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Leeds Beckett welcomes two new Professors of Teacher Education
Professor Jonathan Glazzard joined the University on Monday 31 July from Leeds Trinity University, where he was Head of Academic Development; while Professor Rachel Lofthouse took up her post on Monday 10 July after being Senior Lecturer in Education and Co-Director of the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University. Both join Leeds Beckett as Professors of Teacher Education.
Professor Damien Page, Dean of the Carnegie School of Education, explained: “As one of the leading schools of education in the country, it’s our mission to prepare outstanding new teachers. But as well as being skilled in the arts of the classroom, we also want our graduates’ practice to be informed by the very best in research and I’m delighted to welcome Professor Rachel Lofthouse and Professor Jonathan Glazzard. Both bring with them a wealth of experience in teacher education as well as cutting-edge research in their specialist areas which will ensure that our newly-qualified teachers will not just be good, they will be the very best.”
Professor Glazzard graduated with a first-class honours Bachelor of Education degree in 1995 from Sheffield Hallam University, and subsequently completed three Masters degrees in Education, Educational Psychology, and Language and Communication Impairment in Children. He gained a Doctorate of Education at the University of Sheffield in 2013, specialising in inclusive education.
Following a 10-year career as a primary school teacher in Barnsley, he has spent the last 12 years working in higher education. In 2005, Professor Glazzard was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at the University of Huddersfield and, in 2012, he was promoted to the role of University Teaching Fellow. In 2015, he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy and, in 2015, he was promoted to the role of Head of Academic Development at Leeds Trinity University to lead university-wide innovations in learning and teaching. He gained a Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2016.
Professor Glazzard’s research centres around issues of inclusive education, marginalisation and social justice in schools. He has published extensively in the field of teacher education, writing books, journal articles and chapters on special educational needs, inclusion, autism, dyslexia and early reading development.
He is currently researching the experiences of students who identify as LGBTQ, using video and audio diaries. He has also worked with the Ministry of Education in Tanzania to develop professional development materials for teachers to support them in developing their knowledge of special educational needs and inclusive education.
Professor Glazzard said: “I am delighted to take on this new position. I am particularly looking forward to taking a leading role in developing research for the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools. Through working in partnership with children and young people, schools, Multi-Academy Trusts and other organisations, my role is to produce research which improves outcomes for children and young people with mental health needs. It is a privilege to undertake this role and I am delighted to be part of a School that places children and young people at the centre of its vision.”>
Professor Rachel Lofthouse graduated from Sheffield University with a BSc (Special Hons) in Natural Environmental Science, before completing a PGCE at Newcastle University and teaching secondary Geography in schools in the North East of England for nine years. She moved into higher education in 2000, starting as a Geography PGCE tutor, before progressing to Secondary PGCE director and programme leader for a range of part-time masters courses at Newcastle University. She has also been a member and co-director of Newcastle University’s Research Centre for Learning and Teaching, and Head of Education Section within the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences completing her PhD through publication in 2015.
Professor Lofthouse’s research is focused on professional learning, exploring how teachers learn and how they can be supported to put that learning into practice. Rachel has a particular interest in how teachers learn through approaches such as coaching, lesson study, professional enquiry and inter-professional practice.
Professor Lofthouse’s ongoing research tackles the transformation of professional learning through partnerships of scholarship and practice development. She is currently researching student teachers’ conceptions of learning to teach, with colleagues from Birmingham and Cardiff Metropolitan Universities, and has an ongoing research-practice partnership with speech and language therapists developing coaching approaches to working with teachers.
She has published in peer-reviewed journals on the subjects of coaching and mentoring, the innovative use of video to support practice development, practitioner enquiry and professional learning. She also writes regularly for professional publications and websites and is the Chairperson of the CPD committee of the The Universities Council for the Education of Teachers, and a member of the editorial team of the British Education Research Association’s blog.
Professor Lofthouse said: “What excites me about my new role as Professor of Teacher Education is the opportunity to support the development of practical expertise and wisdom in teachers at all stages of their careers, both in the region and beyond. Teachers do one of the most important jobs in society and need to be championed and given every opportunity to be the best they can be. I was born Headingley and, after 46 years away, I feel very much at home here once again, and look forward to making a contribution to the educational life of the city.”