BSc (Hons), PGCE, PhD
Lecturer
- About
-
- Email Address
- h.martin@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 274769
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Education
Biography
Helen Martin is a Lecturer in Mathematics Education where she specialises in developing pedagogical design capacity and supporting professionally informed ethical decision-making. Her research and teaching are based on the design principles ‘valuing diversity, developing flexibility and making connections’ with an emphasis on how others make sense of doing mathematics, becoming and being mathematicians within a community. Helen has led collaborative projects across universities around E-Formative Assessment, online study sessions for primary pre-service teachers and Multiplicative and Algebraic Reasoning across Scottish schools as well as continuing to work at a National level with the Scottish Government, Scottish Mathematical Council, Edinburgh Mathematical Society and the Joint Mathematical Council of the UK.
An important part of encouraging more young people to recognise themselves as mathematicians involves supporting enrichment opportunities for children and young people including the Royal Institution Maths Masterclasses from way back as a tutor with Prof. Edward Patterson, Stem in the Pipeline, UKMT Team Maths challenges, Scottish Maths Challenge (now in its 50th year) and the Primary Enterprising Maths Challenge (nearing it's 25th anniversary) started here in Aberdeen with events now running across Scotland.
She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the international open access Education in the North journal (now in its 60th year) which supports researchers at every stage of their careers across the Arctic and beyond where she works closely with UArctic Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education thematic network and The Centre for the North. The design principles 'valuing diversity, developing flexibility and making connections' are now used alongside the extensive editorial expertise to support early career researchers as programme director of the MEd Professional Education, EdD course coordinator and REF impact lead.
Qualifications
- PhD Mathematics Education2014 - University of Aberdeen
- PGCE Secondary Mathematics1990 - University of Edinburgh
- BSc (Hons) Mathematics1989 - University of St Andrews
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
-
University Court elected member Nov 2020 - present
Finance and Resource Committee (FRC) Sept 2023 - present
Govenance and Nominations Committee (GNN) Feb 2021 - Sept 2023
Leadership & Governance workstream (ACS) Feb 2026 - present
Senate elected member Oct 2017 - Sept 2020
Senate Business Committee (SBC) member Sept 2018 - Sept 2020
Senate Effectiveness Review group elected member 2019/20, 2020/21
UOA Ref Impact Leads School REF Impact Lead Sept 2024 - present
School Research Committee Sept 2021- present
School EDI Committee Chair (Feb 2023 - Oct 2025); member 2023 - present
Education in the North Chair and Editor-in-chief May 2020 - Present; Book Review Editor 2015-2020
The Centre for the North board member
- External Memberships
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Edinburgh Mathematical Society, Joint Chair of the Education Committee and member of Council, Sept 25 - present
Joint Mathematical Council of the UK, member Apr 2026 - present
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM) member of Higher Education Mathematics Group
PRIMES: Pedagogy and Practice in Mathematics Education Scotland Member
Scottish Mathematical Challenge (MC) Committee
Scottish Mathematical Council (SMC) Member Sept 2015- 2018 and trustee Nov 2016 - Sept 2018
Education Scotland member of Curriculum Improvement Cycle Mathematics Collaboration Group and National Numeracy Network
UArctic Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education Arctic Futures
New Northern Pedagogies Group Sept 23 - present
Prizes and Awards
Senior Fellow, Advance HE (formerly HEA) 2021
First Scottish Academic journal to gain the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) seal 2021
- Research
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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
Assessment in Higher Education Mathematics
Learning and Teaching Mathematics in Higher Education
How choice might be actualised within classrooms
Collaborations
UK Prosperity Funded ‘Multiply’ project with Aberdeen City Council
UK Prosperity Funded ‘Multiply’ project with Aberdeenshire Council
Dyscalculia Working Group with Aberdeen City Council
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Education.
Current supervisions
PhD: Transitions from Secondary to Post-Secondary Mathematics in Malta
EdD: Ethical Leadership
Previous supervisions
PhD: Teaching mathematics with Saudi Arabian English Language Learners
PhD: Vulnerable young people in Scotland: tacking food and health inequalities
Funding and Grants
New Northern Pedagogies Group (NNPG): Co-PI funded by Scottish Government Arctic Connections (£7795) with co-investigators from Universities of Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Highlands & Islands, and Lapland.
Improving Children’s Mathematical Reasoning (ICMR): Principal Investigator funded by The Carnegie Trust Larger Collaborative Grant (£40000) with co-investigators from Universities of Glasgow and King’s College London alongside Education Scotland and Scottish Government.
Online Mathematics Assessment for Primary Teachers (MAPT): Principal Investigator funded by Education Scotland (£12000) with co-investigators from Universities of Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow alongside Education Scotland and HMIE.
