Dr Jane Cullen

Professional biography

I currently co-lead the Learners and Learning (L&L) research hub in the OU/WELS Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD), led by Kwame Akyeampong. My current research continues a focus on the embedding of large-scale change in education and on the complexities in developing ICT-based approaches to learning via my continued work since 2018 on OpenSTEM Africa.  Previously as Director of TESSA  www.tessafrica.net  (2012-14), I worked on R&D projects on extending the use of digital OERs, the use of OERs in inclusion in francophone Africa, OER use for teachers new to OERs (all Ferguson Trust funding);  the professional development of teaching assistants and the challenges of access to teacher training in Malawi  (DfID/Scottish Government funding); the development of OERs for  teaching lower secondary science (Waterloo Foundation funding) and widening participation through improving teaching in rural areas in Uganda and Zambia (Commonwealth of Learning funding). On the DfID-funded T-TEL project in Ghana (2014-15),  I led work on a critique of the current model of curriculum and assessment in teacher education in Ghana, and on the professional development of teacher educators in the Colleges of Education in Ghana. In 2016 I led on the qualitative strand of a British Council-funded study into the assessment of the secondary school English curriculum in Bangladesh. My research also includes studies of pedagogic leadership in India, the design of initial teacher education in Peru and teacher education through distance learnng in Ghana. Previously as Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and at the Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD) at the Von Hugel Institute, St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge (2001-2009) my work included the role of lead researcher in a major DfES evaluation of schools ‘in exceptionally challenging circumstances’ and a UNICEF-funded project researching open and distance learning in basic education for hard-to-reach children in South Asia. My research throughout focuses on issues of quality and sustainability at scale as they relate to learning, school improvement, educational leadership and communities of practice.

My teaching interests are in postgraduate education, particularly at doctoral level: in research methods, in leadership and management and in education in contexts of development, particularly in LMICs.  I supervise on both the Ph.D and the Prof. Doc. programmes and I have previously chaired multiple M.Ed modules. On the Prof Doc programme I often work with research students whose projects focus on contexts other than the UK - for example a student based in Cyprus, and a student researching the work of head teachers in Ghana. On the Ph.D programme I recently completed supervision of a Ph.D student researching the kinds of learning valued by parents in rural communities in Nigeria. However I am also involved in supervision of doctoral students researching UK contexts, including exploration of student perspectives on consumerism in HE, academics' perspectives on inclusion in HE, appraisal in independent schools and issues of trust between headteachers and staff.  For 5 years I also chaired the 'Education for Development' postgraduate module, a course for students interested in education across the developing world. When working at the University of Cambridge I taught research methods on the M.Phil course and I taught and supervised extensively on part-time M.Ed courses, working with students who were professionals in education.  

In 2015 I worked as academic consultant on a BBC TV  three-part series called 'Are our kids tough enough: Chinese School' and produced Open Learn materials to augment the tv programmes. In 2018 I again worked as an academic consultant to a BBC TV series  - the six episode 'School' focusing on the challenges facing staff and students in a multi academy trust, and which aired throughout the Autumn of 2018. 

Through my current research for OpenSTEM Africa I am collaborating with the University of Cape Coast, Ghana; University of Ghana; Kenyatta University, Kenya; and University of Nairobi, Kenya. The Ministry of Education, Ghana, the University of Ghana Legon, the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, and Kyambogo University Uganda have signed MoUs with the Open University based on work with which I am involved.