Overview

Rob Freathy read Theology at the University of Oxford and completed his doctorate in Education at the University of Exeter. He is currently the University's Dean for Taught Students and Chair of the Education Board. He is also a Professor of Education in the School of Education.

For the University, he has previously been Academic Dean for Students / Dean of the Faculty of Taught Programmes, and Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research and Deputy Director of the University of Exeter Doctoral College. For the College of Social Sciences and International Studies, he has been Associate Dean (Education), Director of Taught Programmes, and Director of Postgraduate Research. He has also held a number of positions of responsibility in the School of Education, including Head of School and Director of Education.

His research interests include religious education, history of education, and curricular and pedagogical innovation. He is a member of the Editorial Boards for History of Education, Journal of Beliefs and Values and History of Education and Children's Literature. He is co-editor of a series of books published by Peter Lang on the theme of Religion, Education and Values (Vol. 18, 2021), and an Editorial Board member for a Routledge Series on Life and Values Education. He has also authored and edited numerous books, including Religious Education and Freedom of Religion and Belief (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2012), History, Remembrance and Religious Education (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2014), Politics, Professionals and Practitioners (London: Routledge, 2017), Metacognition, Worldviews and Religious Education (London: Routledge, 2019) and Improving Religious Education Through Teacher Training (Munster: Waxmann, 2023). He has contributed articles to many journals including: Oxford Review of Education, Research Papers in Education, British Journal of Educational Studies, and History of Education. He is also responsible for developing Exe Libris: The UK History of Education Society On-line Bibliography (see http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/hoebibliography/index.php). Previous research projects include: ‘RE-flect: A programme to foster metacognition in the Religious Education classroom’ (funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation); ‘The Art of Narrative Theology in RE’ (funded by Bible Society/Westhill Endowment Trust) and 'RE-searchers: A Critical Dialogic Approach to Religious Education in Primary Schools' (funded by the Culham St Gabriel's Trust).

Downloadable resources:

• The RE-searchers Approach: A quick start guide with examplar units of work and activities
• The RE-searchers: A New Approach to Religious Education in Primary Schools
• Who is Jesus? 
• Identifying Principles and Big Ideas for Religious Education

Qualifications

MA (Oxon), PGCE, PhD (Exon), FHEA

Research group links

• Centre for Research in Professional Learning
• Education Theory Reading Network
• Religion and Spirituality Network

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Research

Research interests

Rob Freathy is Professor of Education. His research interests include religious education, history of education, and curricular and pedagogical innovation. His previous research has been theoretical and empirical, as well as historical and contemporary in focus. In his historical work, he has utilised published and unpublished documentary sources, as well as oral history interview data. In his contemporary work, he has used qualitative and quantitative data derived from social scientific fieldwork, including interviews and questionnaire surveys of school students and teachers.

Research projects

His most recent and current research projects include:

(1) Exe Libris: On-line Bibliography (UK History of Education Society)
Through the Exe Libris project, Rob Freathy, William Richardson and Marie Bryce developed an online resource to help historians of education more easily identify scholarly articles relevant to their field of interest that have been published in a broad range of British academic journals. The project originally aimed to digitize data from 56 journals published between 1939 and 2005. The electronic resource produced by this project was named Exe Libris, and hosted by the University of Exeter at http://dll.ex.ac.uk/hoebibliography, as well as being easily accessible via the History of Education Society's own website (http://www.historyofeducation.org.uk/). There have been two stages of development to the database since its introduction. In 2009, Exe Libris was updated to include all articles published in the previously selected journals between the beginning of 2006 and the end of 2008. In 2012, coverage of articles published in the previously selected list of historical journals was extended up to the end of 2011 which saw around 400 articles catalogued and categorised for inclusion in the bibliography. Exe Libris was also expanded to include articles from four major international journals specialising in the history of education: ANZHES Journal (1972-1982) and History of Education Review (1983 onwards), History of Education Quarterly (1961 onwards) and Paedagogica Historica (1961 onwards). As a result of this expansion, over 2,200 articles have been added to the database.
Visit the Exe Libris Online Bibliography

