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Nasreen Majid

Dr Nasreen Majid
  • School Director of Recruitment and Admissions
  • Member of Senior Management Group
  • Masters module EDM00- Developing Expertise in Teaching;  EDM007 - Investigating Education co-convenor, EDM133 MA Dissertation
  • BA Primary Education module convenor for the Advanced Teaching Project (ATP), undergraduate dissertation
  • Second Supervisor for EdD and PhD thesis
  • BA Primary Education (QTS) Curriculum Mathematics Teaching - Year 1, and 3
  • BA Primary Education (QTS) Advanced Teaching Project Dissertation (ATP) supervision
  • Exams Office for Post Graduate Taught Programme, IoE

Areas of interest

I am an Associate Professor of Education. I am interested in all aspects of teaching and learning of mathematics within the primary age range. My interests lie in how children learn mathematics and how they build their agency as mathematicians. My thesis centered on primary teachers’ professional careers, focusing on how they built their professional identity as a Primary Mathematics Specialists (PMaSTs).

I have also been working with colleagues across the University on climate and sustainability education. I was part of the planning committee for the University’s Climate Education Summit. One of the outcomes of the summit was the launch of a National Climate Action Plan at COP 26. I am part of the leadership team here at the IOE developing and delivering on action point 2. The framework developed for climate education for trainee teachers is going to be piloted at the University of Reading and HEIs across England. The evaluation of the framework will support the embedding of Climate and Sustainability education across all phases of Initial Teacher Training. I recently write a blog on UNESCO’s International Day of Education discussing the importance of a joined up approach to developing and delivering high quality climate and sustainability education. I was also featured in a TES article discussing climate change and the need for curricular change.

I am also working with Dr Holly Joseph on a project entitled ‘Teachers Like Us’. This work is exploring perspectives of BAME pupils in secondary schools and whether they see themselves as teachers. This work will support our understanding of routes into teaching for pupils from diverse backgrounds.

Postgraduate supervision

Masters and Doctoral Level Supervision offered in these areas:

  • Pupil agency in mathematics learning
  • The use of mathematics journals to build mathematical thinking
  • Professional identities of Primary Mathematics Specialists
  • Impact of Mathematics Specialists in Primary Schools
  • Diversity and Inclusion- currently co-leading the Decolonising the Curriculum T&L Group at the IOE and part of the Decolonising the Curriculum University working group.
  • Climate and Sustainability education

Current Doctoral Students:

  • Aseel Alsharif (2nd with Professor Alan Floyd) Staff perceptions of primary school curriculum reform in Saudi Arabia
  • Hein Scheffer (2nd with Professor Alan Floyd) What are the experience, perceptions and realities of leadership learning in an English NHS Acute Trust?
  • Millicent Thomas (2ndwith Dr Billy Wong) Socialisation experiences of BME middle leaders in secondary school and what they do to ‘fit in’.
  • Nick Davis (2nd with Professor Elizabeth Mc Crum) Can’t count, won’t count!  Examining the effects of an expressive writing intervention on pre-service teachers’ mathematics anxiety, and the anticipation and teaching of mathematics.  
  • Yina Cai (2nd supervisor with Dr Rebecca Berkley) Applying the Kodály Methodology to Teaching the Pipa, A Traditional Chinese Instrument

Completions:

  • Mohammed Alduailej (2nd with Professor Carol Fuller) - Career decision making of first-year university students in Saudi Arabia
  • Wafa Alshamrani (2nd with Dr Chris Turner) An investigation into the effectiveness of the leadership development of female headteachers working in girls’ state secondary schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Research projects

  • The use of mathematics journals to develop deeper mathematical thinking. This project had a focus on metacognition and self-regulation strategies developed with pupils through the use of mathematics journals. This is a collaboration between myself and Dr Renata- Bobik Dawes.
  • ISATT funded national project exploring the role of The Primary Mathematics Specialist: I won a £1000:00 grant from  ISATT as an Early Career Researcher (ECR) to develop a national project and deliver a paper at their biannual conference in July 2021.
  • Educational Doctorate- completed, February 2021. How do primary teachers in England develop their professional identities as mathematics specialists?
  • Teacher and pupil perceptions of climate change.
  • Teachers like us- A project exploring aspirations of going into teaching of pupils of colour.
  • Developing and evaluation of a framework for climate education for ITT students.

Background

I joined The University of Reading, Institute of Education in September 2011. Before this, I worked in Primary schools. I taught across the primary age range and I also had the opportunity to teach geography at the British School, Jakarta (BSJ). I have had wider school leadership responsibilities as Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO), Mathematics Co-ordinator, Assessment Co-ordinator, Advanced Skills Teacher (AST), Assistant Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher.

It has been an absolute privilege working in very diverse schools, mainly in urban settings. The bulk of my teaching experiences have been in London, UK. I have also worked at the British School, Jakarta. In addition to teaching in year 5 and year 7, I led the teaching and learning of mathematics during my time at the British School, Jakarta.

I have a diverse portfolio of responsibilities at the University of Reading, including teaching Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Doctoral students.

Academic qualifications

  • Ed.D (University of Reading)
  • Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) (University of Reading)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) (University of Reading)
  • Post Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) (University of Reading)
  • Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) (University of Lancaster)
  • Masters in Education and International Development.(UCL, IOE)
  • BSc (Hons) Geography

Professional bodies/affiliations

  • American Education Research Association
  • The Association of Mathematics Education Teachers (AMET)
  • Mathematics Association (MA)
  • Chartered College of Teaching (CCT)
  • International Study Association of Teachers and teaching (ISATT)

Publications