Staff profile

Jo’s career started in engineering, where she had run multi-million-pound projects; travelled the world making semiconductor devices for mobile technologies and trained adults in scientific understanding, whilst gaining her MBA. Her interest in education was started here, as a science education ambassador, her work encouraging girls to take up science and engineering careers and as governor to a local college.

Jo initially trained as a secondary school science teacher, specialising in physics (1999 Durham University) and became a secondary science teacher in the North East of England. She taught a diverse range of learners aged between 11 and 18 years old. She had great fun and was involved in many extra-curricular activities, including sailing, engineering and the Combined Cadet Force. In 2010, Jo moved into the Primary education sector with roles in all year groups, from EYFS to Year 6 whilst also bringing up her young family. Jo took on a variety of extra responsibilities, including science, arts and EYFS leads across both schools and federations of schools. In 2015, Jo combined teaching in primary school with a teaching role at Durham University School of Education and is now the full-time, enthusiastic teacher of undergraduate and postgraduate students studying education, training to be teachers specialising in science, the Early Years and Design and Technology.

• My research and scholarship interests centre on Initial Teacher Education and the development of beginning teachers, particularly the relationship between academic learning, professional practice and student experience.
• I am interested in pedagogical innovation and assessment, including formative and peer assessment, student engagement, curriculum design and the development of inclusive learning environments. My work in this area has included evaluating peer-assessment practices within undergraduate teacher education and disseminating findings through internal and external teaching and learning conferences.
• A second strand of my work focuses on student wellbeing, inclusion and belonging in higher education and teacher education, including proactive approaches to supporting student wellbeing and the experiences of first-generation students.
• My disciplinary interests include science education, STEM participation and educational equity, particularly representation and participation in physics and science. I am also interested in how science education can connect with wider curriculum priorities, including literacy, creativity, ethics and inclusive practice.
• Across these areas, I am particularly interested in research and scholarship that can be translated into practical improvements in teaching, curriculum and student experience.

• 2019: HEA: