Iona Burrell

Dr Iona Burnell

Senior Lecturer

Department of Early Childhood & Education , School of Education and Communities

In my current role as Senior Lecturer at the University of East London, I am Course Leader for the undergraduate Education Studies Programme. I teach Sociology of Education and Research Methods on the BA Education Studies and Doctor of Education programmes. In addition, I supervise, examine, research, write and publish. My teaching experience and background is in Further Education where I taught English Language and Access Courses at an inner London College for 10 Years before moving into Higher Education.

Qualifications

  • BA (Hons)
  • PGCE
  • MSc
  • MA
  • EdD
  • SFHEA
Certifications

Areas Of Interest

My interests, and topics covered in my publications, are:

  • social class, social inequality and inequality in education;
  • widening participation in higher education;
  • equality and inclusion within HE;
  • the experiences of non-traditional students in HE.
Iona Burrell
I.Burnell@uel.ac.uk 020 8223 2550 ED.5.04, Stratford
On This Page

OVERVIEW

My teaching experience and background is in Further Education where I taught Access Courses at an inner London College for 10 Years. I joined FE after graduating from UEL with a BA (Hons) Linguistics. In 2011 I started lecturing in Higher Education, on the Education Studies pathway, in a centre of HE in FE, based in East London. I qualified with a Doctorate in Education, University of Sheffield, in 2013, and continued in my managerial and lecturing roles in Education Studies until I was offered the post of Senior Lecturer at School of Education and Communities, University of East London in July 2014.

 

External roles:

External Examiner for University of Roehampton and the University of Worcester.

CURRENT RESEARCH

My research interests are:

  • social class, social inequality and inequality in education;
  • widening participation in higher education;
  • equality and inclusion within HE;
  • the experiences of non-traditional students in HE.


Most recent research
In addition to my teaching duties, I am research active and currently working on two research projects:

  • An exploration of the motivations and aspirations of a cohort of students studying on the Professional Doctorate in Education.
  • Broadening the Horizons for Students on an Education Studies Degree.
  • Both of which have been presented at conferences and will generate publishable articles. I occasionally peer review articles for research journals, details can be found on Publon.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Burnell, I. (2022) The Lives of Working Class Academics: getting ideas above your station. Emerald Publishing (forthcoming).
  • Burnell, I., Roffey-Barentsen, J. and McMahon, A. (2021) 'Widening graduate employment opportunities for students on Education Studies degrees: a case study at a School of Education in one London university'. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning journal Volume 23, Issue 1 - June 2021. 
  • Hudson, A., Burnell, I. and Murray, D. (2021). 'The Place of Widening Participation', in Broadhead, S. et al. (eds) Delivering the Public Good of Higher Education - Widening Participation, Place and Lifelong Learning. London: Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE). ISBN: 978-0-9954922-4-0. 
  • Burnell. I. and Roffey-Barentsen, J. (2020) Completing Your EdD: The Essential Guide to the Doctor of Education. Emerald Publishing. ISBN: 9781789735666. 
  • Burnell, I. (2020) 'Further Education in the United Kingdom' The Sage Encyclopaedia of Higher Education. Sage Publications. ISBN: 9781473942912. 
  • Burnell, I. (2019) 'Non-traditional students in Higher Education: can using alternative assessment methods level the playing field?' Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning journal Volume 21, Issue 3 - November 2019. 
    A report on this research appeared in the Times Higher Education supplement. 
  • Burnell, I. (2017) 'Teaching and Learning in Further Education: the Ofsted factor', Journal of Further and Higher Education, 41(2), pp. 227-237. 
  • Burnell, I. (2016) 'Widening the participation into higher education: experiences and perspectives of non-traditional mature learners in HE', in Hill, M., Hudson, A., McKendry, S., Raven, N., Saunders, D., Storan, J. and Ward, T. (eds.) Closing the Gap: Bridges for Access and Lifelong Learning, pp. 29-42. London: Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE). ISBN: 9780995492202. 
  • Burnell, I. (2015) 'Widening the participation in Higher Education: reshaping identities of non-traditional learners', Research in Teacher Education, 5(2), pp. 6-11. 
  • Burnell, I. (2015) 'Widening the participation into higher education: examining Bourdieusian theory in relation to HE in the UK', Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 21(2), pp. 93-109. 

Conferences and Presentations:

  • ECER 2021, European Educational Research Association Conference, Geneva: 'Managing progression opportunities for students on early-childhood and education studies degrees during the Coronavirus pandemic: how successful has widening graduate employment opportunities been?' September 2021.
  • BERA 2021 conference (British Education Research Association), online: 'Managing progression opportunities for students on early-childhood and education studies degrees during the Coronavirus pandemic: how successful has widening graduate employment opportunities been?' September 2021.
  • ECER 2020, European Educational Research Association Conference, Glasgow: 'Widening graduate employment opportunities for students on early childhood and education studies degrees: a case study at a school of education at one London university'. August 2020.
  • 2019 FACE conference (Forum for Access and Continuing Education) Sheffield Hallam University: 'The Place of Widening Participation' and 'Broadening the Horizons for Students on an Education Studies Degree'. July 2019.
  • 2018 FACE conference (Forum for Access and Continuing Education) University of Worcester: 'An exploration of the motivations and aspirations of a cohort of students studying on the Professional Doctorate in Education'. July 2018.
  • ECER 2017, European Educational Research Association Conference, Copenhagen: 'A degree but no graduate job: an exploration of reasons for the low graduate employment figure for students of a London University'. August 2017.
  • University of Cambridge, Institute of Continuing Education. Seminar on using alternative assessment methods to level the playing field for non-traditional students. January 2017.
  • BERA 2016 conference (British Education Research Association), University of Leeds: 'Non-traditional students in Higher Education: can using alternative assessment methods level out the playing field?', September 2016.
  • 2016 FACE conference (Forum for Access and Continuing Education) Queens University, Belfast: 'Non-traditional students in Higher Education: can using alternative assessment methods level out the playing field?' July 2016.
  • 2015 FACE conference (Forum for Access and Continuing Education) University of South Wales: 'experiences and perspectives of non-traditional students in higher education'. July 2015.
  • Richmond Centre for Learning and Teaching Conference, Richmond American International University London: 'Inclusion and Success - non-traditional students in higher education'. March 2015.
  • Higher Education Research Group, University of East London: 'Widening the Participation into Higher Education: examining Bourdieusian theory in relation to HE in the UK'. January 2015.

TEACHING

Accordion open

Modules

  • Sociology of Education
  • Philosophy of Education
  • Comparative Educational Ideology and Policy
  • The Language of Multilingual Communities
  • Debates in Educational Ideology and Policy
  • Education with Psychology
  • Education, Identity and Social Justice
  • 'Researcher Positionality' module on the Doctor of Education programme.
  • Research Methodology - Perspectives on Research module on the Doctor of Education programme
Accordion open

Programmes

  • BA Education Studies undergraduate programme
  • Doctor of Education programme