About

Prior to working at Sheffield Hallam I taught Religious Education in secondary schools in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. As well as leading RE departments, my work also involved working closely with trainee teachers, eventually leading to me being responsible for all teacher training and NQT induction work within the school.
 
I have worked at Sheffield Hallam since 2005 leading the Religious Education (RE) specialism within the Postgraduate Certificate in Education course. In this role I have developed the subject specific element of this course to prepare trainees in subject specific knowledge and pedagogy. My teaching and seminar work with students explores developments in the secondary RE curriculum, professional practice in RE and critical reflection in the subject. I maintain my interest in my own subject area through contributing to broader RE networks both regionally and nationally.
 
Within the programme I also oversee all of our humanities and social sciences PGCE provision. I support subject specialist tutors in History, Geography and Social Sciences, overseeing the day to day running of these programmes and offering additional support to students on these courses as required.
 
I am the curriculum lead for the secondary PGCE programme. I have helped to design and develop a programme of study followed by all secondary postgraduate trainees. As part of this I deliver lectures and develop seminar materials for secondary trainees from all subject areas.
 
I am also involved in other areas of the work of the teacher education department. I am the RE subject lead for both our undergraduate and postgraduate primary RE provision and I work with Teach First on their secondary RE course. I also have a diploma in Trauma and Mental Health Informed Schools (Practitioner Status) and teach our Trauma Informed short course to teacher education students across all phases.
 

Teaching

Department of Teacher Education

College of Social Sciences and Arts

I am the course leader for the RE PGCE course, and responsible for all humanities PGCE provision (RE, History, Geography, Citizenship and Social Sciences).

Courses taught:

• Secondary PGCE
• Primary Education (5-11) with Qualified Teacher Status
• Early Years and Primary Education (3-7) with Qualified Teacher Status

Modules: 

• Reflecting on Professional Practice and Development in Secondary Education
• Exploring and Developing Pedagogical Practice in Secondary Education 
• Introduction to Curriculum and Pedagogy: 3-7
• Introduction to Curriculum and Pedagogy: 5-11
• Adaptive Teaching Across the Curriculum: 3-7
• Adaptive Teaching Across the Curriculum: 5-11
• Exploring and Developing Pedagogical Practice in Early Years and/or Primary Education
• Reflecting on Professional Practice and Development in Early Years and/or Primary Education
• Teach First Leadership Project

Research

Boylan, M., Truelove, L., Pearse, S., O’Brien, S., Sheehan, H., Cowell, T., & Long, E. (2023). Developing trauma-informed teacher education in England. London Review of Education, 21 (1). https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.21.1.29

Sheehan, H. (ed) (2023). Mentoring religious education teachers in the secondary school : a practical guide. Routledge.

Publications

Other activities

• National Association of Teachers of RE - executive committee member
• Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education - executive committee member
• Sheffield Standing Council for Religious Education