A-Z Staff Directory

Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education and Care

01 449 8712

meera.oke@ncirl.ie

Key Responsibilities at NCI

• Lecturing and Directing the Honours degree programme in Early Childhood Education
• Lecturing on the Master’s in Educational Practice
• Supervision of Master’s thesis in Educational Practice

Education

• PhD in Human Development
• MSc in Child Development and Family Relations

Academic Experience

• Taught and developed programmes at undergraduate and post graduate levels for over 25 years. Early career in India and later in the Republic of Ireland. 

Research Interests

• Play, Teacher training in Early Childhood development and Education, Adolescence and Adoption. 

Recent Funding

• Funding received National Forum, Ireland to organise and host a National Seminar on Curation and Co-construction of Digital stories in ECEC higher education. 
• Funding received from National Forum for a collaborative project on New Educational Approaches to Reflective Teaching (NEART) to examine Supervised Professional Practice in initial teacher training in Early Childhood Education and Care in Ireland.

Professional Body Membership

• Member EECERA (European Early Childhood Education Research Association)
• Member ESAI (Educational Studies Association, Ireland)
• Member CRN (Children’s Research Network, Ireland)

Research Publications

Key Publications

• Haals Brosnan, Maja, Hayes, Noirin, Oke, Meera and Barr, Anna (2025) "Protecting Professional Selves Through Student-Centred Supervised Professional Practice Placement Preparation: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic". International Journal of Early Childhood. ISSN 00207187
• Kennelly, Ita and Oke, Meera (2024) "Academic Skills in Early Childhood Education and Care: Self-Inquiry, Learning and Writing for Students and Practitioners". Springer Texts in Education . Springer, Cham. ISBN 978-3-031-59570-7
• Oke, Meera and Bleach, Josephine (2024) "Teacher’s Burn-out and Poor Work-Life Conditions in ECE: The Role of (Participatory) Action Research in Addressing These Challenges to Bring about Positive Changes". In: 2024 ARNA Conference. ARNA (Action Research Network of the Americas).
• Oke, M., Mitra. S., O’Brien, V. (2023). "Growing up Adopted in India- Mental health and Well-Being: Implications for Therapeutic and Clinical Practice". In D. Bertocci, C. F. Deeg & L. Mayers (Eds.), Handbook on the Treatment of Adopted Adolescents and Young Adults. (pp. 154 -176). Routledge.
• Oke , M. (2023). "Play and the Arts: A Pathway to Early Childhood Education and Learning". IIC Quarterly, 50 (2), 33-44. ISSN No 0376-9771
• Oke, M., Hayes, N., Filipovic, K. (2022) "Early Childhood Educator Wellbeing: Are Early Childhood Education and Care Practitioners Burnt Out?" Childlinks Vol (2) 2-6
• Oke, Meera, Groza, Victor, Park, Hyeshin, Kalyanvala, Roxana and Shetty, Maina (2015) "The perceptions of young adult adoptees in India on their emotional well-being". Adoption & Fostering, 39 (4). pp. 343-355. ISSN 1740-469X. DOI: 10.1177/0308575915611776
• Groza, Victor, Park, Hyeshin and Oke, Meera (2014) "Study of Adult Adoptees in India Placed through BSSK in Pune: Adoption and Birth Family Issues". The Indian Journal of Social Work, 75 (2). pp. 285-300.
• Saraswathi, T. S. and Oke, Meera (2013) "Ecology of Adolescence in India: Implications for Policy and Practice". Psychological Studies, 58 (4). pp. 353-364. ISSN 0974-9861. DOI: 10.1007/s12646-013-0225-7
• Oke, Meera (2013) "Study materials for modules on Child Development, Therapeutic Play Skills, Human Development". Documentation. Portobello Institute, Dublin.
• Groza, Victor, Park, Hyeshin and Oke, Meera (2012) "A Study of Adult Adoptees in India Placed Domestically in India through BSSK, Pune". Project Report. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA.
• Oke, Meera (2010) "Report of the Baseline Study of Early Childhood Education in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) tribal project in Dharni Block, Amravati District, Maharashtra". Project Report. Centre for Learning Resources, Pune, India.
• Kulkarni, S. and Oke, Meera (2007) "An assessment of the Quality of life of the Intellectually Disabled - India". In: Successful Projects - What Makes Them Work? A Cross-National Analysis. Inclusion International, London, pp. 16-20.
• Kulkarni, S. and Oke, Meera (2005) "Inclusion: The Real McCoy Recommendations and from a Field Perspective". In: Management of Inclusive Education: Seminar Report. National Institute for Educational Research and Administration, New Delhi, India.
• Patet, Pradnya and Oke, Meera (2003) "The art of teaching large classes in India". In: Teaching large classes : usable practices from around the world. McGraw-Hill, Singapore. ISBN 9780071202800.
• Oke, Meera and Agashe, M. (2001) "A 'Grip'ing Theatre: A unique experiment in Indo-German collaboration in Theatre for children and youth (1983-2001)". DATE in association with German Festival in India 2000-2001, Pune.
• Oke, Meera, Khot, D. and Kulkarni, S. (2001) "Watching with Rapt attention". In: A 'Grip'ing Theatre: A unique experiment in Indo-German collaboration in Theatre for children and youth (1983-2001). DATE in association with German Festival in India 2000-2001, Pune, pp. 89-96.
• Oke, Meera, Khattar, Archna, Pant, Prarthana and Saraswathi, T. S. (1999) "A Profile of Children's Play in Urban India". Childhood, 6 (2). pp. 207-219. ISSN 1461-7013. DOI: 10.1177/0907568299006002004
• Oke, Meera (1998) "Study material for integrated teaching for primary school teaching". Documentation. IGNOU, New Delhi, India.
• Oke, Meera (1995) "An Ethnographic Assessment of the Family". In: Measurement and Assessment of the Family. Sage, New Delhi, India.
• Oke, Meera (1994) "Expression of Management Skills in School Going Children's Spontaneous Play". In: Indo Swedish Conference on the Child's Right to Play. Indo Swedish Conference on the Child's Right to Play, Pune.
• Oke, Meera (1993) "Using Ethnographic Methods in Human Development Research". In: Human development and family studies in India : an agenda for research and policy. Sage, New Delhi, India. ISBN 9780803991149.
• Oke, Meera, Pandya, P., Noorami, A. and Kamat, N. (1992) "Expression of social skills in unorganized group play of children: an ethnographic study." International Journal of Psychology, 27 (3-4). p. 255. ISSN 1464-066X. 
• Oke, Meera (1992) "Study material in Marathi (regional Indian language) for a course on Child Development". Documentation. Yashwantrao Chawhan Maharashtra Open University, Nashik. 
• Oke, Meera (1991) "Study material for a course on Family and Child Welfare". Documentation. Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India. 