(2) The hidden history of curriculum change in Religious Education in English schools, 1969-1979 (British Academy and Westhill Endowment Trust)
Rob Freathy and Stephen Parker undertook a historical research project with a view to contributing to knowledge about curriculum change in Religious Education (RE) in English schools between 1969 and 1979, with a focus on the controversial Birmingham Agreed Syllabus (1975). Both original archival material and oral life history data were utilised and contextualised within their educational, socio-cultural and political milieu. The research uncovered political processes associated with RE’s development, both locally and nationally, that had been neglected in the existing literature, for example, significant campaigns by secularists and humanists to abolish, reform or establish a secular alternative to, RE; fervent responses by certain Christian groups, including Mary Whitehouse’s well-publicised Save Religion in State Schools campaign; forgotten national policy developments led by the Department of Education and Science and Her Majesty’s Inspectors; and theoretical tensions surrounding the dominance of Christianity in the RE curriculum due to historical and cultural reasons and the need for multi-faith content as a response to the mass immigration of adherents to non-Christian religions.

(3) The Art of Narrative Theology in Religious Education (Bible Society)
This project aims to develop curriculum resources for use with Key Stage 3 pupils using the contemporary biblical paintings of Brian J. Turner (www.bibleproject.co.uk) which show biblical scenes in a quirky, contemporary style that is both engaging and thought-provoking. The project seeks to develop a pedagogy of Religious Education (RE) based upon a narratival framework informed by both narrative theology and narrative philosophy. Working from the narrative assumption that individuals and communities are formed by reading, sharing and living within stories, the project team suggest that such a narratival pedagogy of RE might encourage pupils to think about how the lives of Christians are shaped by their interpretations of biblical narratives, to offer their own interpretations of biblical and other texts, and to consider the stories – religious, non-religious or both - which shape their own lives. In so doing, the project seeks to move away from a 'proof-texting' approach to the Bible towards one in which pupils are enabled to think about the significance of biblical narratives for both Christians and themselves. The resultant pedagogy comprises four phases of learning: encountering narrative; interpreting narrative; understanding narrative in community contexts; and reflecting on narratives of self and others. This pedagogy has been implemented in practice to form a set of commercially-published curriculum materials for use with KS3 students (Freathy, R., Reed, E. D., Davis, A., and Cornwall, S. (2014). The Art of Bible Reading. Buxhall: Kevin Mayhew Ltd).

In this film, Rob Freathy, Esther D. Reed, Anna Davis and Brian J. Turner introduce you to their narrative approach to Religious Education in schools. 

(4) RE-flect: A programme to foster metacognition in the Religious Education classroom (Esmee Fairbairn Foundation)
Rob Freathy, Shirley Larkin, Karen Walshe and Jonathan Doney undertook this project between 2010 and 2012. It was informed by consultative action research principles and with a mixed methods design. Six primary school teachers and 160 pupils (8-10 year olds) took part in the second year of this two year project. With the teachers, the project team sought to create and evaluate metacognitive learning environments - consisting of meta-thinking, worldview and resources zones - in which Religious Education (RE) could be taught in primary schools. As part of the project, pupil attainment in RE and pupil perceptions of the learning environment were measured. Data from classroom observations, Worldview Profiles, and pupil and teacher interviews were also analysed qualitatively. The results showed an overall increase in attainment in RE; a positive change in pupil perceptions of the learning environment and learning in RE; and the ability of pupils to reflect on and articulate their worldviews.
Visit the project website.