- Teaching
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Programmes
- Postgraduate, 1 , October start
Course Coordinator
- Postgraduate, 1 , January start
Programme Director
- Postgraduate, 1 year, August start
- Subject selector (Mathematics)
- Curricular tutor (Mathematics)
- School experience visiting tutor
- Undergraduate, 4 year, September start
Courses
- Master Project/Dissertation (ED506A)
- Master Project/Dissertation (ED556A)
Teaching Responsibilities
Current Teaching
Programme Director
Masters in Professional Education
Course Coordinator
ED6002 EdD Identifying and Articulating Issues in Professional Practice
ED506A(2025-26): Master Project/Dissertation
ED556A(2025-26): Master Project/Dissertation
PGDE(S) Mathematics Education
ED1008 Radical Reconstructions of Mathematics
- Publications
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Smart successful networks: research as social practice
Education in the North, vol. 14, pp. 8-14Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAdvancing social equity through teacher well-being: TCM in Finnish elementary schools
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 84-99Contributions to Journals: ArticlesArctic art education in collaboration - creating dialogues for learning
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 287-316Contributions to Journals: ArticlesArctic Futures - innovations in education for social justice and sustainability
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 1-3Contributions to Journals: EditorialsArt history techniques and Sámi pedagogy in Norway: connecting art history, tradition and nature
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 268-286Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBook Review: Reimagining Literacy in the Age of AI: Theory and Practice
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 358-359Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesBridging global ideals and local realities: navigating the complex path to inclusive education in the Faroe Islands
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 60-83Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBridging the divide: immersive virtual spaces for hybrid learning in remote teacher education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 24-38Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCo-teaching improves assessment competences - perceptions of Finnish novice university teachers' assessment in higher education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 4-23Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDeveloping place-attentive teaching and learning in initial teacher education in Scotland through the pillars of Arctic pedagogy
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesFelted Futures: crafting transformative learning experiences in the Arctic
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 204-227Contributions to Journals: ArticlesImproving teacher retention in rural Alaska: an experiential place-based model
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesIntercultural competence: Finnish teachers' reflections on addressing diversities
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 121-136Contributions to Journals: Articles"I thought that this would be a noble act that we helped the child" - ethical tensions in early childhood education teacher's work
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 228-248Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMultiliteracies, Multimodality, and Learning by Design in Second Language Learning and Teacher Education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 356-357Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesPlay smartly - group intervention: changes in parental reports of child behaviour
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 249-267Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPupils' perspective on education outside the classroom in Greenland: experiences from an action research project
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 178-203Contributions to Journals: ArticlesRievdan - new genre arctic art education building cultural resilience in a time of global change
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 100-120Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTeachers' language-, culture- and worldview-inclusive pedagogical competencies in Finnish early childhood education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 137-159Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTeachers' obligations to address threats to students' well-being in Finland: educational and legal insights into preservice teachers' conceptions
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 39-59Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTeaching sustainability and climate change in Canada and Norway
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 160-177Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTowards more positive conceptions and sustainability for teacher profession in Finland
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesWatch, watch, do: a discussion of the conflict between assessment and learning within Inuit Nunangat
Contributions to Journals: Features100 voices, 100 years: an ode to joy
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesA journey to purposeful play through a lesson study in Scotland
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesDefining joy in third level education, an Irish perspective
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesFinding Joy: Radical Collegiality and Relational Pedagogies of Care in Education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 123-125Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesFinding joy on the way: shared journeys in education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 1-4Contributions to Journals: EditorialsFour academics and a student: a multiethnographic study on joy across academic life
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 5-21Contributions to Journals: ArticlesIntegrated Learning in Scottish Schools
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesOde to Joy: discussions on creating a chorus of jubilation in education
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesThe pleasure of podcasting: an entanglement of joyful reflections
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesThe power of placements: reflections on a joyful activity to empower teacher educators
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 22-40Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe shared joy of dynamic play in linguistically and culturally inclusive early childhood education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 41-59Contributions to Journals: ArticlesQualitative grading in mathematics: how engaging students with grading criteria can enhance learning and meaningful feedback
Contributions to Journals: Conference ArticlesCognitive dissonance in education for Indigenous learners
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 53-76Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSami perspectives in school leadership? Conspicuous by their absence!
