Dr Sarah Hall PFHEA, RSA (UKAT)

Dr Sarah Hall

School of Education
Director of Postgraduate Taught programmes for the College of Social Sciences
University Academic Director for The Birmingham Project
Reader in Religion and Education

Contact details

Address
School of Education
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT, United Kingdom

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 religious literacy.

She has worked in a large Manchester school as Head of department for the 8 years teaching KS3 and KS4 Religious Studies and Citizenship and KS5 Philosophy, Ethics, New Testament and Hebrew Bible. She is passionate about delivering creative, innovative and inspirational Religious Education which has at its core a promotion of pupil based reflective enquiry. Sarah held the post of Secondary RE School-based Advisor for the Manchester Diocesan (Church of England) and continues to work in senior roles within GCSE/A Level examining. Sarah has recently been involved in helping develop the new GCSE and GCE Religious Studies materials for one exam board. Sarah has a particular interest in Holocaust education and has worked for the Holocaust Education Trust as an educator since 2006 on their Lesson from Auschwitz (LFA) programme.

Her previous experience within teaching at Higher Education has been lecturing within the area of Biblical Studies at BA and MA level specifically within the areas of Biblical Hebrew, Introduction to Religion and Theology and Hebrew Bible (The University of Manchester 2000-2004).  

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Qualifications

Qualifications

  • Sept 1999:   BA (Hons) Religions and Theology, 2: 1 (Department of Theology, The University of Manchester).
  • Sept 2000: MA Biblical Studies, Distinction (Department of Biblical Studies, The University of Manchester).
  • Sept 2000-Sept 2004: PhD Biblical Studies (Department of Biblical Studies, The University of Manchester). Fully funded AHRC scholarship.
  • Title of thesis: The 2Sam6DAN – A narrative quest for the ark (Q1) and for the honour and glory of kingship (Q2). A narratological analysis of 2 Sam. 6-7:3 utilising an examination of plot sequences, narrative structure and story ideology.

Other academic and professional qualifications:

  • June 2006: PGCE Secondary Religious Studies
  • June 2006: Accelerate to Headship programme
  • Sept 2007: Post-Graduate Certificate in Jewish-Muslim-Christian Relations, Woolf Institute, University of Cambridge.
  • Sept 2008: Post-Graduate Certificate in Mentoring, Manchester Metropolitan University.
  • 2008: Graduate Fellowship in Holocaust Education, Imperial War Museum, London.
  • May 2009:  Leadership Pathways (Headship), National College of School Leadership.
  • August 2017: Senior Fellowship (SFHEA), Higher Education Academy
  • Dec 2017: SAPRE P4C (Philosophy for Children): Level 1
  • Nov 2020: Recognised Senior Advisor (RSA), UK Advising and Tutoring (UKAT)
  • June 2025: Principal Fellowship (PFHEA), Advance HE

Biography

Sarah is the College PGT Director and is currently responsible for the University‑based Secondary PGCE Religious Education course. She leads university-based training and seminar teaching for Religious Education trainees and works closely with partnership mentors and schools to ensure high‑quality, research‑informed professional development. Her work is driven by a strong commitment to student experience, student success, and teaching excellence, recognised through her Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA).  

Sarah’s professional practice spans multiple colleges across the University, where she has contributed to a wide range of teaching, leadership, and enhancement initiatives. She has previously served as a Senior Tutor, working across departments to support student wellbeing, inclusion, and academic progression. She has also been centrally involved in University-wide projects focused on the development of mental health support for students and in enhancing student careers education and opportunities, collaborating with key stakeholders to strengthen the student journey from transition to graduate destination.

Beyond her ITE responsibilities, Sarah is an academic lead for The Birmingham Project  which is a University wide first year extra-curricular project in the UOBXtra Summer learning period. Sarah also works closely with colleagues in Theology and Philosophy as an expert in Biblical Studies and RE. Sarah also works with a range of internal and external stakeholders to design, trial, and evaluate educational resources and materials across RE, PSHE, RSE and humanities education.

Sarah is currently an external examiner for several PGCE programmes and serves on both the Education Board of the Religious Education Council and the editorial board of the British Journal of RE. Since 2006, she has held senior examining roles with a national exam board in Religious Studies at GCSE and A‑Level. She has extensive experience in developing and reviewing Religious Education syllabuses and teaching resources, and has a particular scholarly interest in Holocaust education. Her research interests also include literary theory and the re‑reading of Biblical narrative especially through feminist and queer lenses, as well as the broader contexts of RE, RSE and PSHE policy and practice.

Teaching

  • Religious Education PGCE Course Leader (Teacher Training)
  • PSHE and RSE PGCE (Teacher Training) Course Leader
  • MA Teaching Studies Dissertation Supervisor
  • UG 1 Schooling: A Social and Cultural History Module Leader, Lecturer and Seminar Leader
  • MRES Gender and
  • BA Education Dissertation Supervisor  
  • BA Education Personal Tutor
  • MRes Sexuality, Gender and Representation course tutor, College of Arts and Law.

