Dear Friends and Colleagues
Invitation to Tackling Controversial Issues in Education: Identity, Confidence and Inclusion
The Inaugural Professorial Lecture of Professor Richard Woolley
Thursday 5th March, 5:15pm arrival for 5:30pm start, University of Worcester
Conference Centre, Henwick Grove, St Johns, Worcester, WR2 6AJ
It gives me great pleasure to invite you and your guest to the Inaugural Professorial Lecture of Professor Richard Woolley, Thursday 5th March, 5:30pm at the University of Worcester.
The lecture is entitled Tackling Controversial Issues in Education: Identity, Confidence and Inclusion.It will be followed by a drinks and canapés reception, to which you are also warmly invited.
In his lecture, Professor Woolley will draw upon a study visit to South Africa, where he was challenged by some of the controversial issues being discussed with children in primary schools. This inspired him to explore the issues his own student teachers were concerned about facing with children. This lecture will consider how student concerns have changed over the last decade and outline how Professor Woolley sought to develop student confidence and awareness through his research, publications and teaching.
Professor Woolley has worked within the field of education for thirty years, initially teaching in schools in North Yorkshire and the East Midlands before moving into initial teacher education at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2018.
Professor Woolley’s main research interest has been a focus on the sensitive and controversial issues that cause student teachers apprehension as they embark upon their careers. He is the author of Tackling Controversial Issues in the Primary School: facing life’s challenges with your learners (Routledge, 2010) and collaborated on Values and Vision in Primary Education (Open University Press, 2013), Understanding Inclusion (Routledge, 2018) and Relationships and Sex Education (Bloomsbury, 2019).
Professor Woolley’s current focuses include supporting the introduction of the new mandatory Relationships Education curriculum for primary schools, promoting children’s well-being through work with an anti-bullying organisation, and leading the EU-funded Erasmus+ project Student Centred Adult Learning Engagement in Higher Education (SCALE) to support lecturers in their work with students with specific learning needs and disabilities.
I do hope you will be able to join us. Please RSVP by Thursday 27th February to Chloe Macpherson at rsvp@worc.ac.uk, or by calling 01905 542851.
With best wishes
Professor Sarah Greer
Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost
University of Worcester Staff News 