Dr Suanne Gibson

National Teaching Fellow 2012 Dr Suanne Gibson's specialist areas of teaching and research are disability, special educational needs (SEN) and critical pedagogy. She tutors and lectures undergraduate, masters and PhD students and has published widely in the area of SEN and teaching and learning in higher education. Suanne leads the successful BA Education Studies degree at Plymouth, a degree noted as being: "Extremely well led ... having an outstanding democratic, collaborative and inclusive ethos €œ based around transformatory education principles and practices...." She has been awarded three teaching fellowships at Plymouth University, each leading to knowledge being shared with colleagues at the university, nationally and internationally through conference presentations and publications. A BA Education Studies graduate commented on Suanne's work: "During my time at Plymouth University, I was very lucky to be taught by Suanne. Her lectures were enlightening and thought provoking. She activated an internal compass within every student, developing curiosity, knowledge and wisdom, enabling us to use her teaching in our lives and jobs. Her research and teachings have been of great help and inspiration in the work I do as a teacher of special education." In 2009 Suanne was commissioned by the HEA to undertake research into the experience of higher education for students with disabilities, and in 2011 she was named 'Outstanding Personal Tutor' by Plymouth University's Students Union. Suanne's background in special education has given her a profound understanding of the inseparability of affective and intellectual aspects of development; her 'acknowledge, understand, provide' (AUP) model for special education professionals is clearly modelled in her own practice with students and colleagues. Her books are identified as essential reading on many UK university education courses.