Inspiring tomorrows professionals

School of Education and Professional Development

The School of Education and Professional Development has a lively and thriving culture of research and scholarship which informs publication for both academic and practitioner communities. It has established a reputation for the delivery of world class and internationally leading educational research. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, a substantial proportion of the School's research activity was deemed to be of international importance in terms of its originality, significance and rigour, with much of it representing quality that is both excellent and world leading.

Research in the School of Education and Professional Development is integral to the School's excellent reputation for developing professional for the education sector whilst addressing the needs of employers and the community.  Our curricula are informed by the latest developments in the field. This is complemented by our research students, many of whom are also professional practitioners whose research feeds directly into the work of the School, contributing towards a lively and practice-focused  intellectual community. Our international students, also from professional backgrounds and often with extensive experience of the educations systems of their own countries, enrich this professional academic community.

We are proud of our substantial body of research students working at masters and doctoral level and the vibrant and dynamic research culture they create. Activities are organised  throughout the year within the school through our research centre and clusters that address emergent research area with much of our research being interdisciplinary. Events are planned throughout the year to support and inform research study and include a seminar series, an annual research conference, a public lecture series presented by external speakers, funded research projects, book publications and journal articles, to event, annual research conference, recent publications. Our research interests are wide ranging, from early years through to adult and lifelong learning and can be readily linked to questions of social justice as well the professional development of practitioners and action research.

Researchers associated with the centre for research in Post-Compulsory Education have an interest in vocational education and training and lifelong learning. Our work on social cohesion straddles a number of areas aligning with an interest in Youth and Community Work, to the study of http://www2.hud.ac.uk/asb/Britishness, together with an engagement with culture, values and education. This research ranges from cultural and literary analyses of education through to questions of moral education. Currently the editorship of the Journal of Vocational Education and Training (JVET) is held within the School.

Prof. James Avis

Director of Research

Lead researchers for Education are: