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Alan Floyd

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  • Professor of Education
  • Research Division Lead
  • Member of Senior Management Group
  • EdD and PhD teaching and supervision
  • Chair of Research Committee
  • Member of Ethics Review Committee
  • Member of Promotions Committee

Areas of interest

My research and teaching activity focus on two substantive areas: educational leadership and doctoral education. Specific areas of interest include:

  • Academic leadership
  • School leadership and Multi Academy Trusts (MATs)
  • How people perceive and experience being in a leadership role
  • Distributed and collaborative leadership
  • Leadership development
  • Career trajectories
  • Identity
  • Insider research and associated ethical issues
  • Supporting doctoral researchers

Postgraduate supervision

Current supervisions

  • Danyah Alrubian (with Dr Kari Sahan) Staff perceptions and experiences of Quality Assurance in the higher education sector within KSA. PhD
  • Aseel Alsharif Staff perceptions of primary school curriculum reform in Saudi Arabia. PhD
  • David Cousens (with Dr Fiona Curtis) Student and staff perceptions and experiences of student feedback in HE. EdD
  • Beljeet Daffu (with Dr Karen Jones) Exploring leaders professional identities and career trajectories in a private HEI. EdD
  • Emma Chambers (with Dr Caroline Foulkes) An investigation into the impact of sporting excellence academy programmes on student experience and academic performance in Further Education in the UK.
  • Simon Fox (with Prof Carol Fuller) How is ‘resilience’ embedded in to learning in a school in the South West of England and why does it matter? EdD
    Tim Gilson (with Suzy Tutchell) Leadership succession planning in Multi Academy Trust. EdD
  • Steve Gomersall (with Prof Yota Dimitriadi) Covid Recovery: A design-based research exploration into integrating ICT into low-resource classrooms. EdD
  • Daniel Grant (with Prof Carol Fuller) The development of professional identity in pharmacy students. EdD
  • Dani Hall (with Prof Elizabeth McCrum) Making sense of school governance. EdD
  • Kat Hall (with Dr Karen Jones) An analysis of the lived experiences of healthcare professionals working in split roles in clinical practice and University. EdD
  • Elida Kalpogianni (with Prof Helen Bilton) Preschool teachers' attitudes and perceptions regarding play in day care nurseries in Greece: the development of a play promotion programme and its effects on teachers' attitudes and practice. PhD
  • Samantha Parkes (with Dr Catherine Foley) Exploring teachers' perceptions and experiences of practitioner research. EdD

Completions

  • Abdullah Alghulayqah (with Prof Naz Rassool) Examining the Perceptions of Senior Management Teams in Three Private Universities in Saudi Arabia: Opportunities and Challenges. PhD
  • Muteb Alhammadi Successful school principals in Saudi Arabia: practices, culture and leadership development. PhD
  • Husain Almalki (with Dr Karen Jones) School principals' experiences and perceptions of autonomy and decision making in Saudi Arabia. PhD
  • Emad Alotaibi (with Dr Karen Jones) Leading Rural Schools in Saudi Arabia: Opportunities and Challenges. PhD
  • Mohammad Alromaih (with Prof Naz Rassool) Headteachers' perspectives and experiences of educational reform in AlQassim, Saudi Arabia. PhD
  • Ahmad Alsewiket (with Dr Karen Jones) The perspectives of male academic staff and postgraduate students on the effects of globalisation on higher education and cultural identity: A case study at a college of education in Saudi Arabia. PhD
  • Khaled Alshawabka (with Dr Pete Bradshaw) Lesson observation practices in an English secondary school: identity, culture and CPD. EdD
  • Rfah Alyami (with Prof Naz Rassool) A Case Study of the Tatweer School System in Saudi Arabia: the perceptions of leaders and teachers. PhD
  • Valentina Bamber (with Barbara King) Language Teacher Education for TEYL: What do Trentino-South Tyrol LETs’ perceptions of their professional learning reveal about best practice professional development? EdD
  • Mary Bilton (with Dr Catherine Foley) Attrition of mid-career teachers in a neoliberal world – why are experienced teachers leaving the profession? EdD
  • Nicola Brooks (with Dr Liz Marr) Data Changes Everything: An investigation into the acceptance of learning analytics to support student success. EdD
  • Winston Brookes (with Prof Paul Croll) The Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL): a retrospective, intrinsic case study of the process of policy into practice and its impact on teacher participants. PhD
  • Daniel Burgos (with Dr Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai) Open Science & Open Innovation: A new paradigm to achieve STE(A)M competences. PhD by published works
  • Tim Clark (with Dr Elizabeth McCrum) Exploring the social construction of philosophical assumptions: the methodological journeys of doctoral researchers in the social sciences. EdD
  • Patricia Day-Hookoomsing (with Prof Jeanine Treffers-Daller) The role of English in an emerging economy: the case of the ICT-BPO sector in Mauritius. PhD
  • Janette Jolly (with Dr Carol Fuller) Life histories of retirement life-transition amateur instrumentalists: music education, lifelong learning, and identity. EdD
  • Wisanu Krutngoen (with Prof Brian Fidler) Social Capital and Physical Capital as Community Resources: An Impact Study on Students' Perceptions and Educational Outcomes in Two Southern USA Schools. PhD
  • Blair McMurchy (with Dr Carol Fuller) The role of the President in Ontario Community Colleges. EdD
  • Nasreen Majid (with Dr Karen Jones) How do primary teachers in England develop their professional identities as mathematics specialists? EdD
  • Thanda Mhlanga (with Prof Naz Rassool) The construction of professional identities in Further Education in the UK: perspectives of middle managers and academic experts in Educational Leadership and Management. PhD
  • Louise Padgen (with Dr Carol Fuller) Free school Policy Enactment in two case-study schools: Motivation, vision and reality. EdD
  • Saba Qadhi Female English Language Teachers' perceptions and experiences of continuing professional development in Qatar. PhD
  • Beth Richards-Bray (with Dr Daguo Li) What impact does pre-sojourn preparation have on host-culture adjustment for sojourning students? A case-study of a SINO-UK Joint Programme. EdD
  • Wayne Rimmer English language teachers and the role of Professional Associations. EdD
  • Rich Robson (with Dr Carol Fuller) Marketing attitudes and practices of staff at a UK independent school. EdD
  • Hayley Sae Kang (with Dr Cathy Tissot) Exploring the role of LSAs in a UK special school: identity, culture and CPD. EdD
  • Meliha Sakin (with Dr Karen Jones) Exploring educational reform in Turkey. PhD
  • Hein Scheffer (with Dr Nasreen Majid) Staff Perceptions and Experiences of Leadership Development in an NHS Trust. EdD
  • David Stoten Transforming learning in an English business school: time for a new paradigm of teaching and learning within the Business School Curriculum? PhD by Published Works

