I am a professional. What does that mean? I am an educator, a teacher, a leader. I am a researcher. As I continue on my doctorate journey, I hope to be able to articulate what it means to be a professional in the field of education and how I can influence the education system.

I've been a teacher for 35 years - in the London boroughs of Hillingdon, Croydon, Sutton, and now in Surrey. I became a headteacher in 2001 and a National Leader of Education in 2012. I've led a Teaching School, believing that we can influence our education system through supporting teachers. I am now a Chief Education Officer in a large multi academy trust in the south of England.

We have a fragmented education system that is heavily criticised by the media and constantly meddled with by politicians. Our schools are challenged by underfunding and external pressures within a framework of accountability (quite rightly - it's public money) that does not work for every school.

My initial proposal for a research question in 2019 was: What are effective governance structures that support school improvement in a multi-academy trust? This has inevitably changed over the years as I have worked on my research. Follow my journey through the EdD. I hope there may be something on this site that is of use to you, and I hope that I will get some feedback on my academic thinking that will benefit my research.

I am proud to be a research student at the Institute of Education (IoE) at University College London (UCL). The Education EdD is a research degree for experienced professionals from education. It is a part-time degree, normally 5 - 7 years. There is an assessed taught element, an Institution Focused Study (unique to the UCL IoE EdD programme) and a thesis, making a distinct contribution to the knowledge in the field of study.

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I'd be very interested to hear from those in #UKEdGovs, opinions of senior leaders in schools (below the headteacher) joining local governing boards of other academies in their MAT as members of that board in their own right. More detail: clark.education/expert-leade...

— Alex (@alexc7.bsky.social) 2024-10-25T15:15:10.192Z

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  • Authoring for post/PhDers – the problem of gift authorship 12th January 2025
    One of the most common questions I am asked, and that I hear being discussed in doctoral and ECR support groups, is whether to write with supervisors and former supervisors. Or most often, I read on social media about problems that come from writing with supervisors and former supervisors.  Now, in some disciplines writing with […]

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  • The cultural underbelly 1st January 2025
    Recently I bought a new car. It’s very fast and very yellow. Here’s a picture of me and Mr ThesisWhisperer with it: I bought my first new car at 50 – a Tesla. Now, four years later, I’ve bought a second electric vehicle, a ridiculously yellow EX30 Volvo with a dual motor. Some might question […]