Doctoral researchers in the Department

The Department of Education and Childhood has a vibrant community of postgraduate researchers. Find out more about our Professional Doctorate Education.

The research students listed below demonstrate the varied research interests of the postgraduate community of learners in the Department.

Working towards Doctor of Philosophy, PhD

• Laura Bentley
  Jackie goes home. Working class women: Higher education, employment and family.
  Director of Studies:
  Second supervisor: Dr Richard Waller
• Mohamed Elhaddad 
  The Libyan Islamic Bristol School: A case study in securing and maintaining support for the supplementary schools movement in the UK.
  Director of Studies: Dr Dean Smart
  Second supervisor: Dr Richard Eke 
• Helen Foster
  Making our stories heard: A narrative inquiry into the stories of UK queer secondary school teachers.
  Director of Studies: Dr Dean Smart
  Second supervisor: Dr Finn Mackay
• James Griffin 
  Investigating and facilitating the design of data-informed andragogic tools to promote equality for digital learners.
  Director of Studies: Dr Nigel Newbutt
  Second supervisor: Dr Maricarmen Gil Ortega
• Alison Rouncefield-Swales
  Apprentice to graduate: A narrative study into the progression experience of advanced apprentices.
  Director of Studies: Dr Richard Waller
  Second supervisor: Dr Neil Harrison

