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Six Professorial Titles Awarded to BGU Academics
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) has announced six new professorial titles to be conferred upon members of its academic staff. Among these titles are two Associate Professors and four Professors spanning various disciplines. Professorial titles are awarded to recognise individuals who have demonstrated outstanding expertise, acknowledging the recipient's impact on research, teaching, and the broader academic community. The recipients and their respective titles are as follows: Dr Clare Lawrence – Formerly holding the position of Senior Lecturer - Secondary, Dr Lawrence's title is now Associate Professor of Participatory Autism Research/Senior Lecturer - Secondary. Dr Derwin Gregory – Previously Programme Leader - Archaeology and Heritage, Dr Gregory now assumes the role of Associate Professor of Conflict Archaeology/Programme Leader - Archaeology and Heritage. Dr Andrew Jackson – Formerly recognised as Head of Research/Associate Professor in Local, Regional and Public History, Dr Jackson now holds the title of Professor - Local, Regional, and Landscape History/Head of Research. Dr Claudia Capancioni– Previously Reader - English Literature/Programme Leader - English, Dr Capancioni is now Professor of English Literature/ Programme Leader - English. Dr Caroline Horton – Formerly Reader - Psychology, Dr Horton's title is now Professor of Sleep and Cognition. Dr Jack Cunningham – Previously titled Associate Professor in Ecclesiastical History/Programme Leader Theology, Dr Cunningham now assumes the role of Professor of Ecclesiastical History/Programme Leader Theology. Reflecting, Professor Jack Cunningham said: "This Professorship in Ecclesiastical History is a great honour and the pinnacle of my academic career that has stretched over twenty years. It was earned through days of study in cold cathedral libraries in the winter, suffocating Vatican archives in the summer, and long nights in book collections all over the world. "BGU's fantastic support and encouragement along the way has made that journey not only possible but highly enjoyable." This milestone signifies the establishment of a professoriate at BGU for the first time, aimed at enhancing the research culture and environment, fostering academic leadership, and providing a supportive structure for career development within the university community. The creation of the professoriate aligns with BGU's overarching goals of promoting interdisciplinary research, and elevating research priorities within the institution. Vice-Chancellor Professor Karen Stanton said: "We are thrilled to announce these well-deserved professorial titles, which mark a significant achievement for our university and the academic community. This recognition not only highlights the exceptional expertise and dedication of our staff but also underscores our commitment to fostering a vibrant research culture at BGU. "These appointments will undoubtedly enhance our research environment and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in their respective fields." -
EDI Week 2024 - Following Up
In-depth talks, workshops, prize announcement, and getting behind the camera... -
BGU lecturer secures grant bid of over £8000 from LPFT
Dr Clare Lawrence to develop short course for autistic families -
'Let's Play' event held at BGU
The Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion (SENDI) team at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) is delighted to have welcomed Neil Stuart from Autism New Zealand, who joined us for the day to share the Let’s Play approach. This adult-change programme enables parents and early years practitioners to offer joyous and quality experiences of play from the child’s own patterns, making it possible for young children with autism to enjoy playing with their parents and carers without uncertainty or fear.'Fantastic and engaging presentation. Thoroughly enjoyed listening & hopefully putting some strategies into practice.' Bev Clark (Parent/ PAACT) Over a hundred attendees from across Lincolnshire and surrounding counties gathered on Thursday 20th June at BGU, to join in this one-off opportunity to learn more about New Zealand’s national early steps programme. The mixed audience of parents, practitioners, students, academics, and other professionals had opportunities to gain new understanding and reflect on their own approaches, learning to relate and connect through playfulness in ways meaningful for the child. The day’s free training was highly entertaining and drew on ingenious metaphors to raise empathy and to demonstrate the importance of change in the adult rather than the child. Complete with evidence base, video coaching and the simplicity of ‘pattern, memory, variation’, this approach got everybody thinking.'This is the second time I have visited Bishop Grosseteste University to see Neil and he has not disappointed on either occasion. His character, passion and knowledge about the subject of play, in particular engaging autistic children in play, is captivating. I would thoroughly recommend. Each time I left feeling a renewed energy to pass on the little gems of wisdom we learned to the team back in our setting.' Anna Thorpe (Abbey Academies)'Inspirational – affirms the way we work when supporting autistic children and their families to build connections and meaningful relationships; the principles, ethos and beliefs.' Adele Sherrif (WTT) From the feedback, it was widely agreed this innovative approach had been insightful and inspiring, providing everything needed to implement the new thinking and to change practice. A huge thank you to Neil who enabled us to share this humanist approach as a free event.'Brilliant training leaving a lot to think about and move forward with.' Ellie Newton (WTT) This SENDI team event contributes to a series of international collaborations of knowledge exchange, enhancing understanding through international perspectives. If you are interested in receiving information about future SENDI events or to discuss courses at BGU, please contact admissions@bishopg.ac.uk or julia.lindley-baker@bishopg.ac.uk (Programme Leader, SENDI). -