(5) RE-searchers: A critical dialogic approach to RE in primary schools (Culham St Gabriel's Trust)
An innovative pedagogical approach to Religious Education (RE) has been trialled very successfully in one primary school in the southwest of England. It is informed by the belief that the main purpose of RE should be to teach pupils the disciplinary knowledge and skills associated with the communities of academic practice concerned with theological and religious studies, and it synthesizes critical and dialogic pedagogical principles. The approach seeks to enable pupils to enter into the kind of informed, critical and sensitive dialogues which are at the heart of academic study of religion(s) (see Freathy & Freathy 2013). It acknowledges that there is no neutral vantage point from which religions can be explored without prejudice, and it seeks to facilitate the critical discussion and evaluation of a plurality of perspectives through practical, participative and inter-active methods of critical dialogic enquiry. For the purpose of trialling the approach in practice, pupils were re-conceived as joint researchers working alongside teachers to investigate the effectiveness of different methods of studying religion(s), and thereby, acquiring the knowledge and skills associated with the communities of academic practice concerned with theological and religious studies. To do so, a simple technique was developed utilising four cartoon character 'superheroes' (with illustrations and accompanying profiles) each representative of one of the pedagogical approaches outlined in Michael Grimmitt's Pedagogies of Religious Education (2000). These 'RE-searchers' were then utilised by pupils to explore the efficacy of the different research methodologies upon which the respective pedagogies were based, and thereby pupils were introduced to more abstract issues concerning ontology, epistemology and methodology. The current project (Freathy, Freathy, Doney, Walshe and Teece, Jan 2014 - Dec 2014) seeks to develop these pedagogical principles and procedures further, in consultation with a wider range of schools and teachers, and in preparation for a longer-term and larger-scale research and development project.

Please click here to watch a short-film of Rob Freathy introducing the RE-searchers approach.

Downloadable resources:

• The RE-searchers Approach: A quick start guide with examplar units of work and activities
• The RE-searchers: A New Approach to Religious Education in Primary Schools

(6) Identifying Principles and Big Ideas for Religious Education (St Luke's College Foundation)
The aim of this project was to address long-standing practical issues concerning curriculum content selection, curriculum coherence and subject relevance in Religious Education (RE) by applying the theories of Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe and Lynne Errickson to develop principles and ‘Big Ideas’ that teachers, curriculum designers, syllabus writers, textbook authors and other stakeholders can use in determining the selection and sequence of RE curriculum content. More specifically, the project’s objectives were: (i) to identify principles for RE that will clarify for political, public and professional audiences the purposes and practices of the subject; (ii) to identify a manageable number of Big Ideas for RE which can be used subsequently to determine the selection of curriculum content; (iii) to provide a progressive description of each Big Idea, using concepts and language appropriate for pupils at each Key Stage, which can be used subsequently to determine the sequencing of curriculum content; and finally, (iv) to use these Big Ideas and progressive descriptors as criteria to select exemplar RE curriculum content and demonstrate how this could be sequenced appropriately across the Key Stages. In October 2016, Dr Barbara Wintersgill (Honorary University Fellow) and Professor Rob Freathy (Professor of Education) from the University of Exeter, and Professor Michael Reiss (Professor of Science Education, UCL Institute of Education), led a three-day symposium on Dartmoor in the South West of England to kick-start the process of fulfilling the objectives above.  Participants included members of the Religion, Spirituality and Education Research Network, and invited national RE specialists from the fields of academia, inspection and training, in association with teachers.  The results of these face-to-face discussions and the following correspondence are presented in the following report: Big Ideas for Religious Education Report. The report presents a new and radical approach to RE. It takes account of recent changes in the government’s policy on curriculum and assessment, and draws on principles that have been implemented in other parts of the world for some years. It identifies six ‘Big Ideas for RE’, which set in narrative form the understanding expected of students aged 5–7, 7–11, 11–14 and 14–16. By understanding these ‘Big Ideas’ progressively as they move through compulsory education, students will be equipped to engage intelligently with situations, issues and questions that they will encounter after they leave school.

(7) Who is Jesus? (Westhill Endowment Trust and Bible Society England and Wales)
This textbook is the outcome of ‘The Art of Narrative Theology in Religious Education: Phase Four’ project, undertaken between 1st November 2014 – 30th April 2016, led by Rob Freathy and Esther Reed, with assistance from Anna Davis, Helen John and Anneke Schmidt.

