up in child rights theory and research ethics, and I was incredibly nervous to get it right. Once I sat down with them and got to know them, my skillset as an early childhood educator is really what grounded me in my researcher role and commitment.”
Getting the opportunity to highlight how valuable an early childhood educator’s skillset is, and the interdependent role educators play in supporting an authentic child rights approach was very important to me.
Dr Muireann Ranta on her research
Basis for her research
Having grown up with a strong appreciation and love for the outdoors, Muireann moved to Finland to be an early childhood educator for seven years. During this time, Muireann’s appreciation for nature deepened, sharing, “I experienced young children having long periods of free play in Nature in their everyday lives. I came to understand the value of that for a child’s sense of well-being, self-regulation, physical health, and an overall space for self-initiated learning.”
After moving back to Ireland in 2010, Muireann noticed a difference in the approach to education and nature. Muireann shared, “When I returned to Ireland in 2010, access to the natural environment for young children was very poor. Fifteen years later, our education sector and the value of outdoor learning have developed significantly. So too has the area of education for sustainable development. However, as an educational right for all children, from birth to 18 years, not every child nor every early childhood setting has the resources to have this right fully realised.”
Pursing her PhD
After completing a Higher Diploma in Early Childhood Education with the Department of Lifelong Learning, Muireann decided to pursue further study and began looking specifically at working with young children from the ages of 2-5 years in an early childhood setting in 2019 to explore their perspectives and lived experiences of nature.
Muireann said, “As a mother of two young children, I had no intention of pursuing further study, but I could not ignore the topic nor the opportunity to research the relevance of connecting with Nature for babies, toddlers and young children.”
This work led to a PhD focusing on blending the insights from the children with that of educators. Speaking on where her research led her, Muireann stated, “The findings supported the progression of future approaches to education and highlighted the educator skillsets within the study. However, the findings also highlighted barriers to enact change like resources and funding.”
Hopes for the future
With over 20 years of practice in early childhood education and care, Muireann hopes to continue her advocacy work and research while also developing her lecturing experience.
To learn more about Muireann's research, see here.
