Meet the research team

Research staff

Professor Avril Loveless

Head of Research

Professor Avril Loveless is head of the Education Research Centre and teaches on the professional doctorate, PhD, postgraduate and undergraduate programmes at the School of Education. She is also involved with university-wide research committees and groups.

Her research and teaching weave together three areas of theoretical and empirical work: understandings of creativity; pedagogy and teacher knowledge; and ICT capability within an early 21st century education system. These themes developed from her practice as a classroom teacher, advisory teacher and teacher educator, and her research has been closely related to her professional practice.

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Jennifer Colwell

Research Fellow

Jennifer Colwell is a research fellow at the Education Research Centre and teaches on the MA and BA Education programmes at the School of Education.

Her research interests include the practice and professional knowledge of early years practitioners, group work in early years and primary education and children’s social relationships.

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Professor Ivor Goodson

Professor of Learning Theory

Professor Ivor Goodson is professor of Learning Theory at the Education Research Centre. His research interests include learning theory and narrative learning.

He is also a Research Associate at the Von Hugel Institute, St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge. Ivor's previous roles have included Chair of Education at the Centre for Applied Research in Education, University of East Anglia; Frederica Warner Scholar; Scholar in Residence and Professor of Education at the University of Rochester; and Honorary Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario.

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Professor Yvonne Hillier

Professor of Education

Professor Yvonne Hillier is professor of Education at the Education Research Centre, and teaches on PGCE Post-compulsory Education, Professional Doctorate in Education, and PhD supervision and research methods.

She is currently Chair of the Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE) and a founder member of the Learning and Skills Research Network. She has researched issues of teaching and learning in post-compulsory education including basic skills practice, national vocational qualifications, initial teacher training, work based learning including foundation degrees, and educational regeneration.

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Dr Carol Robinson

Senior Research Fellow

Dr Carol Robinson is the course leader for the Professional Doctorate in Education. She also teaches on postgraduate and undergraduate programmes at the School of Education.

Her research interests include children and young peoples’ rights, children and young peoples’ voices and experiences, the theorisation of student voice and the relationship between theory and practice in student projects, learner identity, pedagogy and the professional development of teachers and school leaders, empowering teachers, children and young people in schools, and teaching and learning at doctoral level.

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Professor David Stephens

Professor of International Education

Professor David Stephens is professor of International Education at the Education Research Centre and course leader for the masters in Education. He also teaches research methodology and comparative and international education.

His research interests include the role of culture in education and development, intercultural/multicultural education/values education, international policy development in education, quality of basic education and reconstruction of education systems, and qualitative research methodology.

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Dr Tim Rudd

Principal Researcher within the Education Research Centre

Dr. Tim Rudd is a Principal Lecturer within the Education Research Centre. His research interests include: the sociology of education; educational technology; the politics and ideology of educational technology; learner voice and empowerment; alternative educational discourse and practice; and equity and social justice in education. He is currently working on a number of projects including: RIAIPE3, an Inter-University Framework Programme for Equity and Social Cohesion Policies in Higher Education; and Unbox21, a project exploring the potential of computer games in the classroom.

Previously Tim was a Senior Researcher at Futurelab and prior to that he was Head of Evidence and Research at Becta (The British Educational and Communications Technology Agency).

Tim gained a PhD. at Bristol University focussing on 'ICT and the Reproduction of Social Inequalities' and qualified as an 'Innovations Champion' through the Institute of Leadership and Management.

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