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Dr Iona Burnell

Senior Lecturer

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.

    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.


    Membership:
    FACE (Forum for Access and Continuing Education).
    Higher Education Academy, Senior Fellow.
    Royal Society of Arts Fellow, London.
    BA (Hons), PGCE, MA, MSc, EdD, SFHEA
    External Examiner for the Richmond American International University London, and the University of Worcester (from 20/21).

    Overview

    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.

    Research

    Publications: 

    Burnell. I. and Roffey-Barentsen, J. (2020) Completing Your EdD: The Essential Guide to the Doctor of Education. Emerald Publishing. ISBN: 9781789735666. https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Completing-Your-EdD/?k=9781789735666

    Burnell, I. (2020) ‘Further Education in the United Kingdom’ The Sage Encyclopaedia of Higher Education. Sage Publications. ISBN: 9781473942912. https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-sage-encyclopedia-of-higher-education/book245423

    Hudson, A., Burnell, I. and Murray, D. (2020). ‘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. http://www.face.ac.uk/face-publications/

    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. (https://doi.org/10.5456/WPLL.21.3.162)

    A report on this research appeared in the Times Higher Education supplement: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/mature-students-do-better-non-written-assessment

    Burnell, I. (2017) ‘Teaching and Learning in Further Education: the Ofsted factor’, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 41(2), pp. 227-237. (https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2015.1117599)

    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. http://www.face.ac.uk/face-publications/

    Burnell, I. (2015) ‘Widening the participation in Higher Education: reshaping identities of non-traditional learners’, Research in Teacher Education, 5(2), pp. 6-11. (https://www.uel.ac.uk/research/research-in-teacher-education/volume-5-no-2-november-2015 )

    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. (https://doi.org/10.7227/JACE.21.2.7)

    Conferences and Presentations:

    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.

    Publications


    Funding

    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.


    Interests

    Portfolio

    BA Education Studies course
    Doctor of Education programme



    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

    BA Education Studies undergraduate programme

    Doctor of Education programme

    Teaching