Research projects

Since 2010, I have been involved with funded research and consultancy worth well over £1million.

  • 2023 The Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce LSIPs Employer Engagement Research (with Prof Suzanne Graham, Prof Carol Fuller, and Dr Heike Krusemann) funded by the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce
  • 2021 - 2023 Exploring Gender and Academic Leadership Development in Qatar. (with Dr Saba Mansoor and colleagues, Qatar University) funded by Qatar National Research Priorities Fund
  • 2020-2022 Leading school learning through Covid-19 and beyond: Online learning and strategic planning through and post lockdown in English secondary schools (with Dr Jacqueline Baxter, Open University) funded by UK Research and Innovation (ESRC)
  • 2020 Reading Endowment Trust Fund Pump-Priming Funding (for External Grant Development)
  • 2017/2018 An evaluation of the Nxplorers Programme (Stage 2) funded by Shaping Learning
  • 2016/2017 Understandings and formulation of democratic strategy in federated school structures in England (with Dr Jacqueline Baxter, Open University Business School) funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust.
  • 2016/2017 Evaluating the effectiveness of the Researching Practitioner Development Framework (with Dr Hilary Lindsay, Open University) funded by the Open University Research into Teaching and Learning Fund.
  • 2016 An evaluation of a 'sustainable leadership' capacity building programme for 14-19 year olds funded by Shaping Learning.
  • 2016 Research Development Grant awarded by the Open University (to support involvement in external roles).
  • 2014-2015 University of Reading Research Endowment Trust Fund Grant (to prepare a large scale, international research bid).
  • 2013 - 2014 Exploring the Role of Associate Deans in UK Universities (with Dr Diane Preston, Open University Business School) funded by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.
  • 2012 - 2013 Investigating the Newly Formed Role of 'Academic Lead' at a Research-led University (with Tash Kahn-Davis and Dr Dilly Fung, both University of Exeter) funded by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.
  • 2012-2014 Leadership Development in a Small Island Developing State: the Jamaican context (with Dr Carol Fuller, University of Reading) funded by a BELMAS International Partnership Grant.
  • 2012 - 2013 Exploring the Professional Identities of Secondary School Teachers (with Dr Carol Fuller, University of Reading) funded by the University of Reading IoE Internal Research Fund.
  • 2011 - 2012 Life Histories of Academics who become HoDs in a pre-1992 University: Socialisation, Identity and Career Trajectory funded by the University of Reading Research Endowment Trust Fund.
  • 2009-2010 Inter-professional Education and Collaborative Practice funded by Oxford Brookes University and led by Professor Marlene Morrison.

Background

I began my career as a teacher and have taught in a range of secondary schools and colleges throughout the UK.

Within the HE sector, I have previously lectured at Leeds Metropolitan University, Oxford Brookes University (where I held a senior management post within the Westminster Institute of Education), and the Open University (where I was the EdD Programme Leader).

At the University of Reading, I have been the Director of Postgraduate Research Studies, the EdD Programme Director, and the Pathway Leader for all MA and doctoral leadership and management programmes in the Institute of Education (IoE).

I am currently the Research Division Lead and a member of the IoE Senior Management Group.

Examining

  • External Examiner for University of Warwick (Masters programme) (2019-present)
  • External Examiner for University of Wales Trinity St David (EdD Programme) (2017-present)
  • External Examiner for The University of Strathclyde (Masters programme) (2011-2017)
  • External Examiner for Sheffield Hallam University (BA programme) (2008-2011)

I have examined 50 doctoral candidates at a range of institutions throughout the UK.

Academic qualifications

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
  • PhD (University of Leicester)
  • MBA (University of Leicester)
  • MSc (University of Edinburgh)
  • BAEd (Hons) (St Luke's College, University of Exeter)

Professional bodies/affiliations

  • (2018-2021) Visiting Professor in Educational Leadership at Newman University, Birmingham.
  • (2018-2021) Editorial Board member for the Sage Journal Management in Education
  • Advisor to the Commonwealth Scholarship Committee and advise on applications to the scheme in the area of Educational Leadership and Management.
  • Acted as an external grant reviewer for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC - UK), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, and the Education University of Hong Kong.
  • Journal reviewer for several high impact journals.

Publications