As a member of the People, Place and Social Change Research and Teaching Group, I teach across both BA (hons) Community Development and the PgDip/MEd Adult Learning, Community Development and Youth Work. Courses include: Space, Place and Community, Community Development Practice, Approaches and Applied Research and Community-Based Group Work.

As a former youth and community worker, I worked with young carers, young people who are care-experiences and young people involved in community development and youth participation. My doctoral study looked at the experiences of young people and youth workers involved in youth participation practice in North Ayrshire. The study celebrated the commitment and passion of young people and youth workers and highlights the positive transformation that happens through involvement in a range of experiences and opportunities. 

I am passionate about ensuring a very positive experience for students on all of the courses on which I teach. I am heavily influenced by the work of Paulo Freire, both in what I teach and the way in which I teach. I am keen to explore and capture my practice as a lecturer and contribute to the body of literature and research on the scholarship of learning and teaching.  

Research interests

• My doctoral research looked at the lived experiences of young people and youth workers involved in Youth Participation Practice in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Paulo Freire's theories and principles were used as the theorectical framework for the piece.                             
• I am interested in: value-led approaches to community development practice; youth participation practice and concepts of youth empowerment; and approaches to supporting the integration of international students in Scottish HE.

Voluntary Work:

Current

I currently volunteer as a youth worker at Church House in Bridgeton, working with the Youth Committee.

Former

I am the former Chair Person for Friends of Gartcosh, a voluntary organisation that I helped to establish. Part of this work involved building a community garden, which is growing from strength-to-strength and is supported by an increasing number of community members.

List by: Type | Date

School of Education, IPDF Funding, 2018, £444.16 for Research Development Mobility to University of Girona

College of Social Sciences Seedcorn Funding, 2017, £767.95 for Research Development Workshop

Erasmus+ staff mobility for teaching and training,(Key Action 1 – HIGHER EDUCATION), 2016, £1000 to participate in training and develop a European Training Network (EUTAG) of providers of Youth and Community Work Education in Higher Education Institutions across Europe

Wee Robertson Trust, £1600, November 2019, Pilot Community Garden Project

PhD Supervision

Paria Moazemi Goodarzi (SGSSS):Negotiating Identity in the Iranian Diaspora: Exploring Representations of Exile through Community Education and Socially Engaged Art  

Anne O'Reilly: Children's Autonomy in Museum Education

Zhaoyang Wang: In-class performance, Writing competence, and Critical thinking ability of Chinese Master Students in a Scottish University: the gap between tutors’ requirements and Chinese students

Doctoral Examination

External Examiner

• Skippers’ beliefs about young people’s personal and social development through sail training: a Dewey and Hahn informed perspective, University of Edinburgh, 2018
• Communities in action: a critical analysis of the barriers to effective participation in a diverse neighbourhood in Glasgow, University of Bath, 2023
• What’s Love got to do with it? Conceptualising family learning: understanding how families learn together, University of the West of Scotland, 2024

Internal Examiner

• Community learning, leadership, and gender: the case of kominkan in Okayama City, Japan, University of Glasgow, 2020
• Cultural, historical and policy influences on youth activism in Malaysia, University of Glasgow, 2020
• A qualitative study about first year students’ experiences of Transitioning to Higher Education and Available Academic Support Resources, University of Glasgow, 2022

External Examiner

Current

• MA Learning in Communities, University of Edinburgh, September 2021 - present
• BA (hons) Community Education, University of Dundee, September 2020 - June 2024
• BA (hons) Youth and Community Work, University of Cumbria, October 2017 - September 2021

Teaching

I teach on the following courses on the BA (Hons) Community Development: 

• Community Development Practice
• Space, Place and Community
• Approaches and Applied Research

I teach on the following courses on the PgDip/MEd Adult Learning, Community Development and Youth Work:

• Community-Based Group Work
• Practice Placement

International Teaching

• Guest Lectures, “Critical Pedagogy and Youth Work” - Joint Master Youth and Society, University of Girona, June 2022 & June 2023
• Guest Lecture, “From Brazil with Love”, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 & 2025

Prizes, awards & distinctions

• 2020: Best Teacher in College of Social Sciences (Student Awards) (Student Representative Council, University of Glasgow)

Selected international presentations

• 2021: World Education Research Association - Symposium Chair & Presenter (Online)

Supplementary

• Keynote Speaker, National Youth Work Conference 2018 - Young People's Participation, Youthlink Scotland

Esteem

• Symposium Speaker, "Youth Work and Alfirmo", University of Toulouse - Jean Jaures, France, May 2022   
• Chair of Symposium, World Education Research Association, 2021  Winner Best College Teacher, College of Social Sciences, 2020
• Keynote address, “From Brazil with Love”, Youthlink Scotland Annual Conference, December 2018
• Keynote address - Social Research Association Summer Event, June 2018         

Consulting and advice

I have been involved at various points with Partnership 4 Change, a group of Service Users and Carers from North Lanarkshire, on a consultancy basis.  This has involved using a Community Development approach to help them to develop and build their capacity to take action and influence the Joint Planning Process for Social Work Services and NHS Lanarkshire. 

I am interested in further opportunities to undertake consultancy in the field of community development and youth participation.