Project team
Below are the biographies of the research team of this collaborative project between the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity, University of Edinburgh and the School of Law, University of Manchester.
Professor Sheila Riddell, Director of the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity at the University of Edinburgh
Sheila has worked in the field of equality and inclusion for many years and has a particular interest in additional support needs, education and lifelong learning, employment and social care. She has a track record of leading successful studies in areas which cross policy fields and equality strands, having held grants from the ESRC, the Disability Rights Commission, the EU, the Scottish Government and a range of government departments. Much of her recent work has been on policy and practice for children with additional support needs, including comparative analyses of procedural justice in relation to assessment of needs and subsequent educational provision in England and Scotland.
Professor Neville Harris, Co-investigator, School of Law, University of Manchester
Neville Harris is Professor of Law at the University of Manchester. He gained his master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Sheffield and was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn. His specialist research interests include Education Law, Welfare Law and the State, and Administrative Justice. His books include Education, Law and Diversity (Hart 2007); Challenges to School Exclusion (RoutledgeFalmer, 2000) (with Eden and Blair), Social Security Law in Context (Oxford University Press, 2000) (with Douglas et al) and Special Educational Needs and Access to Justice (Jordans, 1997). He is the General Editor of Education Law Journal, the Senior Editor of the Education Law Reports and Joint General Editor of the Journal of Social Security Law. He has completed a number of externally-funded research studies, with grants from the Nuffield Foundation (separate projects on school exclusion appeals, the Special Educational Needs Tribunal and school complaints), the European Commission, the Department for Education and Employment, Eversheds (separate projects on resolution of student complaints; and students, mental health and the law) and the ESRC.
Dr Elisabet Weedon, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity, University of Edinburgh
Elisabet Weedon joined the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity (CREID) at Moray House School of Education as a researcher in 2004, initially with responsibility for a project examining the experiences of disabled students in Higher Education. Since then she has worked on a range of projects including an analysis of equality policy and practice in Scottish FE Colleges, lifelong learning in Europe and an evaluation of a pilot study on Restorative Practices in schools. Before joining CREID, she worked for the Open University and as a lecturer in an FE college. The Open University work covered a range of areas and included tutoring and counselling. The FE work included teaching psychology and research methods as well as research into student learning. She trained as a primary teacher and her PhD focused on children’s understanding of mathematics. She is experienced in both quantitative and qualitative analysis.
Dr Joan Stead, Senior Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh
Joan Stead has been continually employed as a researcher at the University of Edinburgh since 1997, working on over twenty research projects. Her research expertise is in qualitative/ interpretive methods and methodologies, and has always been policy based. She has extensive experience of working with schools and parents/carers, children and young people, who may be viewed as vulnerable and/or marginal to mainstream schooling. She has published widely; taught at Masters level; and supervises PhD students.
Emily Smith, Research Assistant, School of Law, University of Manchester
Emily Smith graduated from The University of Sheffield in 2003 with a degree in Law and Criminology. She then went on to complete a Masters degree in Crime and Criminal Justice Research at The University of Manchester. Emily has since worked for the Criminal Justice Research Unit based in the School of Law at the University of Manchester for three years as a research assistant doing qualitative and quantitative research that has been mainly prison based. Projects she has worked on include: an evaluation of the High Intensity Training Unit for young adult offenders at HMYOI Thorn Cross; research into how Prison Service race relations policies are implemented on the ground; an analysis of Black and Minority Ethnic prisoners’ access to education, training and employment in prison as compared with White prisoners; and a project looking at the effects of street lighting on people's perceptions of crime. Emily is currently research assistant for this project.