What historical sources can we use to find out about Jesus? What do the gospel writers tell us? How do Muslim and Christian views about Jesus compare? What can we know about Jesus’ attitudes towards women? How might a visually impaired Christian respond to biblical stories in which Jesus heals the blind? Is Jesus the same for people across different contexts and cultures? What is the significance of Jesus for the lives of Christians today? How and why do artists represent Jesus in different situations using a variety of signs and symbols? All of these questions and more are addressed in this textbook for upper secondary school Religious Education and Religious Studies.

Who is Jesus? provides an innovative examination of the figure of Jesus through a variety of different cultural, religious and disciplinary lenses. A team of fictional scholars, each with a different set of interpretations, methodologies and methods, guide students in their encounters with artistic, visually-impaired, Muslim, feminist and cross-cultural perspectives of Jesus. The aim is not to inculcate any particular view of Jesus or to promote a particular approach to studying him, but to introduce students to some of the diverse ways in which the title question – Who is Jesus? - can be answered.

Download pdf.

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Publications

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External Engagement and Impact

External Examiner Positions

University of Warwick (MA)

University of Cambridge (BA)

External doctoral examining nationally and internationally

PhD and EdD Internal and External Examiner

Invited lectures

‘The RE-searchers Approach: Exemplifying Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ (Keynote presentation). RE in the Crossroads. 16th Nordic Conference of Religious Education. University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia. June 2022.

‘Big Ideas about the study of religions and worldviews’ (Keynote presentation). Exploration of religions and worldviews with different methods in school. NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. November 2021.

‘The 1944 Settlement – Engineering Religion, Culture and Education in post-war Britain’. (R. Freathy and S. Parker). A New Settlement: Religion and Belief in Schools, St George’s, Windsor. February 2016.

‘Enquiry-based Theological Learning in the RE Classroom’ (R. Freathy). Church of England Archbishop’s Council Education Division and The National Society. Church House, Westminster, London. 27th and 28th April 2015. Invited speaker.

‘Theological Enquiry in the RE Classroom: A Narrative Approach’ (R. Freathy, E. D. Reed and A. Davis). Church of England Archbishop’s Council Education Division and The National Society. Church House, Westminster, London. 27th and 28th April 2015. Invited speakers.

‘The RE-searchers: A Critical, Dialogic and Enquiry-based Approach to RE’ (R. Freathy and G. Freathy). RE-imaging RE. Oxford Diocesan Board of Education, Oxford. 24th April 2015. Invited speakers.

‘The Art of Bible Reading: A Narrative Approach’ (R. Freathy, E. D. Reed, A. Davis and B. J. Turner). Dialogue Australasia Network Conference. Brisbane, Australia. 10th April 2015.

‘The relationship between the “professional quality” of teaching and the “professionalization” of teachers — The example of RE’. (F. Schweitzer and R. Freathy). Teacher Professionalization and the Professional Quality of Religious Education: An International Symposium, University of Exeter, UK, March 2015.

‘Understanding the learning journey in RE through the RE-searchers approach’ (R. Freathy and G. Freathy). Learn, Teach, Lead: Enhancing RE in the South West – The learning journey in RE: leading the way through religious understanding’. St Mellion, Cornwall. 17th October 2014. Invited speaker.

'An Introduction to Worldview Profiling in Religious Education’ (R. Freathy and G. Freathy). Learn, Teach, Lead: Enhancing RE in the South West – Sustaining RE: developing the art of subject leadership. Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon. 25th October 2013. Invited speaker.

‘How did we get to here in RE? Prospects and Problems Revisited’ (S. G. Parker and R. Freathy). The Future of Religious Education: Prospects and Problems for Religious Education (Revisited). University of Worcester, June 2013.

'Taking a historical perspective' (R. Freathy), Canterbury Christchurch University. Invited lecture. July 2013.

‘Religious Education and the Mary Whitehouse Experience, 1975-77’. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). Invited presentation. University of Birmingham, History of Religions Seminar. June 2010.

‘Brian Simon, Educational Studies and Learned Societies’. Brian Simon and Educational Change: Biography, History and Politics. Invited discussion panelist. Institute of Education, London. March 2010.

