Personal statement

Before joining the School of Education, initially on secondment in 2012, David enjoyed a varied and successful teaching career of 17 years in primary schools within Glasgow and was awarded the professional title of Chartered Teacher in recognition of the quality of his classroom practice and expertise across a number of curricular areas.  He was heavily involved in a wide range of Local Authority and national initiatives notably in mathematical problem solving, social studies, science and technology. 

These experiences continue to form the basis of his teaching and supervision of students’ dissertations here at the University of Strathclyde.  David has taught on a varied range of classes across the BA and PGDE programmes in Primary Education and also within the BA in Childhood Practice.  In module leader roles, he has been instrumental in the redesign of classes to support the STEM agenda.  He has internationalised his practice in this area in working with influential organisations in China such as the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission and is supporting other colleagues within the School to do likewise in their own areas of expertise.

From 2014-2017, he was the Depute Director of the 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.  

As recently appointed Faculty Director for Student Mobility (China), David’s role now involves the successful promotion and organisation of inward/ outward mobility for students interested in visiting Scotland and China for comparative education, language and cultural experiences.  In supporting this work, he also leads a module which introduces visiting international students to the Scottish system and encourages reflections on education in their own contexts.

David's part-time PhD is now in its third year.  Supervised by Professor Ian Rivers, it examines the teaching of Chinese language and culture in Scottish primary schools.  This links to national policy developments and to the on-going work of the Confucius Institute for Scotland's Schools, based in the HaSS Faculty, with whom he enjoys a very strong relationship.

David sits on a number of Faculty/University wide internationalisation groups and is asked to give his perspective on working with Chinese partners.  He is also an elected member of the Faculty Board of Study representing the School of Education.

In recognition of the breadth and quality of his various contributions, David was promoted to Senior Teaching Fellow.