Tracy Irwin

Dr Tracy Irwin has been a Lecturer in education in the School of Education at Ulster since September 2006. Prior to that, she held teaching positions in the further and adult teaching sector, working for a diverse range of organisations including FE colleges, the NI Prison Service and Belfast Women’s Training Services.Her research expertise is in the area of educational disaffection and social exclusion with a particular focus on prison education and she completed her PhD from Ulster University on prison education in Northern Ireland exploring both formal and non-formal dimensions of the learning experience within a custodial setting.Tracy has held an international Grundtvig grant to explore Effective Induction for Prison Teachers along with international partners and has a current ScoTENS grant to review assessment in FE.She is also a fully qualified teacher with professional qualifications including a Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma in Further and Higher Education.  She holds an MA in Business Strategy and a BA Hons in Business and Finance.Tracy retains links with the FE sector and is Course Director for the Certificate in Teaching and PGCE(FE) programmes which provide accreditation to lecturers and tutors in FE and adult learning establishments in Northern Ireland.