Members of the Department of Teacher Education

For general enquiries, please contact the Department Administrator

Emaileducationschooladmin@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Head of Department

Dr Donna Dawkins

Senior Lecturer in Secondary Science (Biology) Teacher Education & Professional Education Development
Head of the Department of Teacher Education

Donna has had varied career experiences which have led to her current position at the University of Birmingham. From research scientist via industry to secondary school teaching and currently teaching in Higher Education (HE).

She has taught Science and Biology to A-level in Birmingham secondary schools, most recently at the University of Birmingham school where she was a Teaching Fellow ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4404
Email
d.j.dawkins@bham.ac.uk

Academics

Mrs Kalsoom Akhtar

Lecturer in Primary Education (Mathematics)

Kalsoom has worked across several primary schools, in England and abroad. She has a strong background in Mathematics Education and has worked in leadership roles as well as supporting roles.

She is currently Lecturer in Primary Education (Mathematics), specifically teaching on the PGDipEd course in the School of Education. She is also personal tutor to students who are completing their Masters ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4858
Email
k.akhtar@bham.ac.uk

Noshaba Anbreen

Noshaba Anbreen

PGCE Primary with iQTS Lead

As a Teacher Education lecturer at the University of Birmingham Dubai, Noshaba supports prospective and early career teachers in critically exploring the relationship between pedagogy, policy and practice as the programme lead of the PGCEi and MA (Education) Learning and Teaching programmes. Prior to joining the University of Birmingham, Noshaba has held Pastoral and Science department leadership ...

Email
n.anbreen@bham.ac.uk

Dr Helen Carr

Lecturer in Secondary Education (History and Geography)

Helen is a Lecturer in Secondary Teacher Education and is the lead tutor on the PGDipEd Secondary History course in the School of Education. She is also co-lead on the Secondary Geography course.

She is a qualified history teacher and has experience working in schools in the East Riding of Yorkshire and Cairo, Egypt. She also has extensive experience working with schools across the country on ...

Email
h.carr.2@bham.ac.uk

Daniel Cottle

Daniel Cottle

Associate Professor of Secondary Education (Physics)

After reading Physics at the University of Birmingham and training to be a Science teacher at Sheffield Hallam University, Dan has taught Physics in a range of schools for 15 years. Until recently Head of Science at King Edward VI Five Ways School, Dan is a Chartered Physicist, an Ogden Trust Teacher Fellow and Teacher Network Coordinator for the Institute of Physics. He is particularly ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4456
Email
d.cottle@bham.ac.uk

Dr Donna Dawkins

Senior Lecturer in Secondary Science (Biology) Teacher Education & Professional Education Development
Head of the Department of Teacher Education

Donna has had varied career experiences which have led to her current position at the University of Birmingham. From research scientist via industry to secondary school teaching and currently teaching in Higher Education (HE).

She has taught Science and Biology to A-level in Birmingham secondary schools, most recently at the University of Birmingham school where she was a Teaching Fellow ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4404
Email
d.j.dawkins@bham.ac.uk

Professor Colin Diamond

Professor Colin Diamond

Professor of Educational Leadership

Colin Diamond has worked in the field of educational leadership for many years in England. He has been a Head of Faculty, Associate Headteacher, Local Education Authority Adviser, Assistant Director and Director of Education/Children’s Services.

He led improvements in two local authorities taking them from government intervention to strong performance. He has also worked for the Department ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 8056
Email
c.diamond@bham.ac.uk

Dr Dawn England

Dr Dawn England

Associate Professor
Head of Full Time Postgraduate Taught Programmes in the School of Education

Dawn England is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Birmingham. Previously, she was Head of the Dubai Education Department at Birmingham University Dubai and served as Dubai programme director on the MA Education (Leadership) programme and as Senior Lecturer for Educational Leadership.  

Dawn’s scholarship has been guided by the notion that ...

Email
d.england@bham.ac.uk

Professor Celia Greenway

Professor Celia Greenway

Professor in Education
Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor Student Engagement

Celia Greenway is a Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University responsible for Student Engagement including the development of the personal academic tutoring and student representation systems. She is a Professor of Education who leads Early Years Education and Child Development and has contributed to several national reviews of sector policy.

Initially, as a practitioner, Celia taught in ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 7452 (Student Engagement)/+44 (0)121 415 8218 (School of Education)
Email
c.a.greenway@bham.ac.uk

Dr Sarah Hall

Dr Sarah Hall

Reader in Religious Education
Senior Tutor and Senior Fellow of the HEA

Sarah is passionate about the role that outstanding Religious Education has in shaping young people's lives and equipping them for the modern world as reflective and tolerant thinkers. She has an extensive vocabulary of teaching and learning strategies which inspire teacher trainees and pupils in school to enquire and respond to religion in a creative and reflective way whilst developing ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4815
Email
s.hall.3@bham.ac.uk

Sally Hobday

Assistant Professor Teacher Development

Sally joined the university as a teacher educator in 2013 and held the position of Lecturer in Secondary English Initial Teacher Education, specifically teaching on the PGDipEd (QTS) Secondary English course in the School of Education from 2013-2022. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Teacher Development and has a role in the UOB/Capita led Early Career Framework.  Sally is also the ...

