MPhil/PhD Education

Our group has two broad lines of research activity.

The first is concerned with understanding the source, scope and pattern of education policy; that is in exploring the origins of policies, the nature and definition of the problems that education is asked to solve, and the historical, cultural and social practices that filter or mediate policies. The second concerns educational practices and performance and the development of quality in schooling, including work on the educational potential of new technologies, forms of excellence in teaching practice and the performance of schools.

Research into education policy draws on a diversity of intellectual traditions, including critical social policy, poststructuralist theories of governance, feminism, theories of identity and cultural studies. We have recently focused on two interconnected themes; the reshaping of education governance and its consequences for social inclusion/exclusion and education politics, and families, childhood and identity in education. Research into educational practices and performance and the development of quality in schooling focuses on teaching and learning practice school management and leadership. Projects are often run in close collaboration with schools.

Research Interests

Professional identities and professionalisation, and school-based research.

The scope and pattern of education policy.

Established in 1949, Keele University is one of the largest campus universities in the UK, with over 10,000 students studying on our beautiful 600-acre estate in Staffordshire, with our local NHS partners, and across the world. Keele sets the gold standard for teaching, with some of the most satisfied students in the country, and our research seeks to improve lives and address the most pressing challenges across our region, country, and world.

Keele University was born from a pioneering vision, one of a different kind of university. Established in 1949 by Lord Lindsay - the former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University - in a country still recovering from the Second World War, the University was originally guided by the needs of the local community. The University’s founding aim was to produce graduates who not only had the technical and specialist knowledge to move society forward, but who understood the social and political landscape that drove this need. Fast-forward over 70 years and this original ethos remains at the core of the University’s mission, and our cutting-edge expertise and research is being used to improve the lives of people and address the most pressing challenges not just locally and within our region, but across the world.