Working towards the Professional Doctorate in Education,  EdD

• Shamsudin Abikar
  An intervention study exploring the impact of working with children and their parents to revive and develop Somali reading and writing on children's English literacy skills.
  Director of Studies: Dr Helen Bovill
  Second supervisor: Dr Jane Andrews
• Altahair Attia Adelkarim
  Emerging teacher identity (in elementary Arabic/English language students at the UAEU): How it is affected by culture, gender and educational background and how it impacts on job satisfaction.
  Director of Studies:  Dr Jane Andrews
  Second supervisor: Dr Richard Eke
• Jacob Bacon
  How do FE sports lecturers define their sense of professionalism with reference to the jobs they do and the environments in which they work?
  Director of Studies: Dr Helen Bovill
• Lee Ballard
  Designing and evaluating the impact of a student reflection programme on undergraduate and Further Education sports students’ use of summative feedback through the Framework of Sustainable Assessment.
  Director of Studies: Dr Neil Harrison
  Second supervisors: Dr Jenny Hill and Dr Richard Waller
• Martine Bird
  The matter of becoming, threatened identities? The experience of womanhood for young Asian females studying on a Foundation Degree in Early Childhood Studies.
  Director of Studies: Dr Jane Andrews
  Second supervisor: Dr Richard Eke and Dr Nicola Bowden-Clissold
• Sara Bird
  Understanding students', employers' and academics' perceptions of employability, and design implications for a module for graduate attributes in higher education.
  Director of Studies: Dr Neil Harrison
  Second supervisor: Dr Jayne Woodbury
• Ian Bowen
  Does attendance and study within prison education on Functional Skills Courses increase pro-social and compliant behaviour amongst prisoners?
  Director of Studies: Dr Neil Harrison
  Second supervisor: Dr Richard Waller
• Helen Butcher
  Realising young children's rights: Conversations with early childhood leaders committed to respecting children's rights.
  Director of Studies: Dr Jane Andrews
  Second supervisor: Dr Richard Eke
• Christine Comrie
  How is the term "global citizen" as a student outcome conceptualized and implemented in two contrasting departments in a typical UK university?
  Director of Studies: Dr Neil Harrison
  Second supervisor: Professor Pam Moule
• Benjamin Davey
  A case study of the shifting i-positions in teacher professional identity.
  Director of Studies: Dr Helen Bovill
  Second supervisor: Dr Jayne Woodbury
• Clayton Davies
  Using Phaedrus to examine the epistemic fit of business pedagogy: An application of Gadamer’s interpretative phenomenology in an evaluation of the curricula of business schools in the context of higher education.
  Director of Studies: Dr Richard Waller
  Second supervisor: Dr Jayne Woodbury
• Clare Denholm
  A phenomenographic study of academics' perspectives of pedagogic innovation in UK higher education.
  Director of Studies: Professor Elizabeth Cleaver
  Second supervisor: Professor Penelope Harnett
• Nagat Elamin
  An exploration of children's early learning in settings with diverse approaches to using ICT: A comparative case study.
  Director of Studies: Dr Jane Andrews
  Second supervisor: Dr Sarah Chicken
• Nicholas Garrick
  An exploration of significant professional learning of career changers during Initial Teacher Training courses.
  Director of Studies: Dr Jane Andrews
  Second supervisor: Dr Marcus Witt
• Andy Goldhawk
  What constitutes effective professional development for Further Education lecturers in England?
  Director of Studies: Dr Richard Waller
  Second supervisor: Dr Jayne Woodbury
• Sarah Green
  Case study exploring the definition and application of the concept of woman centred care in a pre-registration midwifery education programme.
  Director of Studies: Dr Richard Waller
  Second supervisor: Professor Pam Moule
• Peter Kernaghan
  Character building: Clarity, confusion or contradictions? An investigation into teachers’ and learners’ perspectives on democracy, humility and the policy discourse of character education in 21st century English secondary academies.
  Director of Studies: Dr Dean Smart
  Second supervisor: Professor Penelope Harnett
• Andrew King
  Constructionist learning in next generation environments: Game jams in heterotopic affinity space.
  Director of Studies: Dr Neil Harrison
  Second supervisor: Dr Harriet Shortt
• Benjamin Knight
  Learning as emergence and classroom as complex system: A case study applying complex adaptive systems theory and complexity thinking to everyday primary classroom learning.
  Director of Studies: Dr Neil Harrison
  Second supervisor: Dr Richard Eke 
• Kathryn Last
  How does being a new teaching academic reframe professional identity as a result of the increasing focus of teaching excellence in English higher education institutions?
  Director of Studies: Dr Jayne Woodbury
  Second supervisor: Professor Penelope Harnett
• Juliet Mackenzie
  Exploring routes to understanding geography learning: So, just how is it students best learn geography?
  Director of Studies: Dr Dean Smart
  Second supervisor: Professor Penelope Harnett
• Laura Manison Shore
  Is teaching a classed and gendered profession? Exploring the narratives of female trainee primary school teachers.
  Director of Studies: Dr Helen Bovill
  Second supervisor: Dr Catherine Rosenberg
• Alexandra Morfaki-Williams
  Inclusion in the early years: A study of the perceptions and experiences of inclusion of early years Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) and parents of children with special needs.
  Director of Studies: Dr Helen Bovill
  Second supervisor: Dr Nicola Bowden-Clissold
• Sally Moyle
  Identity crisis within the role of the nurse practitioner? An exploration of autonomy and identity.
  Director of Studies: Dr Richard Waller
  Second supervisor: Dr Rebecca Hoskins
• Joanne Seal
  How do postgraduate nursing students experience compassion in their learning environment?
  Director of Studies: Dr Helen Bovill
  Second supervisor: Dr Rachel Sales
• Julie Smith
  Creating a culture of high expectation in an English secondary school: A blended case study and action research approach.
  Director of Studies: Dr Richard Waller
  Second supervisor: Dr Nicola Bowden-Clissold 
• Christopher Telfer
  Help or hindrance? A case study exploring the impact of collaborative data platforms and ILin the teaching and learning of physics.
  Director of Studies: Dr Dean Smart
  Second supervisor: Dr Marcus Witt
• Karan Vickers-Hulse
  Mind the gap! Exploring the discourses in primary education policy and the formation of professional identity of trainees in School Direct and core routes to PGCE primary qualification.
  Director of Studies: Dr Dean Smart
  Second supervisor: Dr Marcus Witt
• Malachy Weedon
  Counter security measures in the classroom: Exploring educationalists’ opinions on the Prevent Duty and fundamental British values in relation to professional identities and the teaching profession in the post 16 Education sector in one region.
  Director of Studies: Dr Richard Waller
  Second supervisor: Dr Andrew Mathers and Dr Sean Creaven
• Sarah Whitehouse
  Exploring teachers’ values, perspectives and approaches to controversial issues.
  Director of Studies: Dr Jane Andrews
  Second supervisor: Professor Penelope Harnett
• Rachel Wood
  Reason, reflection and affect: A narrative inquiry into undergraduate students’ experience of learning law at a post 1992 university.
  Director of Studies: Dr Richard Waller
  Second supervisor: Dr Catherine Rosenberg