My profile

Biography

I have had the pleasure of working for Manchester Metropolitan University for some ten years. In that time, I have worked across the Primary and Secondary Initial Teacher Education Programmes in a range of roles covering Programme and Partnership.

As a passionate advocate of inclusion, I was also the Programme Lead for the National SENCo Award for almost two years, prior to its replacement with the National Professional Qualification in 2024. ManMet’s NaSENCo Programme was a highly-regarded model and during its lifetime, some two thousand SENCos across the region gained their statutory qualification with us.

Prior to joining ManMet’s Initial Teacher Education Department, I was a successful Secondary English Teacher, Senior Leader and Acting Headteacher in a range of settings including a Pupil Referral Unit, over some twenty years. I was also a Local Authority Consultant championing SEND in the mainstream setting when inclusion was a reasonably-new concept in teaching, launching several strategies to raise the understanding of learner entitlement. 

Interests and expertise

I am thrilled to be the Programme Lead for the brand new BA(Hons) in Special and Inclusive Education, which will begin in September 2025. This course aims to develop a broad-based understanding of special and additional education, alternative provision and multi-disciplinary approaches, to foster successful pathways for all learners, irrespective of  learning profiles.  The degree will be the only one of its kind in the Greater Manchester area and, with our sector  specialist partners, we believe it will have a significant impact on learning and teaching across the locality. 

Projects

I believe relationships are critical to successful teaching and learning in any environment and, as such, I have been involved in several joint research projects around this theme. My doctoral thesis focuses on the possibility of understanding teaching relationships through a Hauntological lens of shared ‘pastness’ and ‘futureness’ between the parties,  contributing to explaining the unique relationship between teachers and learners in Higher Education.