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 154-166Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAn Inuuqatigiit school through Inuit language, culture, and identity-centred bilingual school program
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 77-106Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA Palestinian journey, past and present, through authentic storytelling
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 135-138Contributions to Journals: ArticlesArctic pedagogy in practice? A story of revitalisation of Scots language in an Aberdeenshire learning community and beyond
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 107-134Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAuthority and authoring knowledge, how to make space for Sámi voice in research
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 37-52Contributions to Journals: Articles“Down To The River, My Baby And I” — elderly people rooted in the Kemijoki Riverside with their river stories
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 7-36Contributions to Journals: ArticlesGrounding unknowing as part of the work we do as a community: fostering onto-epistemic openness
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 139-153Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWeaving worlds and grounding knowledge: the collective conception of research paradigms in community collaborations
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 1-7Contributions to Journals: EditorialsApplied drama in the intersection of education and healing
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 58-72Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAssessment in the Drama Classroom: A Culturally Responsive and Student-Centered Approach- Book Review
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 216-217Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesConventions as mediation for creative interaction between contemporary theatre art and applied practices of theatre
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 98-124Contributions to Journals: ArticlesConversation with Cecily O’Neill: a video interview
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesDiscoveries beyond the lesson plan: a 'how to'
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 14-30Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDrama Conventions in Educational and Applied Sciences
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 1-12Contributions to Journals: EditorialsDrama in a philosophy classroom: philosophy and/through drama
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 44-57Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDrama-in-English: the significance of role
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 31-43Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEpilogue: Roundtable on Drama Conventions – creative practices
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesExperimental lesson plans for contemporary theatre and educational/applied theatre to meet again under the mediation of conventions
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesHills like white elephants: a drama conventions approach to short-story
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 73-97Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHumanizing Education with Dramatic Inquiry: In Dialogue with Dorothy Heathcote’s Transformative Pedagogy – Book Review
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 213-215Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesMaking process drama effective online for children and young people
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesScripting the Unscripted: exploring the theatre of real life
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesThe ABC of Mantle of the Expert
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesThe forgotten tools
Contributions to Journals: Features‘The Hidden’
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesThe use of Dorothy Heathcote’s conventions within mantle of the expert in a primary classroom
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesTry This … Unlocking Learning with Imagination
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 218-219Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesCareer pathways in teaching in Sweden
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesConcepts related to Icelandic student teachers’ extra-role behaviour
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 2-18Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCritical consideration of sustainable teacher education in Finland
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 62-78Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCritical Identity Pedagogy: Bridging the dialectics of Social Justice and Inclusion
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesDecolonising teacher education
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 19-38Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMotives behind Finnish student teachers’ career choices
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 39-61Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPedagogy in the North: shifting concepts, altered states and common expressions (2)
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 1Contributions to Journals: EditorialsThe malleability of students' perception of key teaching factors within and across Nordic contexts: validating the 7Cs framework
Education in the North, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 79-105Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe significance of the policy on teaching Faroese as a second lnaguage for integration in the Faroe Islands
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesEditorial: Pedagogy in the North: shifting concepts and common expressions
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 1-8Contributions to Journals: EditorialsArctic pedagogy
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 9-23Contributions to Journals: ArticlesArctic teacher education and educator training: a postcolonial review of online approaches and practices
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 24-49Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEmbracing materiality as a core element of Arctic pedagogy
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 50-65Contributions to Journals: ArticlesExploring the conceptions of meaningful digital pedagogy in the context of teacher education practicums
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 136-155Contributions to Journals: ArticlesFlipped Learning for novices and advanced yarn crafters in Higher Education
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 101-119Contributions to Journals: ArticlesLighting the fire: unleashing student agency in emergency remote teaching during the covid-19 pedagogical shift
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 120-135Contributions to Journals: ArticlesRemote teaching of Ume Sámi to young learners in Sweden
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 81-100Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTwa Chiels, rowed in a Naturish Bosie: A shared language of Embodied Learning in Nature
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesBarriers to higher education experienced by refugees and asylum seekers: a whistle-stop tour of scholarly perspectives from the United States
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesCom-pàirteachadh phàrant gus taic a thoirt dha ionnsachadh (cànain) - ionnsachadh bho sgrùdadh "Gàidhlig a thoirt dhachaidh"
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 52-68Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEngaging northern rural and Indigenous students: case studies using One Health and principles of educational resilience
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 69-91Contributions to Journals: ArticlesIntroduction to Play: Book Review
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 125-126Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesOld challenges, new context: Scotland's colleges as pathways from poverty in the post-covid era
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesParental engagement and involvement in supporting (language) learning: lessons from the "bringing Gaelic home" study
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 35-51Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSupporting vocational education and training (VET) students through dog-assisted activities
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesThe engine room of educational change: perspectives from Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Further Education (FE)
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 1-2Contributions to Journals: EditorialsThe practical craftmanship and social practices of apprentice chefs in a professional kitchen setting
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 3-18Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe Practice Learning Model: conceptualizing teaching and learning in vocational education and training - in practice
Education in the North, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 19-34Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThere are only really two rules to follow
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesAn educational framework for a post-capitalist world?: A review of the 2021 report from UNESCO’s International Commission of the Futures of Education
Education in the North, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 146-154Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA Cultural History of School Uniform. Kate Stephenson Exeter: University of Exeter Press (2021) 232pp., hardback £75.00 ISBN: 9781905816538
Education in the North, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 114-115Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesComposting Humboldt: a reconceptualisation of Wilhelm von Humboldt's Bildung understood through Donna Haraway's 'compostist' posthumanism
Education in the North, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 6-25Contributions to Journals: ArticlesInvestigating teacher beliefs and attitudes on implementing mastery maths with interpretive phenomenological analysis
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesMapping Information Landscapes: New Methods for Exploring the Development and Teaching of Information Literacy Andrew Whitworth. London: Facet Publishing (2020) 201pp., hardback £65.00 ISBN: 9781783304172
Education in the North, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 116-117Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesTeachers’ perceptions on teacher effectiveness in remote foreign language teaching and learning
Education in the North, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 38-60Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe 'Hunger Games': emotions of student teachers on school placements
Education in the North, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 26-37Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTowards inclusive teaching:: Finnish teachers' justifications for co-teaching
Education in the North, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 61-83Contributions to Journals: Articles
