Biography

I am passionate about education and am particularly interested in more creative forms of education which encourage the emergence of true character and ‘Self’ in social structures. My research into teacher well-being dovetails nicely with my professional and personal background in all phases of education and the various experiences of different educational approaches from throughout the world.

In my view, education has the potential to transform society and individual livelihoods but that this can only be achieved when people adopt more altruistic or “eudemonic” attitudes toward decision making and action. I am also passionate about working in tandem with specialists from other professional fields and throughout the community in order to enrich educational experiences for all and fuse education with society in more seamless ways.

I have experience of working in all phases of education and am currently researching the influence of different types of educational provision on teacher well-being and retention. I am interested in the possibilities of more diffuse forms of education that make full use of outdoor learning opportunities, creative approaches to education and methods that facilitate the individuation of the child and adult in harmony.

• Professional experience of all phases of education including the early years sector, primary sector, further education sector, special educational needs sector and the Higher Education sector;
• Lead applicant and founder of a primary free school proposal based on the principles of 50% of learning taking place outdoors and in the community;
• Early years setting consultancy;
• Forest school leadership in early years and higher education settings;
• Developed online Safeguarding in Higher Education training for the University of Portsmouth;
• Worked with the Education and Training Foundation to develop a pre-ITT transitional programme from the military into Further Education techer training; 
• My current professional role is Course Leader in Early Childhood Studies and the successful implementation of the Graduate Practitioner Competencies within our BA Honours programme.