‘Introducing Exe Libris’. History of Education Society (UK): Research Conference - Sources and Archives. Birmingham Central Library. June 2008.

Invitation History of Education Seminar. 'The Triumph of Religious Education for Citizenship in English Schools, 1935-1949'. The Institute of Historical Research, London. February 2007.

‘What is research telling us about our needs for RE?’ St Gabriel’s RE Leaders Conference. Wokefield Park, Reading. 18th March 2007. Invited speaker.

‘Looking Forward’. ESRC Seminar Series – Social Change in the History of Education (RES-451-26-0169). Institute of Education, London. June 2006. Invited speaker.

Journal and book series Editorships and Editorial board membership

Series Editor. Religion, Education and Values. Peter Lang.

Editorial Board member of Journal of Beliefs and Values

Editorial Board member of History of Education

Former Co-editor of History of Education Researcher

Former Book Reviews Editor for History of Education

Former Editorial Board member of the British Journal of Religious Education

Guest Editor of Special Issue. Freathy, R., Parker, S. G., Schweitzer, F. and Simojoki, H. (2016). Professionalism, Professionalization and Professionality in Religious Education. British Journal of Religious Education. 38(2).

Guest Editor of Special Issue. Parker, S. G., Freathy, R. and Aldridge, D. (2015). The Future of Religious Education. Journal of Beliefs and Values 36(1).

Guest Editor of Special Issue. Robinson, W., Freathy, R. and Doney, J. (2014). Politics, Professionals and Practitioners. History of Education. 43(6).

Guest Editor of Special Issue. Crook, D., Freathy, R.J.K. and Wright, S. (2011). Citizenship, Religion and Education. History of Education. 40(6).

Referee for British Journal of Educational Studies

Referee for British Journal of Religious Education

Referee for History of Education

Referee for International Journal of Children's Spirituality

Referee for International Journal of Educational Management

Referee for Journal of Intercultural Studies

Referee for Research Papers in Education

Referee for The Curriculum Journal

Other

Member of the Steering Committee for ‘Playing for Success’ (study support centre for raising standards of KS2 and KS3 pupils), Devon Children & Young People’s Services, in partnership with Exeter City Football Club.

External Validator. BA (Hons) Educational Studies. Swansea Institute of Higher Education. 12th July 2007.

Research-based contributions to practitioner and academic conferences

‘Religions and worldviews: 21st century education for citizenship.’ (Invited presentation). SIG 19: Religions and worldviews for 21st century citizenship skills. EARLI, Oulu, Finland (and online). August 2021.

‘Big Ideas in and about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s) in English RE’. ISREV. Session XXI. Nuremberg, Germany. July 2018.

‘The professionalization of the RE teacher: An international comparative research project - Part 2: The English Perspective’. (R. Freathy and S. G. Parker). ISREV. Session XXI. Nuremberg, Germany. July 2018.

‘Big Ideas of and about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s) in RE’. AULRE. Heythrop College, London. May 2018.

‘Understanding the professionalization of Religious Education: towards an international comparative perspective’. (S. Parker and R. Freathy). AULRE, St Mary’s University, Twickenham. September 2015.

‘The RE-searchers Approach: Critical, dialogic and enquiry-based Religious Education’. (R. Freathy and K. Walshe). AULRE, St Mary’s University, Twickenham. September 2015.

‘Towards international comparative research on the professionalization of Religious Education’. (R. Freathy and S. G. Parker). History of Education Society Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, November 2014.

'Transatlantic Perspectives on Religious Education for Citizenship during the Second World War.’ (Stephen G. Parker and R. Freathy). International Standing Conference for the History of Education, Institute of Education, London, July 2014.

‘Mary Whitehouse, Religious Education and the Cold War: Cultural revolution and moral rearmament in England, 1975-1977.’ (R. Freathy and S. G. Parker). International Standing Conference for the History of Education, Institute of Education, London, July 2014.

