Kathryn Spicksley

Kathryn Spicksley is a full-time PhD student in the School of Education at the University of Worcester and an Associate Lecturer in the Department for Children and Families. Her research focuses on the impact of language on teacher identities, drawing on Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Speech Act theory. She employs methods like critical discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and walking interviews to explore discourse-pedagogy relationships.

• Education:
  • BA (Hons) Theology, University of Oxford, 2007
  • MA Jewish Studies, University of Oxford, 2008
  • PGCE Early Years, University of Cambridge, 2012
  • MA Early Years Education, UCL Institute of Education, 2015
  • HEA Associate Fellow, 2019

Her PhD examines discourses around academisation and their effects on new teachers’ identities, supervised by Professor Alison Kington and Dr. Karen Blackmore. She is funded by the University of Worcester.

Kathryn advocates participatory research methods to challenge researcher-researched hierarchies. She is affiliated with the Social Psychology of Education Research Interest Group and has prior experience as an early years teacher and outreach officer in Oxford’s Widening Access team.