Conference Presentations

• Blackburne, C. & Oke, M. (2021) How can we know the dancer from the dance? Exploring the ‘functionings’ of ECEC educators from a Capability perspective. In: Early Childhood Ireland Conference, 23-24 April 2021.
• Oke, Meera and Lambert, Jonathan (2021) "What do we know about Birth Families: An exploration of birth parents records in relation to surrender of babies in the Indian and Irish context". In: International Conference on Adoption Research, 6-9 July 2021, Milan, Italy (online).
• Oke, M & Hyland, S. (2020) Reflections on Contradictory Discourses in Early Childhood Education and Care. In: Educational Studies Association Ireland (ESAI), September 2020.
• Oke, Meera, Lambert, Jonathan, Filipovic, Katarina and Hayes, Noirin (2018) "Burnout and Areas of Work life among Irish Early Childhood Educators - Emerging findings from an Exploratory Study". In: The Profession of Play and Inquiry - A Conference for Early Years Professionals, 14th November 2018, National College of Ireland, Dublin.
• Oke, Meera (2010) "The Quadrant that influences the outcome of adoption "the Institution": an Indian perspective". In: Third International Conference on Adoption Research, 11th-15th July 2010, Leiden, the Netherlands. 
• Oke, Meera (2006) "Which developmental science is appropriate for developing countries?" In: 19th ISSBD Biennial Meeting, July 2006, Melbourne, Australia.
• Oke, Meera (2004) "Using Arts for Cooperative Learning in Early Childhood Education". In: 25th International Conference on Cooperative Learning, June 2004, Singapore.