Dr Anna Pilson is a Lecturer in the Department of Disability, Inclusion and Special Needs in the School of Education and Pathway Lead for the suite of vision impairment education postgraduate programmes at the University of Birmingham. Her work brings together teaching, research, advocacy and professional development, underpinned by a commitment to educational equity and the rights of disabled children and young people to participate fully in education and society.
Anna completed her BA (Hons) in History at the University of Liverpool, before completing a PGCE and MA Education at Durham University. Anna then successfully completed the PGDip MQ qualification at the University of Birmingham (the programme she now leads) and spent more than a decade working as a Qualified Teacher of Children and Young People with Vision Impairments (QTVI). During this time, she supported children and young people across a wide range of educational settings, working closely with families, schools and multidisciplinary teams to remove barriers to access, learning and participation.
In 2018, Anna was awarded an Economic and Social Research Council funded studentship package to complete her PhD in Education. After completing a PGCert in Research Methods, she began her doctorate in 2019 and was in the middle of this project when she joined the University of Birmingham in 2022.
Anna’s practice-based experience in education continues to shape her teaching and research, ensuring that both remain grounded in the realities of educational provision and the lived experiences of visually impaired learners. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in the belief that education should be collaborative, inclusive and transformative. She is committed to creating learning environments that value diverse forms of knowledge and experience, encouraging her students to engage critically with theory while reflecting on its application in practice. She supports practitioners to challenge assumptions about disability, recognise structural barriers to inclusion, and develop approaches that centre the voices and expertise of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Her teaching aims not only to build professional expertise, but also to foster the development of reflective, socially conscious educators who are equipped to advocate for meaningful change.
Drawing upon theoretical influences including Critical Disability Studies, Posthumanism and inclusive education, Anna’s research explores how concepts such as voice, participation and agency are understood within educational policy, practice and research. She is particularly interested in how educators, researchers and policymakers can work alongside disabled children and young people to challenge disablism and other forms of marginalisation to create more inclusive educational systems.