Dr Rachel Shanks
SFHEA, MCLDSC
Senior Lecturer
- About
-
Biography
I have worked in higher education, community education, the trade union movement and the voluntary sector. In higher education, I have been a law lecturer, worked in the University of Aberdeen’s former Centre for Lifelong Learning and I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Education.
In the late 1990s, I led the Trade Union Congress partnership project Bargaining for Skills, in the East and West Midlands regions in England, working with trade unions, employers, colleges and Training and Enterprise Councils. I have also been an adult education tutor and worked for the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB) and a local Citizens Advice Bureau.
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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- Member of the Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society, and Rule of Law (CISRUL)
- Training Coordinator for the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie programme with Early Stage Researchers researching how political concepts are used in the world (POLITICO) 2018-
- Member of the University's Research Culture Task and Finish Group 2020-
- Mental Health First Aider 2020-
- School of Education Lead for Social Inclusion and Cultural Diversity research
- Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Rocking Horse Nursery 2019-
- Casework Officer for the Aberdeen branch of the University and College Union (UCU) 2019-2021
- Member of Senate Effectiveness Review Group 2019-2021
- External Memberships
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- Hub Lead for Society and Welfare Hub Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS) (Scotland's ESRC DTP) 2021-
- Editor of Human Rights Education Review 2021-
- External Examiner University of Stirling, EdD Doctor of Education and MRes (Education) 2021-2025
- External Examiner Coventry University, BA Early Years, Childhood and Education Studies 2021-25
- Education Pathway Convenor for Scottish Graduate School of Social Science 2018-2021
- External Examiner University of Warwick, Initial Teacher Training (Further Education) 2018-2021
- External Examiner St Mary's University, Twickenham MA Leading Innovation and Change 2014-2018
- Co-convenor Network 6 Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures European Educational Research Association 2017-
- Executive Committee Member of the Scottish Educational Research Association 2016-2021
- Community Learning and Development Standards Council Registered Member and Approvals Panel Member 2014-
- Member of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction
- Member of the British Educational Research Association
Prizes and Awards
Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (Advance HE)
Teaching Qualification Further Education/ BA Professional Development Team, 2021
- Research
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Research Overview
Professional learning and mentoring covering both formal and informal learning.
Children and young people's rights combine my legal and community work background and my interest in social justice.Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Education.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Current Research
Professional learning
Co-Investigator of Measuring Quality in Initial Teacher Education (MQuITE)
Mentoring
University students mentoring school students
Children's Rights
Young people and participation in decision-making
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Education.
Current PhD Students
- Touria Jouilla - Exploring student services in Further Education access programmes, lead supervisor with Dr Steph Thomson
- Elise Boyle Espinosa - Education in the Islamic State, as part of the Politico project, lead supervisor with Prof Pamela Abbott and Dr Hanifi Baris
- Chris Gray - Community Music, lead supervisor with Sarah Cornelius
- Tracy Edwards - The Translation and Enactment of the Principle of Inclusive Pedagogy by Experienced Teachers, supervisor with Dr Kirsten Darling McQuistan and Prof Mhairi Beaton
Completed PhDs
2021 Annette Moir - Exploration of children’s awareness of their coping strategies and enhancement of their resilience skills
2020 David Di Domenico - Educators' views, experiences and approaches to cultural diversity: understanding pre-registration adult nursing education at a Scottish university
2020 Maryam Alnoaimi - Citizenship Education in the Kingdom of Bahrain: A case study exploring perceptions of school principals, senior teachers, teachers and students
2019 Ramona Statache - Business Social Media Use by Remote Rural Micro Tourism Enterprises in the Scottish Highlands
2019 Madhawi Alharbi - Using Mobile Games in Teaching English as a Foreign Language Vocabulary at a Saudi Female High School
2019 Khanchai Wongchana - Thai University Student and Teacher Perceptions of Studying Tourism through English Using a CLIL Approach
2017 David Johnston - A Socio-Cultural Perspective on 'Belonging'
2017 Geraldine Prince - Art-Making and the Interpretation of Cultures: Cross-cultural teaching and learning in Edinburgh and Dubai
Funding and Grants
In 2021 I received pump-prime funding for interdisciplinary research from the University of Aberdeen for work on the Affordability and Sustainability of School Uniform. This pilot study has investigated the impact of school uniform banks on the affordability and sustainability of school uniforms in Scotland.
Principal Investigator of BERA COVID-19 research: New teachers’ responses to COVID-19: building on Initial Teacher Education for their professional learning.
Co-Investigator of Measuring Quality of Initial Teacher Education (MQuITE) in Scotland funded by the Scottish Government 2017- A longitudinal study involving all higher education institutions that provide initial teacher education in Scotland.
Co-Investigator of EU Marie Curie COFUND grant (2018-22) Political Concepts in the World (POLITICO). The POLITICO PhD programme builds on the success of the interdisciplinary training provided by the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and the Rule of Law (CISRUL), which specializes in the global application of political ideas.
- Teaching
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Courses
- ED1521 - Learning From Work
- ED505P Using NVivo for Qualitative Data Analysis
Teaching Responsibilities
Course Co-ordinator for:
SX1011 Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities
ED1521 Learning from Work
ED505P Using NVivo for Qualitative Data Analysis
Non-course Teaching Responsibilities
NVivo training for staff and postgraduate students
Personal tutor
- Publications
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Page 1 of 5 Results 1 to 10 of 47
New Teachers’ Experiences Of The Transition Into Teaching
Educação em Revista, vol. 37, e211725Contributions to Journals: Articles‘The prison of the body’: school uniforms between discipline and governmentality
Discourse : studies in the cultural politics of educationContributions to Journals: ArticlesMaking Waves: a cross-study analysis of young people's participation arenas in Scotland’s schools
ChildhoodContributions to Journals: ArticlesNew teachers’ responses to COVID-19 in Scotland: doing surprisingly well?
Journal of Education for Teaching, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 118-120Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2021.1874821
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Developing a context-appropriate framework for measuring quality in initial teacher education
Scottish Educational Review, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 3-25Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTeaching in a Third Space during national COVID-19 lockdowns: in loco magister?
Irish Educational Studies, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 359-366Contributions to Journals: Articles30 years of ICT in education: reflecting on educational technology projects
Seminar.net. International Journal of Media, technology and lifelong learning, vol. 16, no. 2, e4047Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTechnology-enabled professional learning in remote rural minority language classrooms
Education in the North, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 118-135Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAffordability of secondary school uniform in Scotland: Policy briefing
Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen. 4 pages.Other Contributions: Other ContributionsIntroduction. Development of Teacher Preparation in Scotland
Teacher Preparation in Scotland. Shanks, R. (ed.). Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., pp. 1-8, 8 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-480-420201002
