Gillian Partridge

I began working in schools after graduating, first teaching English in China then as a teaching assistant in special needs schools before completing my PGCE in Primary Education at University of Manchester. I then went on to teach and lead in primary, secondary and hospital schools in London and Manchester in roles focused on raising attainment for pupils with the most significant barriers to learning and addressing issues of justice in our school systems. I have worked on a number of projects which harness reading and writing for pleasure to develop critical thinking and self-identity and confidence in pupils of all levels. Alongside this, I completed a Masters degree in Social Justice and Education at the Institute of Education, UCL where I focused on critical race theory and presentations of teachers in fiction.

After 15 years in schools, I joined Chester in 2021 to lecture and mentor students training to be primary teachers. Here I work on professional practice and inclusive teaching and learning modules as well as acting as a tutor and university based teacher educator mentor.

My research interests have been in inclusive teaching and learning, structural inequalities and literacies. I also have an interest in how teachers are presented in fiction and narrative non-fiction and how these might be harnessed as a means for new and established teachers to strengthen their own mission, purpose and values. In recent years my interests have evolved to include the climate change crisis we all face and how school communities might be agents for the behaviour change we urgently need to address this. I have a particular interest in critical approaches to active school travel and the potential for changing how we position ourselves in relation to our environment and communities.

Outside of work I am involved in projects to develop local green spaces and create positive social opportunities for communities.