Dr David Roxburgh

Personal statement

In recognition of the breadth and quality of his various contributions, Dr David Roxburgh was promoted to Senior Teaching Fellow in 2016 and to Principal Teaching Fellow status in 2023. 

Before joining the Strathclyde Institute of Education (SIoE), initially on a two-year secondment in 2012, David enjoyed a varied and successful teaching career of 17 years in primary schools across Glasgow and was awarded the professional title of 'Chartered Teacher' by the General Teaching Council for Scotland in recognition of the quality of his classroom practice and expertise across a number of curricular areas, notably mathematics, social studies, science and technology. David has taught on a wide range of modules across the SIoE's degree provision and, as a result, his cognate and pedagogical interests are varied. 

He also has course leader experience in overseeing our undergraduate combined degree programmes involving Education and the Science Faculty and the postgraduate MSc in Education Studies (January cohort), which has been, at various points, one of the largest master's programmes delivered at Strathclyde for international students.

Chinese language and culture/ cultural dimension of language learning

David's doctorate examined the teaching and pedagogy behind the promotion of Chinese culture in Scottish primary schools through third language approaches. This is the only in-depth study of its kind in Scotland to date and has implications for HE and school curricula contexts and national policy developments. He enjoys a very strong relationship with colleagues from Strathclyde's 'Confucius Institute for Scotland's Schools' and is involved in leading CPD activities with its various groups of established and visiting teachers of Mandarin Chinese.  His research and scholarship base in this area is growing with involvement at local, national and international levels.

He is currently supervising master's, Ed.D and Ph.D students and welcomes expressions of interest from students across his range of cognate bases, but especially the cultural base to language learning.

STEM

After many years of leading STEM type modules on our BA/ PGDE courses, David is currently Course Leader for STEM combined 'with teaching' BSc/ MChem degrees that see him work collaboratively with SIoE secondary colleagues and the various departments of the Science Faculty to support domestic and international students on these programmes. He has received two rounds of funding from Education Scotland to help promote the effective teaching of the Craft, Design, Engineering and Graphics (CDEG) element of Technologies in the primary curriculum and is working with a number of local authorities, an area where he has supported student teachers for a number of years.

Global engagement/ internationalisation

From 2014-2017, David was the Depute Director of the newly established Strathclyde China Institute (SCI) and played a key role in international student recruitment into courses within the HaSS and Business School Faculties, as well as promoting research and knowledge exchange collaborations with a number of high-ranking Chinese partners. Since 2017, he has been the Faculty Director for Student Mobility (China) successfully promoting and organising inward/ outward mobility for under and postgraduate students interested in visiting Scotland, China and South Korea for comparative education, language and cultural experiences.  

From June 2020 onwards, David will serve a term as the 'Director for Global Engagement' within the Strathclyde Institute of Education. As a member of the current School Leadership Team, he is responsible for producing and operationalising the School's strategic plan in collaborations with local, national and international partners and supporting other colleagues to build upon their expertise to maximise delivery and impact. He also oversees the co-ordination of international mobility programmes in the SIoE as a whole, leading other colleagues to manage incoming and outgoing student exchanges to partners in Europe and North America. In supporting quality comparative education experiences, he also leads a module which introduces visiting international students to the Scottish school system and encourages reflections on education in their own contexts.

In 2019, he was the proud recipient of a 'Strathclyde Medal' for his team leadership in creating and managing Knowledge Exchange opportunities with Chinese partners. He was nominated for the Faculty 'Teaching Excellence Awards' in promoting inward/ outward student mobility in 2019 and won the 2020 category for an 'Effective and Sustained Contribution to Outstanding Student Experience' through his work in this area. In 2022, he was recognised as a goodwill ambassador for his on-going work to promote strong collaborations between the SIoE and Nanjing Normal University, China.

He has been a member of a number of Faculty/University wide internationalisation groups and champions the leading work of the Strathclyde Institute of Education as an example for others.

Other achievements/ wider HE involvement

From 2018- 2023, David served as the External Examiner for the MA (Hons) degree in Primary Education at the University of Aberdeen.  He is currently the Chief External Examiner for ITE Primary programmes; the external examiner for PGDipEd Primary; PGDipEd/PGCE Primary (School Direct) and the PGCE Primary [SEN] (School Direct) at the University of Birmingham over the 2022- 2026 period. He has recently taken on a similar role for the newly formed 'National Institute for Teaching' that operates in the  English context. The NIoT will boost the quality of teaching and school leadership by carrying out research, applying the insights to its professional development programmes, and sharing findings with the sector.

In 2021, David was awarded Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy status (SFHEA), which recognised his impact on colleagues in the areas of STEM education and internationalisation practices.

As a proud Strathclyder, he will serve as a member of University Senate, initially until August 2024, and sits on its student disciplinary sub-committee.