Education Practice

Dr Rik Kennedy serves as a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for the MA Education Practice at De Montfort University. His areas of expertise include Critical Race Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies, and Decolonisation. Rik completed his PhD at De Montfort in 2022, focusing on the educational experiences of Black and Ethnically Minoritized (BEM) young people in predominantly white institutions.

Dr Lucy Ansley is a Senior Research Fellow whose research expertise focuses on methodologies that centre participant voice and lived experience. She is particularly passionate about amplifying the narratives of non-dominant voices within education, exploring participatory and creative approaches to research, and improving the educational experiences of minoritised communities.

Dr Lamia Nemouchi is a Senior Lecturer in Education at De Montfort University whose teaching and research focuses on intercultural education through literature, international comparative education, the politics of researching multilingually, social justice in education policy and lived experience of ethnically minoritised groups in education. She uses qualitative and participatory creative research methods.

Professor Sarah Younie serves as the Global Chair of the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET), leading international collaboration to strengthen the teaching profession and advance high‑quality teacher education worldwide. Her work champions teacher voice, professional agency and system‑level reform, including the multi‑country Global Teacher Voice research programme conducted with ICET and MESH. She co‑chairs UNESCO Teacher Task Force Thematic Groups on Inclusion & Equity, and Digital Transformation & AI, contributing to global policy dialogue and capacity building for teacher development.

Dr Mark Tymms is an experienced lecturer that has worked across the Adult, Further, Secondary and Higher educational settings. His lecturing, writing and research have primarily focused on the psychologies of learning, motivation and wellbeing, and the relationship between the three within education. The relationship between the individual and the socio-political nature of their lived experience is a common theme in his work and this is reflected in his interest in the significance of individual choice with learning and wellbeing, as reflected in concepts such as Self-Determination Theory and Existential philosophy.

Dr Gisela Oliveira is a Senior Lecturer in the Education Division. On the MA Education Practice she leads on the research methods modules, supporting students through their research journeys and dissertations. Dr Oliveira research focuses on transitions from a sociocultural perspective, research methods, and teaching and learning in higher education. Her work has been published in the International Journal of Research and Method in Education (2022), Educational Studies (2022), and Journal of Creative Research Methods (2026).

Dr Angie Sibley-White is a Senior Lecturer in the Education Division. On the MA Education Practice programme, she leads the Leading and Managing Educational Change module, which is informed by her research into the lived experiences of leadership in primary education. She also supervises dissertations and negotiated studies across a range of educational topics. Dr Sibley-White's research focuses on the impact of Government policy on education and the lived experiences within schools. Her current research interests also include promoting inclusion by making sociological theory accessible to diverse learner groups and investigating the learning experiences of students with possible aphantasia.