I am the Academic Director for courses and degrees in English Language Assessment and in Coaching. This diverse portfolio reflects a long and varied career in education. Working with a diverse range of professionals at different stages in their careers, and in their lives, continues to be one of the most rewarding aspects of my role. Before working in universities I spent twenty years working in schools, largely within the state secondary system in England. I was a teacher of English, history, sociology, and the humanities before taking on leadership roles. While still working in schools, I completed my PhD at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. My doctoral research explored how knowledge is shared and how learning occurs within communities that foster positive and supportive environments for their members. This is a still an area of interest for me and one I continue to write and research within as well as teach about. I then, for ten years, took on the role of Principal Lecturer in Education at the University of Northampton. In this role I led a range of innovative degree programmes for teachers, teaching assistants, mentors, coaches and other professionals. Although varied these courses shared the common themes of supporting practitioner research and enabling practitioners’ voices. These are themes that also runs through the courses I lead here within Professional and Continuing Education at the University of Cambridge.
