Alison Parr - Keele University
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Alison Parr

Title: PGCE Director
Phone: (+44) 01782 734337
Email:
Location: Chancellor's Building : CBA 0.028
Role: PGCE Director
Contacting me: appointment by email, drop in any time , text or ring mobile 07731701828

Having graduated from Durham University in 1986 with a BA in History and Politics I completed a PGCE course in 1987 and then embarked on a teaching career in Surrey, Trafford and Shropshire. 18 years of teaching enabled me to gain experience in a variety of roles and schools, teaching a range of subjects. I began working at Keele part-time as a Tutor Fellow on the History PGCE programme and as an EPS Tutor. During this period I was awarded an MA in Education and Leadership.

In 2005, I was seconded to work full-time by the TDA as a Partnership Advisor at Keele. My role then developed to incorporate leadership of the History PGCE programme and the EPS programme. One of the partnerships developed was with Creative Partnerships. My work as a Creative Agent for the Creative Partnerships Network  has enabled me to collaborate withboth Primary and Secondary schools on projects investigating the impact of creative approaches to learning and teaching on school effectiveness and improvement.

 In 2012, I was appointed PGCE Secondary Course Director, leading teacher education provision in seven different subject areas. Nationally, I work extensively in schools delivering CPD and consultancy and internationally, I work closely with the Indus chain of schools in India to support the development of an initial teacher education programme, visiting the Itari Institute in Bangalore to quality assure the Postgraduate Diploma in International Education and in Thailand delivering an international teacher education programme and a Masters course.

In 1991 he was appointed as History Tutor in the Department of Educational Studies at Oxford University where he had joint responsibility for the PGCE history programme. He also taught on the department's MSc programmes in Educational Studies and Research Methodology and had responsibility for the supervision of a number of research students. Whilst at Oxford he researched issues related to the use ICT for subject teaching and undertook a number of research studies focused on student and experienced teachers. The results of these studies were reported nationally and internationally. He also undertook consultancy work for a number of schools that involved both evaluation and survey studies.

I am undertaking research into interventions which impact upon initial teachers of secondary History  for EdD thesis. I also work with three local schools on small scale research projects investigating the impact that creative approaches to learning and teaching can have upon whole school improvement. This is in collaboration with PiCL (Partners in Creative Learning – Creative Partnerships)