James O'Higgins Norman

James O'Higgins Norman PC, MStJ, FRSA holds the UNESCO Chair on Tackling Bullying in Schools and Cyberspace at Dublin City University.

He is the director of the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre, and a member of the Government of Ireland Advisory Council on Online Safety.

O'Higgins Norman was born in Dublin, Ireland, and grew up in Glasnevin where he attended St Kevins College secondary school.

He has said that he is a descendant of Chilean independence leader Bernardo O'Higgins.

In 1986, he was awarded the Father Phelim McCabe Perpetual Endeavour Award for volunteering with local community services.

His undergraduate studies included philosophy, psychology and sociology and he has an honours degree in Divinity from Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Rome, 1994), as well as a Higher Diploma in Education from University College Dublin (1996) and a Master's degree in Education from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (1999).

In 1997, he was nominated by Archbishop Desmond Connell to the board of management of Jobstown Community College where he served as chairperson until 2004.

In 2000, he took up a position as a lecturer in the Mater Dei Institute of Education, Dublin, Ireland, where he led research on pastoral care in second level schools.

While there he authored the book entitled Ethos and Education in Ireland (2003) (New York: Peter Lang) in which he argued that the Catholic Church had a majority share in the control and management of schools in Ireland and that the church and state would need to reconsider this position in the light of the emerging diversity in Irish society.

In 2003, he was awarded a research grant to examine homophobic bullying in Irish second-level schools.

Between 2004 and 2008 he published several reports and two books revealing the extent of the issue in Ireland.

In 2005 he became an associate professor at the School of Education Studies in Dublin City University where his research led to the launch in October 2006 of the "Making Our Schools Safe" campaign by the Department of Education and Science.

His work on bullying also informed debate in Dáil Éireann and was quoted in a session of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education.

These views were upheld in 2006 when Archbishop Martin of Dublin called on the state to consider alternative patrons for schools and in 2011 when Ruairí Quinn, Minister for Education and Skills, established a special commission to examine how some schools could be transferred from the patronage of the Catholic Church to other bodies.

He also studied Family Law at the Law Society of Ireland (2008) and was awarded a Doctorate from UCL Institute of Education, London (2006).

From 2008 to 2014 he was a member of the board of Clans of Ireland and in 2009 became its vice chairperson.

He was later nominated by the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST) to the board of management of St. Vincent's CBS, Glasnevin, (2009-2012).

In 2010 he co-edited the International Handbook on Education for Spirituality, Care and Wellbeing (Netherlands: Springer).

In addition to his publications he has also been consulted and deposed on issues related to equality and education.

He was also chairperson of Schools Across Borders (2010-2012), an Irish Aid funded NGO promoting better relations between young people in areas of conflict.

In 2010 he was appointed to the Venerable Order of St. John and in 2012 he was appointed an honorary president of St. John Ambulance Castleknock Combined Division in Dublin.

O'Higgins Norman has received a number of awards:

Peer Reviewed Journals

• O'Higgins Norman, J., McNamara, G. 2010.

Conflicts of Ethos: Issues of Equality in Faith Based Schools.

Educational Management Administration and Leadership.

• O'Higgins Norman, J.,Connolly, J. 2011.

Mimetic Theory and Scapegoating in the Age of Cyberbullying:The Case of Phoebe Prince.

Pastoral Care in Education, 29, 4.

In May 2012 he was invited to participate in the National Anti-Bullying Forum sponsored by the Government of Ireland at the Department of Education and Skills.

He also extended his work on bullying to include research on cyberbullying, and his research on bullying and education was published in journals including the British Journal of Educational Management, Administration and Leadership.

In 2012 he was awarded a research scholarship funded by the US State Department which allowed him to participate in research on alternatives to political violence in Boston College’s Irish Institute.

• O'Higgins Norman, J., Goldrick, M. 2012.

Reducing Academic Isolation in Favour of Learning Relationships Through a Virtual Classroom.

Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 4,

In 2013 he became Director of the National Anti-Bullying Research Centre, formerly of Trinity College Dublin, which moved to Dublin City University following the retirement of its founder and first director Professor Mona O'Moore.

In 2018 he was appointed as the UNESCO Chair on Tackling Bullying in Schools and Cyberbspace.

He is a former Catholic priest who supported victims and gave evidence to the commission into clerical abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

As an academic at DCU he has contributed to education debates and has been consulted by the media as a spokesperson on educational and social issues.

O'Higgins Norman has served with a number of school boards and voluntary organisations in the Dublin area.