Doreen Challen is a lecturer on the Primary PGCE and MA (Ed) programmes. Although her main expertise is in primary school language and literacy, she is also intersted in teacher development. Her current research interest is in the pedagogical interactions which occur during small-group literacy teaching and learning, and the implications of teachers' pedagogical understandings for inclusive education.

Following a degree from the University of Edinburgh, a PGCE from Bangor, Wales and a good number of years in the primary classroom, I became a literacy consultant for the National Literacy Project (later Strategy) in 1996, and moved to the School of Education in 2000. I am responsible for the English element of the primary PGCE, and also teach on MA (Ed) programmes. My research interests relate to my lifelong interest in language and languages, as well as my work in pre-service teacher training and teacher professional development. I am currently exploring the interactions which occur within small-group literacy lessons, and the implications of teachers' pedagogical understandings for inclusive education. I have also been involved in research into aspects of initial teacher training and staff development within higher education.

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• Books
• Challen, D. (2007) Primary English: audit and test, Exeter, UK, Learning Matters, 57pp. (Achieving QTS)
• Selection of International Conference Papers
• Challen, D.(2008) Teacher identity construction: becoming a ‘teacher of reading’, UKLA 44th International Conference, Liverpool Hope University, 2008
• Challen, D. (2008) Small-group literacy teaching: pedagogy and control. In, British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Edinburgh, UK, 03-06 Sep 2008. , 15pp.
• Challen, Doreen (2008) Guided reading in England: how teaching can support learning for children with different learning needs. In, European Conference on Educational Research, Göteborg, Sweden, 10-13 Sep 2008, 15pp.
• Challen, D.(2007) Listening to the teacher: the value of participant reflection on video data. BERA Annual Conference, Institute of Education, University of London, September 2007.
• Challen, D. (2006) "Initial teacher training: clearing the hurdles: a summary". In, Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 22-26 Oct 2005. , 5pp.

• Challen, D. and Byrne, J. (2005) Choosing future teachers: can we forecast competence? In, Proceedings of 29th Annual Conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe: Teacher education between theory and practice: the end of theory ... the future of practice? Agrigento, 2004. Milan, Italy, Association for Teacher Education in Europe.

Following a degree from the University of Edinburgh, a PGCE from Bangor, Wales and a good number of years in the primary classroom, I became a literacy consultant for the National Literacy Project (later Strategy) in 1996, and moved to the School of Education in 2000. I am responsible for the English element of the primary PGCE, and also teach on MA (Ed) programmes. My research interests relate to my lifelong interest in language and languages, as well as my work in pre-service teacher training and teacher professional development. I am currently exploring the interactions which occur within small-group literacy lessons, and the implications of teachers' pedagogical understandings for inclusive education. I have also been involved in research into aspects of initial teacher training and staff development within higher education.