Samantha Twiselton
Director of Sheffield Institute of Education
Summary
Professor Samantha Twiselton, OBE is the Director of Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University - a national centre of education research and practice, recognised for its excellence and innovation in teaching and learning. In this role she uses her research and practice in the development of teacher expertise to develop a range of innovative workplace embedded approaches to Initial and Continuing Teacher development.
With experience in teacher education, curriculum development and language and literacy, Sam has been heavily involved in influencing Government policy on teacher education. She was a member of the Advisory Panel for the DfE Carter Review of ITT in England, the DfE Expert Behaviour Management Panel chaired by Tom Bennett and the OFSTED Expert Advisory Group for the OFSTED Curriculum Research Project She currently sits on the DfE Expert Research and Recruitment Advisory Group, the DfE Specialist NPQs Advisory Group and the Harrow International Expert Advisory Group. Sam is a Founding Fellow and Vice President (external) of the Chartered College of Teaching. She has recently taken on the roles of Deputy Chair of the Doncaster Opportunity Area Board and Chair of the DfE Initial Teacher Education content group. She is trustee for Astrea Multi Academy Trust, the Chorus Multi Academy Trust, the Shine Education Charity, the Education Media Centre education Charity, the National Teacher Accreditation and the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance. In June 2018 she was named in the Queen's birthday honours as a recipient of an OBE for services to Higher Education.
About
Professor Samantha Twiselton is the Director of Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University.
The Institute brings the University's broad teacher and related workforce education offer together with two research centres, the Centre for Science Education and the Centre for Education and Inclusion Research. As such its work is responsive to employer needs, flexibly developed and underpinned by a depth and breadth of outstanding, leading edge academic and practitioner expertise.
Professor Twiselton was previously Executive Dean in the faculty of education at the University of Cumbria where she worked for six years. Prior to that she held a number of senior academic roles in teacher education at St Martin's College, having previously taught in a range of primary schools.
With a wealth of experience in teacher education, curriculum development and language and literacy, Professor Twiselton has been heavily involved in influencing Government policy on teacher training, such as the introduction of masters level Initial Teacher Education and ways in which universities can support and embrace the move to a school-led system.
Sam was recently a member of the advisory panel for the Carter Review of ITT and was heavily involved in visiting providers, meeting with experts and analyzing a wide range of evidence from across all routes and the DfE Expert Behaviour Management Panel chaired by Tom Bennett. She sits on a number of national and regional advisory boards and committees.
Specialist areas of interest
Teacher development, Early Career Support, Curriculum Development.
Teaching
Education
Research
DfE Evaluation of Evidence Based Teaching
Publications
Journal articles
Twiselton, S. (2004). The role of teacher identities in learning to teach primary literacy. Educational Review, 56 (2), 157-164. http://doi.org/10.1080/0031910410001693245
Book chapters
(2016). Building Bridges. SensePublishers: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-491-6
(n.d.). Flip The System UK: A Teachers’ Manifesto. Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315445205
Other activities
External Examiner Edinburgh University