Postgraduate supervision

Doctoral supervision

Sarah welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral students interested in research in the following areas.  She often works cross-college and cross-school on doctoral supervision given her diverse research and educational experience:

  • Religious Education
  • Holocaust education
  • Literary theory and the re‑reading of narrative within Biblical texts, particularly through feminist theoretical lenses
  • RSE (Relationships and Sex Education): policy, practice, and school contexts
  • PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education): policy and school contexts, including work relating to RSE and Mental Health

Current PhD students:

  • Exploring the teaching of LGBTQI in RE GCSE within faith schools  (Helena Moore)
  • Framing democratic pluralism in education: developing a conceptual framework  (Marcus Bhargava)
  • A critical analysis of the justifications of a daily act of worship in Secondary Schools in England without a faith foundation (Brian Poxon)
  • School refusal, attendance and wellbeing – a cross country study.  (Dahab Jihir)

Completed Supervision: 

  • Does the Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education enable pupils of all faiths and none to learn about, and from Religious Education? Teacher perceptions.  (Simone Whitehouse, School of Education) 
  • Exploring Young Women’s Experiences of statutory Relationships and Sex Education in Catholic Schools (Abby Gilsenan, School of Social Policy)
  • How can parables be taught within a KS2 classroom? (Ryan Parker, School of Theology and Religions)
  • Bisexuality in CoE documentation. Views of authors and bisexual faith believers (Harriet Heath, School of Theology and Religions)
  • Change in beliefs of pre-service teachers about teaching and learning English as a foreign language throughout an undergraduate pre-service teacher-training program in Qatari Context.  (Rouda Almarri, School of Education)
  • Challenging fear: teaching LGBTUA+ relationship and sex education (RSE) from a trainee teacher and teacher educator perspective (Jennifer Rowan Lancaster, School of Education)
  • Pornography and pleasure in SRE (Emmanuelle Cuccolo, School of Arts and Law)
  • Virgin Mothers and Palatable Women: Can We Transform the Script of Institutional Motherhood? (Maddy Davies, School of Theology and Religions)
  • Gendering the landscape of secondary school history: an exploration of curriculum construction and critique, from 1987-1997  (Milly Coleman, School of Education)

Research

Her research interests include:

  • Holocaust education
  • Teaching and Learning strategies and their impact upon differentiation and stretch and challenge
  • RE and art
  • Religious literacyReligious pedagogical models

Other activities

She is an active member of the Girl Guiding Association as a Guide leader. She is also a member of the following national associations:

  • AULRE : Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education (UK)
  • NATRE : National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (UK)
  • SOTS : Society of Old Testament Studies (Elected membership)
  • UCU: University and College Union

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Delbauve, M, Hall, N, Hall, S, Stolberg, T & Wilson, K 2017, 'Collaborative conversations: developing a new way to view and approach peer-observation', Education in Practice, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 19-21. <https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/teaching-academy/documents/public/EiP-June-2017/Delbauve-et-al-Collaborative-Conversations.pdf>

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Hall, S 2008, ‘Chapter 3: Survival Skills in Doing Classroom Research’ (pp. 27-37) in Sally Elton-Chalcraft, Alice Hansen, Samantha Twiselton (eds), A step by step Guide for Student Teachers (OUP, 2008) ISBN-13: 9780335228768. in S Elton-Chalcraft, A Hansen & S Twiselton (eds), A step by step Guide for Student Teachers. Oxford University Press, pp. 27-37.

Abstract

Kelly, L, Addai Asantewaa, O, Almehmadi, SSR, Bedwin, L, Doig, G, Fenton, S-J, Hall, S, Kam, HKP & Ritter, C 2024, 'Co-produced knowledge and transformative optimism: building resources to increase cultural competency through a staff-student research partnership', EDI Colloquium 2024, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 18/06/24 - 18/06/24. <https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2024-06/Abstracts%20-%20Pedagogies%20of%20Liberation%20Colloquium%202024.pdf>

Book/Film/Article review

Hall, S 2018, 'Review of A.Strhan, S.G. Parker, S.B. Ridgely (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Reader in Religion and Childhood (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017). Published in Educational Review, Volume 70 (3), pp. 384–385. Print ISSN: 0013-1911.', Educational Review, vol. 70, no. 3, pp. 384- 385.

Hall, S 2016, 'Review of Sturla Sagberg, Holistic Religious Education: Is it possible? - The complex web of religion, spirituality and morality (Waxmann Verlag GmbH, 2015). Published in British Journal of Religious Education, Volume 38 (2), 2016, pp. 218-221. Print ISSN: 0141-6200.', British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 38 , no. 2, pp. 218-221.

Hall, S 2006, 'Review of Antony F. Campbell, I Samuel. Volume VII. The Forms of the Old Testament Literature (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 2003). Published in Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 51 (1), 2006, pp. 187-190. Print ISSN 0022-4480.', Journal of Semitic Studies, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 187- 190.

Hall, S 2006, '• Review of Mark D. Futato, Beginning Biblical Hebrew (Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns: 2003). Published in Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 51 (1), 2006, pp.176-178. Print ISSN 0022-4480.', Journal of Semitic Studies, vol. 51, no. 1.

Hall, S 2003, 'Review of A. de Pury, T. Römer, J Macchi, Israel Constructs it’s History. Deuteronomistic Historiography in Recent Research (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000). Published in Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 48 (1), 2003, pp.169-171. Print ISSN 0022-4480', Journal of Semitic Studies, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 169-171.

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Teacher education; religious education; secondary schools; PSHE and sex education