Professor Cathy Burnett BA, PGCE, MEd, EdD

I am Professor of Literacy and Education at Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University.

My most recent research focuses on the relationship between new technologies and literacies within and beyond educational contexts. I was previously an editor of the journal Literacy and have led and contributed to a series of research and evaluation projects funded by organisations such as British Academy, Booktrust, UKLA, JISC and The Education Endowment Fund. I am President Elect and joint Research Convener for the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA), and also co-convene the UKLA Digital Literacies special interest group.

My books include New Media in the Classroom: Rethinking Primary Literacy (with Guy Merchant for Sage), New Literacies around the Globe (published by Routledge and co-edited with Julia Davies, Guy Merchant and Jennifer Rowsell for Routledge), The Case of the iPad: Mobile Literacies in Education (with Guy Merchant, Alyson Simpson and Maureen Walsh for Springer) and Literacy, Media, Technology: past, present and future (with Becky Parry and Guy Merchant for Bloomsbury).

Prior to arriving at Sheffield Hallam University, I worked as a primary teacher, for various theatre-in-education companies and for Derby City Education Service. I have published widely for professional and academic audiences, including several books and many journal articles and book chapters focused on literacy education, enquiry and professional education and the connections between literacy and technology.

I am co-editor of the fourth edition of the widely used handbook, Learning to Teach in the Primary School (with Teresa Cremin for Routledge). I have a longstanding commitment to creative approaches to literacy education and to using enquiry as a mode of professional development.

I currently teach on the Educational Doctorate and supervise a range of postgraduate students. I am interested in the relationship between enquiry and professional education and have led a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate modules designed to explore this relationship and work with teachers using enquiry in their professional practice.

My most recent research investigates the relationship between new technologies and literacies within and beyond educational contexts. I have led and contributed to a series of research and evaluation projects funded by organisations such as Booktrust, UKLA, JISC and The Education Endowment Foundation.

Recent projects include iPads in the Early Years and Virtually Drama which explored technology integration within open-ended learning environments. I am currently leading a British Academy Funded project, Doing Data Differently, which investigates teachers creatively visualisation of data related to what matters to them in their practice.

Work is ongoing on the 21st Century Maker Circles Project, which supports teachers to find practical ways to address 21st century literacies in the primary classroom within the framework of the current National Curriculum.

I have published widely for professional and academic audiences, including many journal articles and book chapters which have developed a sociomaterial orientation to the exploration of literacy and technology, and which relate more broadly to literacy education. 

I have also written a number of widely read literature reviews including ‘The digital age and its implications for learning and teaching in the primary school’ which was commissioned by the Cambridge Primary Review Trust.

A list of publications is available from the institutional repository, SHURA

I lead the Language and Literacy Education Research Group within the Sheffield Institute of Education.

I am a Trustee and President Elect for the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) and founding co-convener for the UKLA Digital Literacies in Education special interest group. I am a previous editor of Literacy and an editorial board member for Literacy, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy and the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. I am also a sub-panel member for the REF assessment phase, Unit 23 Education.

I am currently supervising PhD and EdD students including:

Pat Moore. Sheffield Hallam University. Biology Autobiographies: personal subject experiences and biology teachers' pedagogical thinking. Giovanna Battiston. The work-place literacies of a marketing department. EdD (PT).
Giovanna Battiston. The work-place literacies of a marketing department. EdD (PT).
Christine Hibbert. Registered nurses’ perceptions of reflection as a process for exploring new knowledge
Jemma Monkhouse. What is generated exploring Shakespeare through drama in an after school club?
Cara Doxey. What is ‘reading’ in primary school?
Sarah Proctor. Stories from the Nursery- newly qualified Early Years Teachers experiences of professional learning.

Completions include:

Alison Tyldesley. Sheffield Hallam University. A sociocultural approach to Higher Education students' experiences with academic literacies.
Richard Pountney. Sheffield Hallam University. Making the Curriculum: a case study of course planning in higher education.
Sam McMahon. Sheffield Hallam University. Becoming a professional in early childhood education and care.
Helen Childerhouse. Sheffield Hallam University. Teaching children with ‘SEBD’: teachers’ perceptions.
Chris Bailey. Sheffield Hallam University. Investigating the lived experience of children engaged in collaborative virtual world play
Karen Daniels. Movement, meaning and affect: the stuff childhood literacies are made of.
Lauran Doak. Sheffield Hallam University. Exploring the Multimodal Communication and Agency of Children in an Autism Classroom.

cess for exploring new knowledge.

Completed Doctoral Researchers

Alison Tyldesley. Sheffield Hallam University. A sociocultural approach to Higher Education students' experiences with academic literacies.
Richard Pountney. Sheffield Hallam University. Making the Curriculum: a case study of course planning in higher education.
Sam McMahon. Sheffield Hallam University. Becoming a professional in early childhood education and care.
Helen Childerhouse. Sheffield Hallam University. Teaching children with ‘SEBD’: teachers’ perceptions. 
Chris Bailey. Sheffield Hallam University. Investigating the lived experience of children engaged in collaborative virtual world play.