‘‘Going Un-Christian’? Religious Education, the Church of England, and Church-State Relations, 1965-1970’. (S. Parker and R. Freathy). History of Education Society Annual Conference, Exeter, November 2013.

‘How to get published’. (M. Freeman, S. Wright, J. Doney, R. Freathy and G. McCulloch). History of Education Society Annual Conference, Exeter, November 2013.

‘Testimonies, teaching and testaments: using Oral Life History interviews to enrich the historiography of English Religious Education’. (J. Doney, S. Parker and R. Freathy). History of Education Society Annual Conference, Exeter, November 2013.

'RE-flect: Creating Metacognitive Environments in the RE Classroom - Worldview Profiles’. RE-flect Teachers' Workshop. St Luke’s Campus, University of Exeter. 7th June 2013.

‘The Hidden History of Religious Education’. (R. Freathy & J. Doney). Spotlight on Social Science Research. College of Social Sciences and International Studies Research Methods Festival, University of Exeter, May 2013.

‘The Aussie and the Schoolmistress: reforming RE and contesting English religious identity in the long 1960s’. (S. Parker and R. Freathy). History of Education Society (UK) Annual Conference: Rulers, Rebels & Reformers, University of Winchester, November 30 – December 2, 2012.

'The Christian Education Movement (1964-1980)’. (S.G. Parker and R.J.K. Freathy). International Seminar on Religious Education and Values. Turku, Finland, July 2012.

‘Religious Education and the Mary Whitehouse Experience’. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). International Seminar on Religious Education and Values. Turku, Finland, July 2012.

‘Problems & Prospects for Religious Education in England, 1967-1970: A Short Act?’ (R. Freathy and S. Parker). History of Education Society (UK) Annual Conference: Religion, Citizenship and Education. November 2010.

‘Love Thy Neighbour’?  Race, Religious Education and the Politics of Diversity, 1969-75: an historical case study. (S.G. Parker and R.J.K. Freathy). History of Education Society (UK) Annual Conference: Religion, Citizenship and Education. November 2010.

'Problems & Prospects for Religious Education in England, 1967-1970: A Short Act?' (R. Freathy and S. Parker). University of Worcester. October 2010.

‘Freedom from religious beliefs: A case-study from the history of English RE’. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). International Seminar on Religious Education and Values. Saint Paul University, Ottawa, July 2010.

‘Putting Religious Education in its Place: A case-study of the Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Instruction (1975)’. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). History of Education Society (UK) Annual Conference, Sheffield, December 2009.

'The Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Instruction (1975): Learning 'to live and work together in a pluralist situation’'. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). Invited symposium. University of Tuebingen (Germany). December 2009.

‘The Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Instruction (1975): Learning “to live and work together in a pluralist situation”. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). International Standing Conference for the History of Education, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, August 2009.

‘The Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Instruction (1975): Paradigmatic Change, Academic and Public Discourse and Professional Lives’. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, August 2009.

‘The necessity of dialogue between historical inquiry and educational research: The case of religious education’. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). AULRE, University of Exeter. July 2009.

‘The hidden history of curriculum change in Religious Education in English schools, 1969-1979’. (R.J.K. Freathy and S.G. Parker). Research Seminar, School of Education & Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter. April 2009.

'Our Future Citizens: Schools, pressure groups and religion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries'. (R. Freathy and S. Wright). Educating the Citizen: Multidisciplinary Perspectives Seminar. Oxford Brookes University, Oxford. March 2009.

‘A paradigm shift in Religious Education’: putting the 1975 Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Instruction in its historical and contemporary context. (R. J. K. Freathy & S. G. Parker). British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh. September 2008.

'Everything is in parables': An exploration of students' difficulties in understanding Christian beliefs concerning Jesus. AULRE Conference, Homerton College, Cambridge. July 2008.

‘Everything is in parables’: An exploration of pupils’ difficulties in understanding Jesus. Inter-University Colloquium for Research Students in Religion and Education. Oxford University Department of Continuing Education. April 2008.

