Personal statement

I joined the University of Strathclyde in 2003 and am the Head of Learning and Teaching in the School of Social Work & Social Policy.  I am Course Leader on the MSc in Child and Youth Care Studies by Distance Learning, a part time course aimed at child and youth care practitioners from around the world.  I also teach on the MSc in Advanced Residential Child Care and the BA (Hons) Social Work.  My teaching focusses mainly on child and youth care, residential child care, with additional material linked to leadership and management and organisational learning.

I have a particular interest in online and distance learning. In addition to my role with the MSc in Child and Youth Care Studies by Distance Learning I am the Lead Educator on the University of Strathclyde Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ‘Caring for Vulnerable Children’. This 6 week course ran for the first time in 2015 and has so far recruited more than 48,000 registered participants. 

I have been heavily involved in the development work around new qualifications for the residential child care sector in Scotland and was a member of the Scottish Social Services Council Strategic Group which developed the Standard for Residential Child Care in Scotland.

Before coming to the University, I worked as a practitioner and manager in residential child care services in Edinburgh for 10 years.