The Dominican Sisters Cabra also have a strong history in the area of further education.
This began in Eccles St as early as 1879 with the introduction of university classes and continued with the provision of teacher training in the areas of Kindergarten in the Froebel College of Education in Sion Hill and Home Economics in St Catherine’s College, Sion Hill.
St Catherine’s closed in 2007 and Frobel College was transferred to the National University of Ireland, Maynooth in 2013. The Dominican Sisters continue to have strong links with the School of Ecumenics, based in Trinity College.
Froebel College of Education
The Froebel College was established at Sion Hill in 1943. In 1970 the college’s qualifications attained B.Ed. status, when Froebel had its degrees accredited by the University of Dublin.
Froebel Education is associated with progressive child-centred education. It seeks to foster quality teaching and learning, creativity, integration and sound practical classroom management in whatever situations teachers work with children. Froebel took its name from the 19th-century German educator, and founder of Kindergarten, Friedrich Fröbel who advocated reverence for the child, learning through activity, exploration of the environment, enjoyment of beauty in all its manifestations and acceptance of the gifts of each individual.
In September 2013, the Froebel College moved to the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. This is the first Irish university campus to offer a full-time B.Ed degree course to enable students to qualify as primary teachers.
See article – Srs Maureen MacMahon and Edel Murphy on Froebel education in Ireland
St. Catherine’s College of Education for Home Economics
Established at Sion Hill by the Dominican Sisters in 1929, St Catherine’s provided training for secondary school teachers of Domestic Science. It was renamed in 1971 St. Catherine’s College of Education for Home Economics.
From 1974, the college offered a three year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) in Home Economics which was validated by Trinity College Dublin, this was recognised by the Teaching Council of Ireland for secondary school teaching of Home Economics, since students would also have studied Irish or Religion they would also be qualified to teach those subjects as well.
It was closed in September 2007 with much of the Home Economics tuition going to St. Angela’s College, Sligo.
