Special Educational Needs, Disabilities and Inclusion BA (Hons)

Joanne Smith

Jo has worked at the University since 2014. She previously worked in Primary Education for 15 years, with responsibility for Inclusion for the last 7 years.

Jo is the Course leader for the BA (Hons) Special Educational Needs Disability and Inclusion course and teaches modules across the three year groups. She is also the co-author of the key textbook in SENDI with SAGE publications.

Jo is passionate about Inclusive Education and has a variety of experience and anecdotes to share. She believes in lifelong learning and values the contributions all students make to group discussions and activities.

She is currently undertaking her PhD in Education at the University of Worcester.

Dr Alexandra Sewell

Alexandra joined the University in 2018 and lectures on the BA (Hons) course in Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion. Alexandra is a HCPC registered Practitioner Psychologist. Prior to embarking on a career in academia, she held positions as an educational psychologist and trainee educational psychologist across the West Midlands and currently maintains an independent practice. She completed her Doctorate degree in Applied Educational and Child Psychology at the University of Birmingham in 2016.

Alexandra is passionate about the application of psychology to education to promote evidenced informed, inclusive practice. She focuses her practice and research on the topic of ‘inclusive voice’ and is broadly interested in how traditionally marginalised voices can be listened to and acted upon to promote equality and diversity across a range of contexts. She also has an interest in how we understand and interpret mental health and how this can be better supported.

Alexandra’s portfolio of educational research and publications consists of a co-written introductory textbook in Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Disability for Sage Publications and an edited book titled, ‘Diverse Voices in Educational Practice’, published with Speechmark Routledge. Her research has been published in numerous international educational research journals and she holds the position of co-editor of the International Journal of Birth and Parent Education.

Gareth Dart

Gareth joined the University of Worcester in 2007. He is currently the course leader for the National Award for SENCOs, the Education Studies year one lead. He is proud to lead a module in which students can make all the choices about what they study, where they study and how they wish to be assessed! He has specific interests in teacher education and special and inclusive education in the contexts of resource-poor countries, particularly in southern Africa. He is the international Co-ordinator for the School of Education.

Gareth started his professional career in supported housing for young people with a range of needs in the UK and the USA and quickly became interested in the ways that the service users learned various skills as well as the reasons why many had very poor educational opportunities.

He moved into the Further Education sector, firstly in a residential college run by MENCAP and then as an access course leader in a large mainstream college. From there he spent a number of years involved in developing and running teacher education courses in Botswana focussing on special and inclusive education. He continues to be involved in education projects in southern Africa such as Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA), and the experiences of learners with albinism in the region.

Ruth Felstead

Ruth joined the University of Worcester after a career involving teaching and management within Further and Adult Education in Birmingham.  She has taught students of all ages with the youngest being fourteen and the oldest over seventy. She has also worked for the West Midlands Fire Service as an Equality and Diversity Officer training firefighters and managers in equality and diversity public sector duty.

Ruth moved into teacher education in 2009, firstly within Further Education, and from 2014 at the University of Worcester, where she has taught on BA Education Studies, BA Special Educational Needs, Disabilities and Inclusion, and the Foundation Degree in Learning Support. She is currently working towards a PhD in the History of Education in Birmingham and Worcestershire.

Julie Prentice

Julie recently joined the University of Worcester. She has worked in higher education since 2011, teaching primarily on BA and MA level special educational needs and inclusion programmes. Julie has just completed a PhD Education and will graduate in the Summer of 2022. Her thesis has explored how children and young people with autism are told about and supported to understand an autism diagnosis.

Julie joined the University of Worcester in Spring 2021. She teaches across a range of University of Worcester programmes including the BA Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion, BA Education Studies, MA Education and the recently developed Higher Education Short Courses. Her teaching and course development contributions are mostly focussed on autism, SEND and Inclusion, and research methods. Julie has recently completed a PhD, which was focussed on education and autism. Her thesis has explored how children and young people with autism are told about and supported to understand an autism diagnosis.

Julie has a background in teaching in both mainstream and special school settings and has also been a SEND coordinator. Julie has taught children across the primary age range within mainstream and special education settings. She has also taught within secondary and post-16 education. Within special education, Julie has taught children with a range of complex and additional educational needs including children with speech, language and social communication needs, physical and sensory needs, autism and social, emotional and mental health needs.

She has also worked in a specialist advisory capacity within 3 different local authorities. While working as an advisory teacher, Julie provided specialist advice related to the provision, teaching, and learning needs of children and young people with autism. She also delivered training programmes for parents of children with autism and provided professional development training for schoolteachers and other local authority staff.