Michelle Palser
Senior Lecturer
Biography
Michelle has a wealth of professional experience working with children and families. She has worked in a range of contexts including internationally in Australia, Belgium and Germany, and draws on these diverse experiences in her teaching. Having worked in the sector for 20 years she has seen the impact of policy development on the children's workforce and all those who are committed to transforming children and young people’s lives. She is passionate about ensuring that the children’s and young people’s workforce have the confidence and ability to advocate for children and families in their work, and that they have the skills to be a critically reflective professional to support positive change.
Teaching and Supervision
Michelle was responsible for developing and now leading the BA Childhood Studies with Applied Psychology programme. She teaches and leads on a range of Childhood Studies modules within the BA Childhood Studies with Applied Psychology programme including modules centred on children's voices, positive relationships, children's health and wellbeing and leadership. Alongside this, she does some teaching on the MA Education & Society, and Working with Children, Young People and Families programme (WBIS). She particularly enjoys supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students with their own independent research in their dissertations and seeing their project ideas come to fruition.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
In her current role, Michelle is particularly interested in the development and training of the children's workforce. She is currently involved in a research project with Dr Rebecca Crutchley, that considers the value and impact of placement opportunities for students on the Childhood Studies with Applied Psychology programme. Michelle has a specialism in early childhood (0-8) and has a keen interest in early childhood pedagogy. Her past archive research has explored the history of early childhood education, and considered the impact of teacher training for Nursery teachers at the turn of the last century.