Biography
Heather trained as a primary school teacher and worked in schools around the UK where she developed a long-term interest in inclusion. She went on to study for a master's in Education, Gender and International Development at University College London. At that time, Heather was working for Buckinghamshire County Councils' School Improvement Service as the Consultant for Social Inclusion. In response to disproportionalities in the national and county data, she wrote her MA dissertation in 2006 exploring the disproportionate under-achievement of British Pakistani pupils in the county. She used qualitative methodology to explore the data using focus groups and interviews from pupils, teachers, parents and community leaders.
Going overseas in 2009, Heather worked as part of the Public Private Partnership in Abu Dhabi which rolled out a new curriculum in Government schools, this was a move to student centred pedagogy and a bilingual curriculum. At the end of that project, she stayed in the region working within HE. As a result of working with training teachers and then lecturers in learner centred pedagogy and inclusive practice in the UK and the UAE, Heather wanted to understand how the systems that teachers work within shapes their practice. That led her to undertake a Doctorate in Education with UCL with a focus on models of professionalism.
Research interests
- Comparative and international education
- Teacher professionalism
- Inclusion
- Learner centred education
- EAL/ EFL
- Phenomenological approaches.
Teaching
Leadership and Management in International Schools, part of the MA in International Education.
Heather is not currently available for PhD supervision.