Contact
Biography
Jo joined the School in 2010 after a number of years teaching English in secondary schools. Jo previously held the roles of Deputy Head of School, Associate Head of School, Director of Initial Teacher Education, Course Leader for the MA in Creativity, Arts, Literacies and Learning, and Course Leader for the Teach First programme.
Jo is particularly interested in how, through the field of Education, we can understand and improve the lives of those who are marginalized or disadvantaged by society Jo has worked on a range of funded research projects and her current work is located in the fields of teacher education and refugee education. Jo's work in the field of refugee education includes a sustained collaboration with Lund University. She works on research projects which look at the barriers and opportunities schools face when working to support refugee children . This has included work with teacher educators in different international contexts to consider issues of global migration and initial teacher education. Jo is currently leading on research projects including one related to the role of arts in fostering a sense of belonging for newly arrived young people in cities in Europe, a project with Swedish educators looking at implementation of an inclusive model of education for refugee pupils, and she leads the Hub for Education for Refugees in Europe (HERE).
Previously she has conducted studies of young people's arts and creative practices in and out of school as well as research on the discourses surrounding schools and the teachers that work in them, the lives of both long-serving and beginner teachers, and approaches to mentoring.
Jo is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of Education, University of Oxford.
Jo was awarded the Lord Dearing Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2013.
Expertise Summary
Refugee Education
Teacher Education
Creativity and Literacies in and out of schooling
Teaching Summary
Jo teaches on a range of postgraduate programmes as well as the BA Education.
Research Summary
Jo's work in the field of refugee education includes a sustained collaboration with Lund University. She has worked on research projects which look at the barriers and opportunities schools face when… read more
Selected Publications
Current Research
Jo's work in the field of refugee education includes a sustained collaboration with Lund University. She has worked on research projects which look at the barriers and opportunities schools face when working to support refugee children in Europe. This has included work with teacher educators in different international contexts to consider issues of global migration and initial teacher education.
Jo has been working in an advisory capacity with Nottingham's innovative post-16 provision for unaccompanied asylum seekers and refugee children.
Jo has recently completed a book on refugee education based on case studies of best practice in English schools and colleges.
Jo is also engaged with research that focuses on the implications of policy discourses on ITE practices in England and in an international context.
Current Funded Projects:
The Art of Belonging 2021-2023. Joint Project Initiative Urban Europe AHRC/ Formas/ LUH (Principal Investigator).
Hub for Refugee Education in Europe (HERE) 2021-2023. Open Societies Foundation (Principal Investigator).
Towards an Ordinary Life for Refugees in Sweden. 2021-2023. Open Societies Foundation. (Principal Investigator).
Disabled Refugees Included and Visible in Education (DRIVE) 2020-2021. Award. British Academy. Award (Co-Investigator)
Previously Jo worked on the 'Building a City of Literature' project with Dr Susan Jones. This involved working with creative practitioners and teachers to develop community arts projects in three Nottingham secondary schools. This further developed work that has arisen from our primary research in the Centre for Research in the Arts, Creativity, Literacies and Learning (CRACL). It aimed to maximize the impact of existing resources, promote community engagement and develop local knowledge amongst pupils and teachers. The school-based community arts projects involved researching, reading, performing and writing plays about local communities. This established new ways of developing sustainable partnerships between schools and local cultural organisations, thereby contributing to local knowledge, supporting Nottingham's City of Literature and Cultural Education Partnerships, and deepening all participants' understandings of the processes of learning about and valuing where they live.
Past Research
Resuming 'Ordinary Lives' through Education: Asylum Seeking and Refugee Children Post Settlement in Europe (with Lund University) 2017-2018. (Principal Investigator).
Teacher Education and Migration 2018. U21 funding, (with Lund University and the University of Johannesburg).
Building a City of Literature 2017. Impact Accelerator Award: (Principal Investigator - joint).
Modes of Mentoring and Coaching (MoMaC) Survey, Sheffield Hallam University. 2011-12. Sponsor: Gatsby Charitable Foundation. (Co-Investigator).
Modes of Mentoring and Coaching (MoMaC) Project Extension, Sheffield Hallam University, 2011. Sponsor: Gatsby Charitable Foundation. (Co-Investigator)
Modes of Mentoring and Coaching: an investigation into the nature and impact of mentoring and coaching strategies associated with three national support programmes for teachers of science, University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, 2010-11. Sponsor: Gatsby Charitable Foundation. (Co-Investigator. )
A Review of the International Evidence Base on the Nature and Effectiveness of Methods of Teacher Selection and Recruitment, University of Nottingham, 2009. Sponsor: OECD Directorate for Education. (Co-Investigator).
Additional past research:
RIOT - research into a project which offers opportunities for young people from different backgrounds and communities to work together in a safe space and learn about aspects of their shared heritage in an enjoyable way. Of particular interest is the ways in which creative practitioners engage young people to explore the historical contexts of local narratives and the ways they convey the local impact of national and global issues. The project provided an opportunity to further develop understanding of the ways in which communities can be a resource for literacy learning, the processes involved in social learning and the opportunities provided for diverse literacy practices. The lessons learnt from involvement with the project were explored with future teachers to understand how young people can engage with heritage and to promote a greater understanding of why this should be important to them in their professional practice.
RUMs - Right Up My Street: an investigation into the creative practices and pedagogies of the RUMs project which was run by Broadway Media Centre and funded through Creative England. Its aim was to connect young people with their communities whilst giving them professional skills through creative work. (With Susan Jones)
Reclaiming Literacies - research into the impact of the prevalent modes of working and pedagogies within secondary English classrooms and the ways in which this is redefining the identity of English as a curriculum area and the identities of subject specialists. This involved case studies of beginning teachers as they navigate the tensions inherent in developing their own emerging identities as beginning teachers of English and the ways in which these may clash with the dominant models and pedagogies within classrooms. (With Susan Jones)
'The English space' - research into the ways in which the establishment of a small group of recent ITE alumni and mentors interested in debating and critically engaging with what English in secondary classrooms could and should be has an impact on the pedagogical approaches and identity development of teachers of English. (With Susan Jones)