About EPIC
Mission
The EPIC Alliance is a long-term academic and practitioner partnership between Cambodia and Ireland, established to strengthen education in Cambodia. Through collaborative research, staff exchange, and school-based innovation, the Alliance builds practical knowledge, strengthens institutional capacity, and empowers teachers, researchers, and policy makers to improve learning outcomes for Cambodian children.
Values
- Mutuality: A partnership built on equality, respect, and reciprocal learning.
- Embedded Practice: Research grounded in the realities of Cambodian schools and teacher experience.
- Professional Agency: Teachers are engaged as reflective practitioners and knowledge creators.
- Ethical Collaboration: Guided by non-extractive, participatory, and culturally informed principles.
- Equity and Inclusion: Prioritising learner diversity, accessibility, and gender-responsive practice.
Our history
This Alliance has been built on the proven foundation of the Professional Identity for Khmer Teachers (PIKT) project (2022–2025), which employed participatory design-based research to support teacher professional identity development in Cambodia. That collaboration brought together Phnom Penh Teacher Education College (PTEC), SeeBeyondBorders (SBB), the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), and the National College of Ireland (NCI) (with Professor Leo Casey and Dr Bo Chankoulika as Co-Principal Investigators). Following the conclusion of PIKT, the EPIC Alliance now offers an expanded platform to formalise this work and build a sustainable mechanism for ongoing collaborative development, research, and exchange.
Why EPIC
Building on the success of the recent Professional Identity for Khmer Teachers (PIKT) research project, this Alliance seeks to:
Build bridges between cultures, highlight impactful practices, and celebrate the resilience and creativity of educators worldwide.
Expand collaborations led by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) beyond the topic of teacher identity to include other facets of teacher and pedagogical development.
Broaden and deepen the extent of the network partnerships across Cambodia and the island of Ireland, and include further international participation from HEIs in both the global north and south.
Expand the platform for research, innovation and practice improvement, increasing international collaboration and support for improved educational outcomes in Cambodia and elsewhere.
Increase awareness internationally concerning Cambodian education challenges and opportunities, disseminating evidence and practice on what works to improve educational outcomes for Cambodian Children.
Advocate for evidence-based investment in Cambodian education to drive improvement of teaching and learning.