A commitment to development education has been a strong feature of Gerry Jeffers’ work from the time he taught in a second-level school in Kenya in the 1970s. Back in Ireland, whether as a teacher, guidance counsellor, deputy principal, a member of the team that mainstreamed Transition Year in the 1990s and, from 2000, as a lecturer in education at Maynooth University he has sought to promote a global citizenship perspective.
With Úna O’Connor of Ulster University, Coleraine, he co-edited ‘Education for Citizenship and Diversity in Irish Contexts’ (IPA, Dublin, 2008). The following year, with support from Irish Aid he was centrally involved in making the short film A Chance for Change designed to introduce student teachers to development education. A Chance for Change can be viewed through the Ubuntu website (www.ubuntu.ie).
From 2013 to 2019 Gerry chaired the Ubuntu Network Management Committee. His book Transition Year in Action (Liffey Press, 2105), which includes numerous references to development education was recently translated into Korean.
In 2016, with support from Concern, Gerry led the team that created the development education resource FairViews which supports the use of photographs as a pedagogic tool in classrooms (www.developmentoptions.ie). He also wrote Clear Vision, the Life and Legacy of Noel Clear, Social Justice Champion, 1937-2003 (Veritas, Dublin, 2017).
More recently Nigel Quirke-Bolt and Gerry published two articles in Policy and Practice (www.developmenteducationreview.com):
Gerry continues to work with teachers, student-teachers and adult/community groups.