Collaboration in Curriculum Development (HE, FE and Business)
Higher Education: Policy and Practice
Post-Compulsory Education
Widening Participation
Employability and careers education
Employer engagement

I graduated originally with a first degree in Geography and have spent my career teaching at various, in fact at all levels within education. I have worked in higher education since 1990 in a number of roles and establishments combining teaching, management and research. Despite this, geography remains very important to me and I take every opportunity to get involved with activities both inside and outside the University which allows me to pursue this interest.

I have recently completed a term of office as Associate Dean for the Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in which the School of Education sits. My portfolio of responsibilities encompassed Enterprise and Innovation and was an excellent bridge between my interests in teaching and research. The work involved encouraging academic staff to engage with the enterprise agenda and to be more enterprising when undertaking teaching and research. Much of this involved making people aware of the opportunities both within the University and outside and making links between the University and external agencies.

Within the School of Education my academic interests lie in the area of post-compulsory education in general and higher education in particular. My research focuses on aspects of higher education curriculum especially those activities which have been developed collaboratively and in partnership with further education, schools and employers. I am particularly interested in how government policy both informs, and is informed by, educational practice in the post-compulsory sector. In my recent research I have been focusing on the development of sub-degree courses which are linked to the drive for vocationalism within HE through such developments as foundation degrees and workplace learning. My other interest, which is closely linked to this, is the way that higher education is changing to meet the needs of those entering as part of the government policy of widening access.

Outside of work my particular interests lie in travel, international development and environmental matters thus bringing me back to where I started this biography.

1. Dissertation through Flexible Study MA (Ed)
2. Educational Practice and Innovation MSc