Rob has over 10 years’ experience as a science teacher in schools across London. During his time as a teacher he became increasingly interested in how we support students and teachers appreciate the value and limitations of science. Rob transitioned to the tertiary sector in 2018 and is currently Senior lecturer in Primary and Secondary science at St Mary’s.
Rob currently teaches on the Primary undergraduate BA, Primary PGCE and Secondary PGCE coursers. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Rob is St Mary’s consortium lead of the epistemic insight project at St Marys. Rob’s research interests include supporting pre and in-service teachers develop overarching understanding of scientific process skills from KS1-KS4, how models are used as a teaching tool by preservice science teachers and the role of science in a holistic curriculum. Rob has presented at national and international conferences on each of these research themes.
Research outline
The epistemic insight framework was introduced to the PGCE secondary science module in 2019. Collaborative sessions with PGCE RE and PGCE History explored a series of big questions to ascertain whether introducing epistemic can support preservice teachers appreciate which questions require multidisciplinary response. Pre and post surveys explored the extent to which preservice teachers perceptions of their discipline had changed as a result of being introduced to workshops on epistemic insight.
Following the initial pilot research, teaching on epistemic insight has been expanded to undergraduate primary science modules, and in 2021/22 will be further expanded to PGCE secondary Geography, and PGCE secondary Maths courses.
Current research interests
As Consortium lead of the epistemic insight project, Rob’s current research is exploring whether introducing a portfolio of epistemic insight workshops, each with a focal big question, supports preservice teachers appreciate how a range of disciplinary perspectives can inform answers to big questions.
Doctoral research
Rob is currently studying on a part time educational doctorate. His thesis is interested in investigating whether introducing preservice science specialist primary teachers to epistemic insight inform their perceptions of science, and what makes scientific knowledge distinct from other forms of knowledge
Matthew has over 25 years’ experience as a RE teacher, Head of RE as well as an Assistant Headteacher. During his time as a teacher, he became increasingly interested in the notion of professional identity for RE teachers working in Catholic schools.
Matthew also has been a lead inspector for Catholic schools for over 20 years; focusing on the quality of RE and ethos of Catholic schools. He is also established in 2018 the Association for Teachers of Catholic Religious Education (ATCRE). He is the current chair and has organised an annual national conference, as well as regular national CPD for serving RE teachers in Catholic schools.
Matthew transitioned to the tertiary sector in 2018 and is currently Senior Lecturer in Secondary RE and MA Education at St Mary’s. Matthew currently teaches on the Secondary PGCE courser and the MA Education, across several different pathways (RE; Pedagogy; Leading Innovation and Change). Matthew recently completed a Farmington Fellowship (2018), based at the Farmington Institute, Harris Manchester College, Oxford University.
His fellowship was titled: A missing link in teacher training: What support is needed for subject tutors of Religious Education in School-Centred Initial Teacher Training? Matthew is also a member of the Religious Education Council, representing ATCRE.
Research outline
The epistemic insight framework was introduced to the PGCE secondary RE module in 2019. Collaborative sessions with PGCE science explored a series of big questions to ascertain whether introducing epistemic can support preservice teachers appreciate which questions require multidisciplinary response. Pre and post surveys explored the extent to which preservice teachers perceptions of their discipline had changed as a result of being introduced to workshops on epistemic insight.
Current research interests
Matthew’s current research interest is in the recruitment and retention of RE teachers for Catholic schools, as well as exploring the professional identity of RE teachers in Catholic schools. As part of the epistemic insight project, Matthew’s current research is exploring whether introducing a portfolio of epistemic insight workshops, each with a focal big question, supports preservice teachers appreciate how a range of disciplinary perspectives can inform answers to big questions.
Sarah is Senior Lecturer in Primary Religious Education and has a wide range of experience teaching in schools and online from nursery to teaching KS2.
She worked as a Primary School teacher for twenty-four years in both Catholic and Community Schools where she coordinated RE, Maths, Physical Education and was a Deputy Head Teacher for eight years.
Sarah is passionate about raising the profile of Religious Education in Primary schools and she is currently studying an MA in Religious Education.
Cynthia joined St Mary's University in 2002. She is a Senior Lecturer in Primary Religious Education (RE) and the PGCE MA. She delivers modules across the undergraduate, postgraduate and work based route programmes. She has had a range of experiences with St Mary’s as director and lecturer working with the science and RE teams.
Cynthia has a wide range of experience teaching in schools and online ranging from nursery to teaching KS3. Her roles in school range from Deputy Head, subject coordinator and Chair of Governors. She has worked in schools in the Midwest of America, the UK and in France.
She has also achieved a prestigious Millennium Fellowship for Religious Education from the Farmington Institute in 2000. Cynthia is passionate about creating a classroom environment that is engaging and providing the best outcomes for all children. As a leader in education she places great value on working collaboratively with her peers.
Research outline
Cynthia recently delivered a TED talk titled: ‘Is it the job of schools to teach our children values?’ The discussion asked whether actively promoting Fundamental British Values (FBV) means challenging opinions or behaviours in school. Excellent teaching of RE will enable pupils to learn to think for themselves about British values and ideas around the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development of children.
Cynthia's talk will ask:
- how does RE in our Primary schools promote FBV?
- What are FBVs?
- Do these need updating?
- Are these values universal and Is it the responsibility of RE to teach them?
This is an area of interest on how values play a role in initial teacher training and in education every day.
Sophie is an enthusiastic and passionate geographer, with recent experience of being Head of Department in a highly successful secondary school. She is particularly interested in curriculum design, and subject leadership, especially in relation to A’ Level teaching, as well as developing resources and supporting a variety of suitable fieldwork opportunities to help students to extend their geographical skills and knowledge of the world.
