Professional Formation - QTLS

My subject area is philosophy, which, broadly construed, includes critical thinking, ethics, and religious studies. Within this field I have research specialisms in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of psychology, together with strong interests in ethics, philosophical counselling, philosophy for children, and philosophy of education. I also have teaching experience in Ancient Greek philosophy, Continental philosophy, and epistemology. I have a Masters degree in philosophy from the University of Sheffield and am currently completing a PhD in philosophy of language, also at Sheffield, under the supervision of Professor Jenny Saul.

I maintain currency in a variety of ways: through my own studies; through online resources; through attendance at conferences; and through a network of colleagues and friends in the field. I shall comment briefly on each.

I have always combined the teaching of philosophy with research in the subject, to the benefit, I feel, of both aspects. As an active researcher, who has published several articles (see my CV, p.2), I have many connections in the field. I am in regular contact with my supervisor at the University of Sheffield (usually by email or Skype) and compile reports for her and receive feedback on my work. (See this letter, these extracts from formal reports, and this testimonial.) I am also in contact with many other academics worldwide who work in my field or on related issues in linguistics, psychology, and the social sciences. These contacts not allow me to discuss my research, but also give me opportunities to share ideas on a much wider range of topics in philosophy, including good teaching practice.

As a researcher I also have institutional access to a wide range of online resources, including books, journals, and databases, which enables me to keep up-to-date with the latest work in my field.

Academic conferences provide invaluable opportunities to keep abreast of current thinking. During my career I have attended many conferences and presented papers at several (see my CV for details). In recent years pregnancy and caring duties have limited my opportunities for travel, though I have been able to participate in some events online and to attend a few in person (see these programmes from events I attended; attendance certificates were not issued). Now circumstances are a little easier I plan to attend more events. In May I shall be attending a workshop on philosophy of mind in Crete; in June my partner and I have been invited to take part in a prestigious international gathering of philosophers of consciousness, organized by Daniel Dennett; and in August I shall be presenting a paper at a workshop at the University of Sheffield.

In addition to these research connections, I have over the years built up a wide network of friends and colleagues in the profession, with whom I correspond and share ideas, advice, and updates. In particular I have many valuable connections from my years at the Open University, including Dr Nigel Warburton, the author of many best-selling works introducing philosophy. I worked closely with Nigel on several OU courses and collaborated with him on a conference for philosophy teachers. We still remain in close contact and I have benefited hugely from his advice (see this testimonial).

Although much of my past teaching has been directly in my primary specialism (mainly in FE and adult education settings), my current role as a school class teacher has a much broader remit, and I am developing additional teaching specialisms in areas broadly related to my primary one. There are several aspects to this.

First, I am working to develop and enhance specialist skills in teaching environmental studies and science, building on ideas sketched in my proposal for an application the EU Comenius scheme in 2011-12. In December 2013 I attended a conference in Crete on teaching ecocitizenship, where I gave a paper on science teaching strategies in primary school (attendance certificate -- in Greek); I have just attended a week’s training in Salzburg for science teachers, organized by Pri-Sci-Net (see my application and attendance certificate, and the conference programme); and I am currently planning a collaborative educational project with the World Wildlife Fund. (For more on these activities see the Reflective Practice section.)

Another area in which I am developing my skill is in teaching creative writing -- following on from the success of recent projects of this kind with my primary school students. I recently attended a workshop on the subject in Crete (attendance certificate – in Greek) and will attend more as opportunities offer.

Third, having recently taken on the role of Maths Co-ordinator (subject head) in my school, I have begun to liaise with Intermath – a group of teachers, Deputy Directors and inspectors of the European School system responsible developing the syllabus and resources for primary school mathematics. This role requires me not only to update my own skills in maths teaching, but also to report to my colleagues and disseminate good practice (see these minutes from a recent team meeting).

Fourth, my current duties include teaching ethics to young children and coordinating ethics teaching across the school, and I am particularly keen to further enhance my specialist skills in the area and to contribute to the work of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) movement, both through helping to develop good teaching practice and through academic research. I see this as an important area of professional development for me. (For more details, see the Professional Development and Reflective Practice sections.)

Finally, I also regularly seek to develop and update supplementary skills related to teaching, including counselling, in which I completed an introductory course several years ago (see certificate).

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