Professor Chris Wilkins

I joined the University from the University of Reading having previously worked in London and Leicester as a Primary school teacher. Following spells as Head of Primary PGCE and Director of Teacher Education I become Head of the School of Education in January 2020. I have represented the University in a number of national and international bodies in relation to Citizenship Education and Teacher Education; I have also led or co-led a range of European Union-funded teacher development and research projects (through the Comenius Tempus and Erasmus+ programmes). Recognition of my pedagogical leadership at institutional national and international levels has come through my election as a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2014 as a University Distinguished Teaching Fellow in 2015 and as a National Teaching Fellow in 2016. I have also gained recognition for my research achievements with the award of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship in 2012. I have acted as an external advisor and examiner for a number of universities in England and Wales and serve on a number of editorial boards of academic journals 

My research interests include: • The changing nature of teacher professionalism and the processes involved in the formation of teacher identity particularly the relationship between teachers' professional values and the management and regulation of teachers' work • Comparative study and global perspectives on policy and practice in teacher education • The social context of schooling and social justice in education particularly 'race' gender and social class • Citizenship education with a particular focus on UK and European notions of ‘citizen identity.’ I have led research projects funded by amongst others: • European Union (Comenius Tempus Erasmus+) • Leverhulme Trust • British Academy

Selected publications
C Wilkins, B Gobby, A Keddie. 2021 The neo-performative teacher: School reform, entrepreneurialism and the pursuit of educational equity, British Journal of Educational Studies 69 (1), 27-45
Helgevold, N. and Wilkins, C. 2019 International Changes and Approaches in Initial Teacher Education, In Wood, P., Larssen, D., Helgevold, N. and Cajkler, W. (Ed.) Lesson Study in Initial Teacher Education: Principles and Practices, Emerald, pp. 1-15.
Keddie, A., Gobby, B. & Wilkins, C. 2018 School autonomy reform in Queensland: governance, freedom and the entrepreneurial leader, School Leadership and Management, (38:4): pp378-394
Wilkins, C. 2017 'Elite' career-changers and their experience of initial teacher education, Journal of Education for Teaching: international research and pedagogy (43:2) pp 171-190
Wilkins, C. 2015 Education reform in England: quality and equity in the performative school, International Journal of Inclusive Education (19:11) pp 1143-1160
Wilkins, C. & Comber, C. 2015 'Elite' career-changers in the teaching profession, British Educational Research Journal, (41:6) pp 1010-1030
Wilkins, C. 2014 Inspecting the inspectors: race equality and quality in initial teacher education, Race Ethnicity and Education (17:3) pp 445-470
Wilkins, C., Busher, H., Kakos, M., Mohamed, C. & Smith, J. 2012 Crossing borders: new teachers co-constructing professional identity in performative times, Professional Development in Education, 38(1): pp 65-78
Wilkins, C. 2011 Professionalism and the post-performative teacher: new teachers reflect on autonomy and accountability in the English school system, Professional Development in Education, 37(3): pp 1-21
Wilkins, C & Lall, R. 2011 'You've got to be tough and I'm trying': Black and minority ethnic student teachers' experiences of initial teacher education, Race Ethnicity and Education, 14(11): pp 365-386
Wilkins C & Wood, P. 2009 ITE in the Panopticon, Journal of Education for Teaching: International research and pedagogy, 35:3 pp 283-297

To date I have supervised 22 doctoral students to successful completion and am available to supervise across a range of topics including: • Teacher professional identity • Professional Development/Teacher Education • Educational leadership and improvement • System-level educational policy • Accountability systems in education • Citizenship education • Social justice issues in education 

I have taught on a range of programmes within the School of Education including: MA International Education (Contemporary Issues Pedagogy and Leadership Dissertation) MSc. Educational Leadership (Distance Learning) (Educational Leadership Learning and Change External Influences on Educational Leadership Dissertation) Primary PGCE (Professional Strand) 

I am happy to be contacted for journalistic purposes on a range of educational topics including: • Teacher professional identity • Professional Development/Teacher Education • Educational leadership and improvement • System-level educational policy • Accountability systems in education • Citizenship education • Social justice issues in education 

Policy/practice engagement • European Educational Research Association Network Convenor (Teacher Education) • Teach First National Executive Management Board • UK representative EU (TEMPUS) Civil Society Dialogue Programme Steering Group • DfE Diversity and Anti-Racism Project Steering Group • European Union Comenius Network on Global Education Steering Group Other international/national academic recognitioctivities • Member of Society for Research into Higher Education • Reviewer for Qatar National Research Foundation; • Member of American Educational Research Association; • Reviewer for European Conference of Education Research (ECER) proposals; • Reviewer for Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS; • Member of British Educational Research Association 

National Teaching Fellowship (January 2017) for “outstanding contribution to developing excellence in pedagogic innovation” University Distinguished Teaching Fellowship (July 2015) for “outstanding leadership of learning and teaching [and] wider contributions to the development of teacher education both nationally and internationally”; Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (March 2014) for “effectiveness of sustained leadership and impact at strategic level”; Recent keynote addresses: Wilkins C. 2019 Education Reform and Civil Society Stabilisation in the Middle East Ecole Supérieure du Professorat et de l'Education Académie de Paris Sorbonne Université invited keynote address (8 July 2019) Wilkins C. 2017. Exploring new horizons for learning International Eduforum Conference Invited keynote address Cairo Egypt (4 December 2017) Wilkins C. 2017. The Future Role of Local Authorities in School Place Planning Public Policy Exchange Symposium Invited Speaker Westminster London (23 November 2017) Wilkins C. 2017 Monitoring and Evaluation in Transnational Capacity Development American University in Cairo Seminar Cairo Egypt (11 March 2017) 

OGallchoir C. & Wilkins C. 2019 Broadening the Homogenous Scripts of Teacher Education in Ireland: First-time Mature Entrants’ Experiences of Becoming a Teacher European Conference of Educational Research. Hamburg Germany (3-6 September 2019) Wilkins C. Gobby B. & Keddie A. 2018 The neo-performative teacher: school reform entrepreneurialism and the pursuit of educational equity European Conference of Educational Research. Bolzano Italy (3-7 September 2018) Wilkins C. 2017 New Horizons for Learning: Approaches to Educational Reform in Egypt Eduforum International Conference American University in Cairo Egypt (17-18 November 2017) Wilkins C. 2017 Putting teachers at the heart of school improvement Eduforum International Conference American University in Cairo Egypt (17-18 November 2017) Wilkins C. 2017 The teacher as lifelong learner Eduforum International Conference Cairo Egypt (27-28 November 2017) Wilkins C. 2016 'Elite' career-changers and their experience of initial teacher education American Educational Research Association Annual Conference Washington D.C. USA (7-12 April 2016) 

"1991 B.Ed. (Hons) (QTS) University of Brighton (1st class) 1998 PhD University of Leicester "