Staff Profile

Background

I taught in schools in the north-east of England then worked as an LEA advisory teacher before joining the university in September 2003. 

Roles and Responsibilities

Course Leader

• PGCE Primary Humanities (History, Geography, RE).

Module Leader

1. EDU 1005 The History of Western Education

Qualifications

BA (Hons) Education 

MA Education 

PhD 

Research Interests

• The philosophy of the social sciences and research methodology (especially critical realism)
• Teacher education and pedagogy (especially critical and Vygotskian perspectives)
• The sociology and history of education (especially critical and Marxist perspectives)

Research Roles

• Associate member of CfLaT (Centre for Learning and Teaching)

Postgraduate Supervision

I am not currently available to undertake supervision.

Engagement/Esteem

1. Keynote speaker: Fifth International Conference on Critical Education (ICCE) in Wroclaw, Poland, June 2015.
2. Invited speaker at North East People’s Assembly Stand Up for Education (SUFE), Northern Stage 1st November 2014.
3. Invited speaker: Anglia Ruskin University Critical Education and Justice (CEJ) seminar series 2013/14, 6^th November 2013.
4. Member of Editorial Advisory Board of Journal of Critical Education Policy Studies (JCEPS)

Research Projects

• Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal (NISR 38):Teaching education for social justice to student teachers on a one year PGCE course: how effective is transformative teaching in the current political and social climate? (PI: Dr Hanneke Jones).

• ERASMUS Project Internal Consultant (PI Dr Heather Smith) BH149512: Interactive dual language immersive learning space.

I teach on the following modules and courses:  

1. EDU1001 Education, Schooling, Children and Society (2015-) 
2. EDU1005 The History of Western Education (2015-)
3. EDU3001 Social Justice and Education (2017-) 
4. EDU 8001 The Reflective Practitioner
5. Non-modular PGCE Primary Humanities (History and Geography) and Professional Studies

• Articles

  • Edwards G, Hill D, Boxley S. Critical teacher education for economic, environmental and social justice. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies 2018, 16(3), 1-37.
  • Edwards G, Canaan J. Radical, critical and Marxist education in neoliberal Britain. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies 2015, 13(3), 71-96.
  • Edwards G. Standpoint theory, realism and the search for objectivity in the sociology of education. British Journal of Sociology of Education 2014, 35(2), 167-184.
  • Edwards G. Pre-service teachers' growth as practitioners of developmentally appropriate practice: a Vygotskian analysis of constraints and affordances in the English context. European Journal of Teacher Education 2014, 37(1), 4-17.
  • Blake A, Edwards G. From "Hope & Glory" to "Waterloo Road": mediating discourses of 'crises' surrounding schools and schooling in British television drama, 1999-2011. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 2013, 34(3), 784-789.
  • Blake A, Edwards G. ‘Can One Man Save a Dying School?’ Representing the ‘Superhead’ as Charismatic Leader in British Television Drama. Discourse 2013. Submitted.
  • Edwards G. The Past and Future Inside the Present: Dialectical Thinking and the Transformation of Teaching. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies 2011, 9(2), 43-55.
  • Blake A, Edwards G, Newton DP, Newton LD. Some Students' Conceptions of Creativity in Primary School History. International Journal of Historical Learning Teaching and Research 2010, 9(2), 15-24.
  • Edwards G, Thomas G. Can Reflective Practice be Taught?. Educational Studies 2010, 36(4), 403-414.
  • Edwards G, Blake A. Disciplining the practice of creative inquiry: The suppression of difference in teacher education. International Journal of Research and Method in Education 2007, 30(1), 33-55.
  • Hall E, Leat D, Wall K, Higgins S, Edwards G. Learning to Learn: Teacher Research in the Zone of Proximal Development. Teacher Development 2006, 10(2), 149-166.
  • Edwards G. Researching Thinking Skills Strategies in a Primary School: challenging technical-rationalist orthodoxies of learning?. Educational Action Research 2005, 13(2), 213-235.

• Book Chapters

  • Edwards G. The schooling of teachers in England: Rescuing pedagogy. In: Rasinski, L; Hill, D; Skordoulis, K, ed. Marxism and Education: International Perspectives on Theory and Action. New York, NY, USA: Taylor and Francis, 2018, pp.20-34.
  • Blake A, Edwards G. Creativity in History and the Humanities. In: Newton L.D, ed. Creativity for a New Curriculum : 5-11. London: Routledge, 2012, pp.80-93.

• Reports

  • Higgins S, Wall K, Baumfield V, Hall E, Leat D, Woolner P, Clark J, Edwards G, Falzon C, Jones H, Lofthouse R, Miller J, Moseley D, McCaughey C, Mroz M. Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 3 Evaluation: Year Two Report. London: Campaign for Learning, 2006.
  • Baumfield VM, Butterworth M, Edwards G. The impact of the implementation of thinking skills programmes and approaches on teachers. University of London, UK: Research Evidence in Education Library: : EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, 2005.
  • Higgins S, Wall K, Falzon C, Hall E, Leat D, Baumfield V, Clark J, Edwards G, Jones H, Lofthouse R, Moseley D, Miller J, Murtagh L, Smith F, Smith H, Woolner P. Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 3 Evaluation Year One Final Report. London: Campaign for Learning, 2005.

• Review

  • Edwards G. [Book review] Thomas, G. 'Education and theory: strangers in paradigms' (Maidenhead, Open University Press, 2007). British Educational Research Journal 2007, 33(5), 808-810.