Dr Duncan Mercieca
Dr Duncan Mercieca lectures in Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion at BGU. His research draws upon post-structural philosophers to think through educational issues, in particular, those related to diversity and otherness; inclusion and disability; and critiquing education research and its methods. Duncan also works in a special school in Scotland. -
Student Advice & Wellbeing Information
Explore our Student Advice and Wellbeing resources, offering information and guidance to our prospective and current students. -
Accessibility Information
Here at BGU we recognise that you may require additional assistance to fully engage with your studies due to your access needs. The Student Advice & Wellbeing Team play a key role in co-ordinating services available to BGU’s students with access needs. In order to assess the level of support you may require, we use the legal definition of disability, which is wide ranging but includes: Neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Autism, ADHD and DyslexiaPhysical mobility difficulties Sensory impairments, such as those affecting hearing or sightPersons requiring personal care Mental health Conditions Medical conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes or asthma (Please note that this is not an exhaustive list – you may have access needs that are not listed above.) We are happy to explore available opportunities to address your needs, and we will seek to ensure those needs are met and remain sensitive to your perspective of your circumstances. A wide range of reasonable adjustments exist which seek to address the issues that arise from the above list of conditions. Before you come to university You will have the opportunity to indicate whether you have access needs on your UCAS application and through the BGU Admissions process. We can arrange for you to have an orientation session, where you will get the opportunity to meet members of the Student Advice & Wellbeing Team, discuss about your support, familiarise yourself with the campus and meet key staff members in advance of you starting your course. You can also approach us for support after you have registered on your course, but we recommend doing this as early as possible in order to ensure support is in place at the beginning of your studies. -
A response to Sir Martyn Oliver’s comments regarding flexi-schooling (5th December 2024)
Flexi-schooling – the practice where parents choose to home educate their children for part of the week – has come under scrutiny by Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty's Chief Inspector for OFSTED. He reported at an online briefing last week that he was not aware of the prevalence of this practice before taking the helm at the inspectorate earlier this year, and said that he is “very concerned” about it. Recent research (Griffin et al., 2025, in press) suggests that this practice is especially prevalent amongst children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and accepts that there are significant gaps in understanding rationales, organisation and outcomes of the arrangements for these children. Previous literature (Lawrence, 2012; Lawrence, 2016; Lawrence, 2017; Lawrence, 2018) has explored flexi-schooling as an option for parents of autistic children specifically. There remains considerable confusion around the circumstances of flexi-schooling. The Department for Education (DfE) guidance on the approach is issued through publication regarding elective home education, implying that flexi-schooling is typically sought where home educating children are introduced to an element of formal schooling to ‘ensure the provision in specific subjects is satisfactory’ (DfE 2019a). However, as a recent scoping review (Paxman, 2022) suggests, ‘this is but one scenario; the DfE does not describe situations where a child already enrolled in school is granted a flexi-schooling arrangement and where learning is predominantly school-based’ (p. 4). Mary Warnock, that great advocate for inclusion in education, conceded in 2004 that true inclusion in mainstream school for many children with SEN has not been possible and may rather result in a painful form of exclusion. Indeed, evidence shows that mainstream schooling is ‘failing to meet the needs of a great number of children with SEN’ (Paxman, 2022 p. 5). In deciding to flexi-school, parents may be making a desperate response to their child’s needs (Lawrence, 2018), articulated as a way to reduce their child’s distress, to support individual learning needs and to ensure that their child’s childhood is not wasted (Lawrence, 2018). There is, indeed, as Sir Oliver suggests, urgent and overdue need for scrutiny of flexi-schooling. There is also similar urgent and overdue need to address an education system in this country that leads parents to make this serious and difficult decision. -
Health and Social Care Lecturer wins national award
Health and Social Care Lecturer Lorena (Lori) Hall, was crowned the winner of The Social Care Superwoman Award. -
Publications (Social Justice)
For all the latest publications from the Social Justice team.
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