Emma Walker

Dr. Emma Walker serves as Associate Head of School for Children, Young People and Education - Counselling at York St John University's School of Education, Language and Psychology. She has strategic oversight of undergraduate programs including BA (Hons) Education, SEN and Mental Health; BA (Hons) Children Young People and Society; and BA (Hons) Early Years Education and Care, as well as postgraduate offerings: MA Education (full-time and part-time), MRes Education, and the Doctor of Education professional doctorate.

After a career in senior management, Dr. Walker returned to education as a mature student in 2011. She earned a Foundation Degree in Supporting Learning (distinction), followed by a BA Hons (first class) in Children, Young People and Families, receiving the Faculty of Education and Theology Vice Chancellor's Medal in 2014. She then completed her PhD focusing on narrative inquiry to examine resistance to centralized school change.

As a narrative inquirer, Dr. Walker develops methodological approaches to explore education through a cultural geographical lens. Her research centers on the politics and ethics of co-production; place, space and landscape; geographies of community and belonging; place based education; and critical pedagogy. She teaches across modules in Special Educational Needs and Inclusion, Qualitative Research Methods, Critical Studies in Education, and the role of the State in family lives.

Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent trajectory exploring educational policy implementation, critical media literacy development, and the relationship between place and educational experience. These works span education, sociology, geography, and media studies with particular attention to how policies impact schools, communities, and students.

• Faculty of Education and Theology Vice Chancellor's Medal (2014)

Dr. Walker supervises seven named doctoral researchers (Denise Brogden, Hannah Cutting, Luke Dale, Jake Goodwin, Suzanne Lane, Alec Scott, and Iain Sirrell) plus numerous Master's students. She has two completed doctorates: Dr Brett Wilkie on 'Ecological dynamics: a theoretical framework for understanding physical literacy in children' and Dr Keither Parker on 'Diminishing inequalities? A critical feminist genealogy of education policy and practice in post-World War II England.'

She is co-convener of the Research into Professional Practice in Learning and Education (RIPPLE) Group, co-Chair of the York St John University Postgraduate Supervisors' Network, and Deputy Chair of York St John University Research Degrees Committee. Dr. Walker is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.