Sophie has a wealth of practical experience gained from being Head of Geography and supporting trainee teachers as a Senior PGCE Lecturer in Secondary Geography. She has also been responsible for organising the Surrey Geography Network for subject Leads, and in the past year has given presentations for the Westminster Academy, the Ealing Geography Network, and the Royal Geographical Society’s November Teachmeet.
As Chair for the GA ICTSIG, and member of the GA Education Committee, Sophie is always keen to share ideas for teaching Geography to help promote a vibrant passion for the subject, and has led numerous sessions at the Geographical Association’s Annual Conference. These have included teaching with tablets, using GIS in the classroom, and ideas for making a sense of place in every geography lesson. She has also shared her experience of running a school placement in Ghana, and is always keen to raise an awareness of the importance of sustainability.
Research outline
The epistemic insight framework is due to be introduced to the Secondary PGCE geography course in 2021. The aim is to explore its role in providing alternative views of the world which go beyond the confines of disciplinary boundaries, to help to improve the understanding of selected big questions facing society.
Current research interests
Sophie’s s current research interests lie in the importance of subject disciplines and curriculum design, as well as the use of GIS in the everyday classroom.
She is the Project Lead for Gi Pedagogy an Erasmus+ British Council funded project, which involves working together with European partners, to investigate the pedagogies needed to help teachers to use GIS more effectively to teach geography, which has led to a joint online publication of the literature review. This is now being used to develop a toolkit of resources, supported with training and a MOOC for early career teachers.
Sophie has presented the initial findings from this work at two International online conferences: EUROGEO (Madrid) and Geo Decade (Sofia), and was one of three guest speakers invited to give a presentation at GEReCO (Geography Education Research Collective Annual Open Forum) last October.
Sarah has almost twenty years’ experience as a History teacher in secondary schools in Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire and across London. She has also taught in a Pupil Referral Unit for a London Borough following an interest in supporting pupils with SEND, those with behavioural issues or pupils who had been excluded from mainstream education.
Sarah moved to Higher Education in 2015, firstly as a link tutor before becoming a lecturer in Secondary History. She designed and established the current PGCE History programme of which she is course lead. She has taught on the Primary PGCE course, and has contributed to the PGCE Masters module for a SCITT validated by St Mary’s. Sarah’s research interests include pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in history education; and providing meaningful feedback on lesson observation to trainee teachers. Her research interests play a key part in the structure and delivery of the PGCE History course. Sarah presented at St Mary’s University Learning and Teaching Festival (2021) on the changes to PGCE Secondary provision as an impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Research outline
The epistemic insight framework was introduced to the PGCE secondary science module in 2019. Collaborative sessions with PGCE RE and PGCE History explored a series of big questions to ascertain whether introducing epistemic insight can support preservice teachers appreciate which questions require multidisciplinary response. The collaborative session between science and History focused on the enquiry ‘Why did the Titanic sink?’ Pre and post surveys explored the extent to which preservice teachers perceptions of their discipline had changed as a result of being introduced to workshops on epistemic insight.
Following the initial pilot research, teaching on epistemic insight has been expanded to undergraduate primary science modules, and in 2021/22 will be further expanded to PGCE secondary Geography, and PGCE secondary Maths courses.
Current research interests
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on initial teacher training, Sarah’s current research interest is exploring how university tutors provide meaningful feedback for lesson observation of their trainees. As a result of the pandemic tutors were not considered ‘essential workers’ and so could not visit schools. Therefore a different way of interacting with trainees to observe their teaching and offer feedback had to be found. Whilst a solution was created for 2021, Sarah is keen to explore this area further so that on the return to schools tutors do not resume pre-pandemic practices; but incorporate new and developed practices that make feedback meaningful and allow the feedback to truly feed forward.
Lisa Panford SFHEA is a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader of PGCE Secondary - Modern Languages programme. She is an active member of SMU’s Race Equality Charter Self-Assessment Team.
Lisa is a former Lead Practitioner with over 14 years’ experience teaching languages (MFL) in London secondary schools. Her previous school leadership roles also include: Professional Coordinating Mentor, Subject Mentor and Coach to teachers at all stages of their careers.
Research interests
In October 2022 she joins the SMU Doctoral School to begin a Professional Doctorate in Education. Her research draws upon her current experiences as a teacher-educator and previous experiences as an educator and a student of languages to highlight the complexities that People of Colour face in the languages classroom. Lisa is intentional about connecting theory to practice and the urgency of amplifying conversations around race and racism in order to realise the transformative potential of languages education for all children in schools.
Lisa is interested in exploring how an Epistemic Insight Framework can be used to support teacher trainees to think critically and creatively around some ‘big’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion questions for positive impact on their practice. The process of active inquiry and professional dialogue (integrated this year into the cross-disciplinary EDI Professional Studies workshops) supports the SMU PGCE Secondary approach to developing in our trainees, a shared responsibility for improving the lives of all pupils within our schools.
Nicola has over 15 years experience of teaching primary and working as a maths subject lead in Asia, Europe and the UK. Nicola joined St Mary’s in 2020 as a Lecturer in Primary Mathematics and delivers modules across the undergraduate, work-based routes and PGCE programmes on mathematics, digital literacies and academic writing.
Research interests
Nicola’s current research interests include how language and discourse contribute to the formation of teacher and student identity and the role of disciplinary literacy (Epistemic Insight) in developing attitudes and beliefs about (teaching and learning) mathematics. She recently presented at the Epistemic Insight Conference on ’Thinking like a mathematician. The curriculum content-intent gap in primary education.’
Nicola will begin studying part-time for an educational doctorate in October 2022.