Helen Woodley

Dr Helen Woodley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing at Northumbria University. She transitioned from a teaching career in Alternative Provision and Specialist settings to academia in 2018. Her research focuses on safeguarding, school exclusion, and inclusive education, informed by her doctoral work with at-risk students. She currently leads CYP Psychological Trainings and explores innovative pedagogical methods like VR for teacher training. Her work emphasizes autoethnography and counter-narratives to challenge educational inequities.

Research Interests:

• Social-emotional learning and safeguarding frameworks
• Support systems for excluded youth
• Educator professional identity development

Publications highlight themes like toxic school environments, autoethnographic methodologies, and policies for marginalized students. She has contributed to guides for educators on safeguarding best practices. Current projects include evaluating virtual reality tools for pre-service teacher training.