Professor Alison Kington

professor-alison-kington

Professor in Psychology of Education

Institute of Education

Professors

Contact Details

email: a.kington@worc.ac.uk
tel: 01905 542025

Professor Alison Kington is Deputy Lead of the Psychology of Education Research Group (PERG) at the University of Worcester, where she leads and supports interdisciplinary research that advances understanding of school and classroom life. She joined the University of Worcester in 2012, following a distinguished research career across a range of leading institutions, including the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), UCL, and the University of Nottingham. Throughout her career, Alison has combined research, teaching and strategic leadership, holding a wide range of academic service and leadership roles, including international funding assessment panels and editorial boards. She is currently a member of the REF2029 UoA23 panel and sits on the ESRC Research Talent Advisory Group.

Alison’s research interests stem from a desire to improve the quality of pupils’ educational experiences, as well as provide insights into teacher effectiveness and retention through the investigation of the nature and quality of educational relationships and identities. In particular, she examines the influence of teacher and pupil characteristics on social interactions and behaviours within school and classroom contexts. She has led numerous large-scale research projects, securing over £3.8 million in external funding from major national and international bodies, including the ESRC, OECD, DfE, and EU.

Currently, Alison leads a substantial project entitled There’s No Place I’d Rather Be! which explores teachers’ reasons for remaining in the profession, specifically examining the influence of peer relationships, self-efficacy, and the motivation to continue in practice. The project has recently been extended to include the perspectives of school leaders through a large-scale national survey. She also leads a study examining the role of friendship for siblings and non-siblings, and co-leads a project focused on the implicit social contracts between teachers and pupils.

For more information about Alison’s research, please see the tabs below or visit her ORCID page.

Qualifications

Academic qualifications:

  • Postgraduate Certificate: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (2014)
  • PhD Education and Social Psychology (University of Bristol, 2001)
  • BEd (Hons) Primary Education and English (University of the West of England, 1994)

Professional qualifications:

  • Chartered Scientist (Social Science) (CSci; 2023)
  • Accreditation: ONS/DfE Approved Safe Researcher (2022)
  • Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol; 2014)
  • Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA; 2014)
  • Certificate: Associate Teachers Programme (2010)
  • Certificate: Teaching and Learning (2008)
  • Certificate: Research Management (2005)

Research

Alison’s research is grounded in psychological theory and focuses on understanding how the presence and interactions of others shape perceptions, behaviours, and relationships within educational contexts. Her work provides a conceptual framework for examining how teachers, practitioners, pupils, and parents construct identities and interact within schools using cross-disciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches.

Alison has extensive experience in the design and implementation of mixed (and merged) methods research designs, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques. In addition to expertise in the use of a range of observational and interviewing approaches (including repertory grid techniques), Alison is also proficient in the practice of systematic reviews, re-use of existing large-scale datasets, the conduct of trials/evaluations, and the synthesis and integration of evidence of all types.

For a full list of her consultancy, funded research and project experience, please see Alison’s ORCID page.

 

Supervision

Alison is a UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor and has been shortlisted for the Times Higher Education (THE) Research Supervisor of the Year. She has supervised 24 research students from a range of international and national contexts to successful completion of their studies and is currently working with students in the following research areas:

  • Influence of peer relationships and collective identity on teacher well-being
  • Impact of home-schooling during lockdown on children’s friendships
  • Support opportunities of PVI leaders in the early years sector
  • Primary teachers’ experiences of secondary traumatic stress
  • Role of the school nurse in secondary school pupils’ wellbeing

Alison currently has four supervisor-led opportunities advertised on FindAPhD with colleagues from Education and Psychology:

She would also welcome enquiries with a focus in the following areas:

  • The role of school staffrooms
  • Teacher-to-teacher bullying
  • Sibling and non-sibling interaction
  • Rural and/or coastal school contexts
  • Influences on teacher-pupil and pupil peer relationships

University responsibilities

  • Chair of the Education, Culture and Society Research Ethics Panel
  • Chair of the University Professors’ Forum
  • REF Lead for UoA 23 (Education)
  • Deputy Lead for the Psychology of Education Research Group
  • Member of various committees, including Research Integrity and Governance Committee, REF Working Group, Researcher Concordat Implementation Group, and RKE Forum. 

External roles

Funding bodies, committees and organisations

  • REF 2029 Sub-panel C (UoA 23)
  • ESRC Research Talent Advisory Group
  • BERA College of Reviewers
  • Irish Research Council’s Post-doctoral Fellowships and Postgraduate Scholarships
  • Hong Kong Research Council’s General Research Fund (GRF) and Early Career Scheme (ECS)
  • ESRC Peer Review College

Editorial boards and reviewing

In addition to acting as reviewer for various educational and psychological international, peer-reviewed journals, she also holds the following editorial positions:

Societies and associations

  • Associate Fellow: British Psychological Society (AFBPsS)
  • International Affiliate: American Psychological Association (APA)
  • Member: International Association of Relationships Research
  • Member: British Educational Research Association (BERA)
  • Member: American Educational Research Association (AERA)
  • Member: EERA Network 14: School-community Relationships and Educational Research
  • Member: International Mixed Methods Research Association
  • Member: European Association of Methodology
  • Member: National EdD Network

Publications

Alison’s sustained programme of research and extensive collaborations have resulted in a strong and impactful publication record. Her co/authored and co-edited books include The Emergence of Critical Realist Grounded Theory (2026), Effective Teaching (2023), Developing Social and Learning Relationships in Primary Schools (2020), Effective Classroom Practice (2014), Paradigms of Educational Practice (2012), The Role of Theory and Research in Educational Practice (2008), and Teachers Matter (2007). In addition, she has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, edited volumes, and research reports, and has delivered more than 70 presentations at national and international conferences, including keynote addresses and invited symposia.

Below is a selection of Alison’s most recent outputs. For a full list, please see WRaP or ORCID:

  • Bywater, A., Kington, A. & Blackmore, K. (2026). Quality in Teaching Across a Career: The Use of Personal Constructs Within a Fully Integrated Mixed Methods Design. International Journal of Multiple Research Methods, 17(1).
  • Kington, A., Looker, B., Weaver, T., Blackmore, K. & Dawes, I. (in press, 2026). The Social and Emotional Dynamics of Teachers’ Peer Relationships. Frontiers in Education.
  • Looker, B. with Kington, A. (2026). The Emergence of Critical Realist Grounded Theory. London: Routledge.
  • Sewell, A., Kington, A. & Davis, S. (2026). The impact of Synaesthesia on inclusive teaching and learning: A systematic literature review. British Journal of Special Education. 53(2), 189-199.
  • Weaver, T., Kington, A. & Lindorff, A. (2025). Home-schooling and parent-child relationships during lockdown in England: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Cogent Education. 12(1): https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2580762