Personal statement

I am the Director of Global Engagement in the Department of Social Work and Social Policy where I have the role of Director of Learning and Teaching.  I am Course Leader on the MSc in Child and Youth Care Studies by Distance Learning, a part time programme aimed at child and youth care practitioners around the world and accredited by the Child and Youth Care Accreditation Board of Canada. I also teach on the MSc in Advanced Residential Child Care and the BA (Hons) Social Work.  My teaching and research interests centre around online and distance learning, child and youth care, residential child care, social work, and leadership and management.

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 was previously the Lead Educator on the University of Strathclyde Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Caring for Vulnerable Children. This award winning 6 week course ran for the first time in 2015 and recorded more than 100,000 registered participants. In 2022 it was converted into an elective online module for Social Work students .  

I have a lead role in the annual Summer School involving our School of Social Work and Social Policy and the Silver School of Social Work at New York University. Eastablished in 2017, this involves bi-annual visits to each institution with groups of post and undergraduate Social Work and Social Policy students. 

I have been with the University of Strathclyde since 2003, prior to this I worked as a practitioner and manager in residential child care services in Edinburgh.