About
Dr Jo Dillon is the Head of the Social Work division at the University of Chester, within the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society. She holds a Senior Lecturer academic rank and has a PhD in Social Work from Liverpool John Moores University. Her research focuses on child participation in social work, particularly improving children's understanding of their roles and rights in child protection processes. She advocates creative methods to embed meaningful participation, including her 2019 'Revolutionising Participation' model. Dr Dillon teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate social work programs at the University of Chester and supervises MA and PhD students.
Her research emphasizes children's rights to express 'wishes and feelings' through creative mediums, addressing legislative gaps and practitioner challenges. She collaborates with Research in Practice, producing tools and workshops for practitioners nationwide. Professional activities include peer reviewing for Qualitative Social Work.
Dr Dillon’s career includes roles as Deputy Head of Social Work (2023–2024), Senior Lecturer (2023), Programme Leader for MA Social Work at the University of Sheffield (2019–2023), and teaching positions at Manchester Metropolitan University (2018–2019). She earned a MA in Social Work (2013) and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
