Dr Matt Offord
- Senior Lecturer in Experiential Leadership Education (Management)
telephone:
0141 330 3680
email:
Matt.Offord@glasgow.ac.uk
Biography
Matt is a wide awake leadership educator. Inspired the works of the educational philosopher, John Dewey, who called for the widening and deepening of conscious life, Matt curates learning experiences which develop critical reflection about leadership. He encourages students to be alert to the things around them, by taking them into outdoor settings or by using simulations and escape rooms to increase engagement and conscious thinking.
Matt is a second career academic, sometimes known as 'pracademics', a growing number of academics with experience of practice outside of research and education. Matt's former occupation was as a naval officer spanning almost 30 years. After completing a PhD in leadership studies and post-doc research at the University of Oxford, Matt left the Navy to teach leadership in the age of data, getting out of the classroom to reflect on the impact of responsible and irresponsible leadership on people and the planet.
Matt is passionate about the role of teaching in Higher Education and as the Associate Director for Learning and Teaching (Scholarship of Learning and Teaching), Matt encourages and mentors education-focussed colleagues to embrace professional and scholarly teaching.
Research interests
Matt is a member of the School's Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour research cluster.
Matt is interested in applied research in leadership and management education. This is increasingly centred on action research which reflects on researching one's own teaching practice to discover what works (and what doesn't). As a pragmatist, Matt believes that 'knowledge is for action', which means engaging with the complexity of social processes and reflecting on experience. Specifically, Matt is interested in experiential learning, creating conscious, 'wide awake' reflection on everyday experiences by getting out of the classroom and learning about the world. Matt does this through outdoor learning, ecopedagogy, walking pedagogies, games based learning, escape rooms and simulation.
Grants
Grant | Description |
Amount |
---|---|---|
Innovation Audit 2024 | Funding for the development and commercialisation of educational escape rooms for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training in the maritime industry | £35000 |
Chancellor's Fund 2023 - 2025 | The Ecopedagogy Teaching Project: Creating Sustainable and Affordable Impact for Future-Oriented Leaders | £1500 |
Aspect Innovation Fellowship 2023 | Development and evaluation of escape room games for teaching in maritime education | £8000 |
ASBS Research Reinvigoration Fund 2022 | Research into free-riding in group work in business education |
£2000 |
Supervision
Matt is a practitioner-researcher with an interest in leadership and management education. He is best suited to supervising students in the field of leadership and management education, business education or professional training.
- Mazid, Tasfia
The Role of Paradoxical Leadership in Influencing Followers to Deal with Multiple Contradictory Demands'
Matt currently supervises PhD students studying paradoxical leadership, post-heroic leadership, emotional regulation, trust and leadership expectations in the work force. Future supervision projects will focus on educational themes.
Teaching
Matt is a Senior Fellow of Recognising Excellence in Teaching (RET) and Certified Management and Business Educator (CMBE). He is the School academic lead for Technology Enhanced Learning and Teaching (TELT) and AI. As an Associate Director of Learning and Teaching, with a focus on scholarship, Matt supports other teaching focused academics to publicise their work and develop teaching focused careers. Matt is on the Professional Standards Board for Certified and Management Business Educators at the Chartered Association of Business Schools. He also mentors early career learning and teaching academics and PhD tutors.
Matt specialises in the use of experiential learning through practical ecopedagogy, outdoor learning, serious games, simulations and case teaching. He teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and has delivered executive education around the world. Matt has published research on the use of educational escape rooms and also works with business partners to use escape rooms in learning development programmes.
Professional activities & recognition
Prizes, awards & distinctions
- 2024: Shortlisted for the Best Innovation Strategy Award (Association of MBAs and Business Graduates)
- 2023: Shortlisted for the Innovation in Business Education Award 2023 by QS Reimagine Education 10th Anniversary Edition (QS)
- 2023: Distinction in MSc (Digital Education) (University of Edinburgh)
- 2021: Distinction in Post Graduate Certificate of Academic Practice (University of Glasgow)
Research fellowships
- 2023 - 2023: Aspect Innovation Fellow
- 2016 - 2017: RN Hudson Fellow (Oxford University)
- 2010 - 2017: RN Defence Fellow
Editorial boards
- 2022 - 2023: Continuity and Resilience Review (Special Edition)
Professional & learned societies
- 2023: Member, British Academy of Management
- 2022: Senior Fellow, Recognising Excellence in Teaching (RET)
- 2020: Certified Management and Business Educator, Chartered Association of Business Schools
- 2017 - 2024: Fellow, The Institute of Leadership
Selected international presentations
- 2024: AMBA and BGA Global Conference (Budapest)
- 2022: 27th International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (Quebec City)
Additional information
Matt is a former naval officer with 30 years experience, much of it at sea. He served as a submarine officer and later as mine warfare and clearance diving officer. On leaving the Royal Navy in 2018, Matt worked as a freelance training consultant, working with prestigious consultancies, like Kaplan as well as blue chip companies, such as Babcock International Group and social enterprises like Police Now. All of this experience was data and technology led and heavily team-based.