‘Findings and Themes from the Empirical Work: Colleges of Further Education in their Community Settings in Post-war England’. Institute of Education (London). July 2007.

‘Christian Education for Citizenship in the Youth Service in England between 1939 and 1960’. History of Education Society Annual Conference: ‘Education, Health and Social Welfare’. Royal National Hotel, London. November 2006.

‘Ecclesiastical and Religious Factors influencing the triumph of Christian and Traditional Forms of Education for Citizenship over Secular and Progressive forms, 1934-1944’. History of Education Society Conference, Birmingham. December 2005.

‘Teaching Biblical Narrative’. Lincolnshire Diocesan Religious Education Conference. 17th November 2005.

‘Religious Education and Education for Citizenship in English Schools, 1934-1944’. ESRC Seminar Series on Social Change in the History of Education. (RES-451-26-0169). Institute of Education (London). November 2005.

‘Teaching Biblical Narratives to Young People Today’. Biblos Seminar. 17th March 2005. St Paul’s Centre, London.

‘Teaching about the Bible in Agreed Syllabus RE’. Peterborough Diocesan Board of Education. Biblos Training Event. Friday 11th March 2005.

‘Teaching Biblical Narrative’. National Christian Resources Exhibition. 10th May 2005. Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey.

'Religious Education and Education for Citizenship: Religious Traditionalism versus Secular Progressivism'. Crossing Frontiers in Religious Education. 3rd AULRE Conference, University of Gloucestershire. September 2004.

‘Citizens of the Past: Some Reflections on an Historical Perspective on Religious Education and Citizenship Education’. Citizens of the Future - their Faiths, Beliefs and Values Conference, University of East Anglia. April 2003.

Workshops/Conferences organised

Teacher Professionalization and the Professional Quality of Religious Education: An International Symposium, Exeter, March 2015

History of Education Society Annual Conference, Exeter, November 2013

History of Education Society Annual Conference, London, November 2010

Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education, Exeter, July 2009

Co-organiser, with Dr Cheryl Hunt, of an ESRC-sponsored seminar on Researching spirituality as a dimension of lifelong learning (RES-451-26-0008), Exeter, February 2006

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Teaching

• Dean for Taught Students / Chair of the Education Board

EdD supervision:

1. The Diploma in Management Studies 1945-1965: A Forgotten Pioneer of Management Education (Completed)
2. Language Awareness & Knowledge About Language: A history of a curriculum reform movement under the Conservatives, 1979 -1997 (Completed)
3. What are we, who are we and how does that Position us? Change and Continuity in the Identity of a new University (Completed)
4. The Global Spread of English and the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language: Perspectives from Western Muslim Teachers of English as a Foreign Language in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Completed)
5. Teaching-only Academics in a Research-intensive University: From an undesirable to a desirable academic identity (Completed)

PhD supervision:

1. Developing pedagogy for responsible leadership: Towards a dialogic theory of democratic education (Completed)
2. University Students’ Academic Attainment: The Influence of Public and Private Secondary Schooling in Kuwait (Completed)
3. Investigating the relationship between dialogic interaction and written argumentation in A Level History (Completed)
4. Systematisation of Quality in Higher Education (Completed)
5. ‘That would be an ecumenical matter’: Contextualizing the adoption of World Religions Teaching in English RE using ‘Statement Archaeology’, a systematic operationalization of Foucault’s historical methods. (Completed)
6. The ability of Islamic Religious Education to deliver Citizenship Education in elementary schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Completed)
7. A Teachers’ History of Religious Education in Birmingham 1960-1979 (Completed)
8. Reluctant to Lead? Perspectives on Academic Educational Leadership in a Research Intensive University (Completed)

MPhil supervision:

1. ‘Unlocking Reflexivity’: Is identifying individuals’ worldviews a key for non-specialist teachers of RE? (Completed)

Masters by Research in Theology and Religion supervision:

1. Thomas Arnold’s Christian Theology of Education (Completed)

Modules

2023/24

Information not currently available

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Supervision / Group

Research Fellows

Postgraduate researchers

Alumni

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