Lucy Barker

My research passion sits within a social justice agenda. I have been dedicated throughout my whole career to changing young people’s lives for the better, as I advocate for the rights for all to participate in education. I am particularly passionate about helping eliminate all forms of discrimination in any learning environment, but especially for those children and young people who may be at risk of marginalization, exclusion or underachievement. As a member of the Inclusion and Social Justice research working party at SWECW, and the Inclusive Education Special Interest Group (SIG) at British Educational Research Association (BERA), I support students, professionals and academics in respecting diverse needs, abilities and characteristics.

I gained my doctorate in education in 2023 and have been an assistant professor in Education, working in the ITE department since November 2015.   For my PhD thesis entitled ‘Myth, Metaphor, Materialism and Metamorphoses: An A/R/Tographic Inquiry Into The Inclusive Pedagogy Of Student Teachers’, I explored through a postmodern, feminist, and materialist theoretical framework, the pedagogy of inclusive teaching in classrooms and the development of pre-service teachers’ confidence and skill in this area. The thesis was presented in an innovative way using a unique art and literature-based methodology.  My findings give fresh insights and identify how student teachers are not lone agents, but rather embody the space of learning in becoming inclusive. The study identified the challenges student teachers face, including the power dynamics between humans in the space, and the everyday intra-actions, decisions and risks needed for thinking and enacting inclusive pedagogy. My unique approach to research as an A/R/Tographer, an academic who inquires through my roles as ‘Artist, Researcher, Teacher’, has transformed me as a researhcer over the last five years. Myths, poetry, novellas, and artists’ words and work are put into practice in my research for the agency of inclusive practice. I am a mentor for researchers and practitioners through the BERA Arts Based Educational Research Special Interest Group (SIG) on qualitative and arts-based inquiries. I have disseminated my research methods and findings through international conferences, university-held PGR conferences.

My pro-active leadership transformed the teaching for inclusive practice across Education programmes. In response to The Carter Review of Initial Teacher Education, (DfE, 2015), that emphasised the urgent need to improve the Special Educational Needs and Inclusion elements of teacher preparation, I placed the inclusive pedagogical approach, advocated by Florian and Spratt (2013), at its core. Consequently, students on undergraduate and post-graduate primary education programmes became more confident in their understanding of inclusive practice and adaptive teaching from the Core Content Framework for ITE (DfE, 2019). Colleagues in Education also align these fundamentals of inclusive practice in their own subject teaching. OFSTED inspection of Northumbria University ITE in 2024, reported that ‘trainees gain a well-informed understanding of the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and who speak English as an additional language. Trainees consistently draw on their learning to meet the needs of these pupils’.  Thirty years’ experience teaching and leading in schools as a SENCo and an Assistant headteacher, and my role as a placement lead has supported the development of practice in ITE, my research on enacting inclusive pedagogy, and my strong communication skills within a network of schools. l aim to facilitate co-production of research between school stakeholders (including children, young people, governors, mentors in schools, school leaders, teachers, teaching assistants) and PGR students, leading to improved outcomes for including all children and young people.