Email
s.hobday@bham.ac.uk

Professor Karl Kitching

Professor Karl Kitching

Professor of Public Education
Director of Research in the School of Education

Karl joined the School of Education, University of Birmingham in June 2020. He started working in education as a primary school teacher in Dublin. Just before coming to Birmingham, he was a Senior Lecturer in Education, and Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at University College Cork, Ireland. 

Karl's research and teaching focuses on challenging multiple ...

Email
k.kitching@bham.ac.uk

Dr Beth Marley

Lecturer in Primary Education

Beth Marley is the English Lead in Primary Education on the PGDipEd and School Direct Primary PGCE courses. She is the Programme Lead for the School Direct Primary PGCE and School Direct SEND PGCE. Beth previously taught in all phases in primary schools for over 20 years.

Telephone
+44 (0)121 415 8397
Email
b.marley@bham.ac.uk

Matt Nixon

Matt Nixon

Lecturer in Secondary Mathematics Education

Matt read Mathematics and then trained to be a teacher at the University of York. He joined the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Birmingham after working in a wide variety of secondary schools over a period of 22 years. Head of Mathematics in two different schools, he was also an Advanced Skills Teacher with whole-school responsibility for teaching and learning. Matt spent ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4826
Email
m.nixon.3@bham.ac.uk

Dr Nicola Smith

Dr Nicola Smith

Senior Lecturer in Primary/Early Years Education
Director of Primary Initial Teacher Education
Deputy Head of Department

Nicola worked in primary schools in Worcestershire and Birmingham before becoming an adult education tutor and then a Higher Education lecturer on childhood studies and ITE programmes. Her research interests include children and families with EAL, children as researchers and parental involvement in early years education.

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4806
Email
n.smith.9@bham.ac.uk

Dr Meng Tian

Dr Meng Tian

Associate Professor in Educational Leadership
School of Education Global Engagement Lead

Meng Tian joined the Educational Leadership Academy, Department of Teacher Education in 2021. Her teaching and research interests lie in distributed leadership, social justice leadership, leaders’ and teachers’ professional development, and educational leadership policy-making. Currently, she teaches in the MA Educational Leadership DA Programme and MA Education Programme (Leadership ...

Telephone
+44 (0) 121 414 4864
Email
m.tian@bham.ac.uk

Associate Professor Tracy Whatmore

Associate Professor in Primary Education
Senior Tutor for the School of Education

Tracy Whatmore joined the School of Education in September 2012. She is a Senior Lecturer, Primary Link Tutor for MA Education. Previous roles have included Partnership Co-ordinator, Primary Lead for School Direct, Acting Head of Primary English and Admissions Tutor. Tracy currently teaches Professional Studies and Primary English on the PGDip in Primary Education (PGCE Advanced) ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4818
Email
t.whatmore@bham.ac.uk

Dr Sandy Wilkinson

Lecturer in Science Education (Chemistry)
Director of Secondary Initial Teacher Education

Sandy taught Science and Chemistry to A-level in secondary schools for 14 years where he held various Teaching and Learning posts, including that of Advanced Skills Teacher part funded by Birmingham City Council. This included a secondment to the Royal Society of Chemistry as a School Teacher Fellow as part of the ‘Chemistry for Our Future’ project looking at strategies to overcome ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4825
Email
s.wilkinson@bham.ac.uk

Dr Kirsty Wilson

Dr Kirsty Wilson

Senior Lecturer in Primary and Early Years Mathematics Education
Department Lead for Research

Kirsty works part time, and leads the PGDipEd Primary Mathematics Specialist course.  Since joining the university in 2006, Kirsty has established and taught the General Primary and Early Years mathematics courses and the Primary Mathematics Specialist course. Prior to this, she was Research Officer on the ESRC funded project ‘Purposeful Algebraic Activity’ at the ...

Telephone
+44 (0) 121 415 8225
Email
k.e.wilson@bham.ac.uk

Sanam Yaqub

Sanam Yaqub

School Partnerships Strategies Manager

A UK Qualified Teacher, Executive Coach and Mentor, Sanam has been working within the Middle East for over 12 years. With extensive knowledge and 20 years of teaching and leadership experience working within the UK and UAE Education sectors, Sanam brings a wealth of experience to her role as School Partnerships Strategies Manager to the University of Birmingham, Dubai.

As the first recruit from ...

Email
s.f.yaqub@bham.ac.uk

Associated Staff

Professor Hywel Thomas

Professor Hywel Thomas

Emeritus Professor of Economics of Education

Hywel Thomas is Emeritus Professor of the Economics of Education and he was the Director of the Centre for Research in Medical and Dental Education at the University of Birmingham. He was Head of the School of Education for 10 years, from 1993 -2003. His work on GP education was recognised with an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Professor Thomas ...

Email
h.r.thomas@bham.ac.uk