Dr Catherine Montgomery

"She's a doctor but she's not a boffin" (Undergraduate Student)"She clearly walks the talk" (Staff, Bristol University) Dr. Catherine Montgomery has been a teacher for 23 years and has taught at Essex, Newcastle and Northumbria universities since 1994. Her specialisms are in sociolinguistics, English Language and researching the influence of social and cultural contexts on teaching, learning and assessment. Catherine is an inspiring teacher whose evidence-based practice in sociolinguistics and staff development continues to enthuse a wide range of students and staff. Her teaching is strongly grounded in pedagogic research, illustrated by her PhD and post-doctoral work which provides an advanced understanding of student diversity and effective pedagogy of internationalisation. This has served to promote an actively positive attitude across the HE sector to the cultural and social resources that international students bring to higher education. Her reputation for developing staff understandings of international pedagogy is evidenced by conference papers and invitations to speak at national and international events. She has presented 28 external conference papers in eight countries in the last nine years. Her work is often cross-disciplinary and as part of her role as Associate Director and leader of research and evaluation projects in the CETL she has had the opportunity to influence student learning by advising, co-teaching, leading development of and evaluating different disciplinary projects. This cross-disciplinary activity is a distinctive aspect of her work. In sociolinguistics, innovations such as peer review of writing and opportunities for extended feedback from peers in informal contexts have proved powerful innovations that have greatly increased students' ownership of their learning. Catherine is a strong believer in 'turning students into colleagues'. One student says: "Catherine says stuff in our classes that other people in other classes have said to her, other students, and that makes me think that she really takes on board what we have said and uses it. I like the fact that we are learning from each other, it's not just one-sided."