Dr Will Curtis

National Teaching Fellow 2011 "Will is one of the most exceptional colleagues that I have ever met. He is a tireless champion of the student experience, always prompting and challenging colleagues to think about the implications of teaching and learning from a student perspective." (Head of Department and NTF, 2006) Dr Will Curtis teaches and supervises across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and has written original and popular modules titled Radical Educations, Philosophy of Education, Learners and Learning and Cultural and Educational Transformations. As a teacher, Will engages students in participatory, democratic and empowering learning activities. As Subject Leader, he has led the transformation of the Education subject area at DMU, including the development of a new single honours BA Education Studies and a taught MA Education Practice. Student numbers have doubled during the four years he has led the team and student satisfaction has consistently been very high. Will has written and edited three books for Education Studies students - 'Learning in Contemporary Culture, Education Studies Reflective Reader' and 'Studying Education: An Introduction to the Key Disiciplines in Education Studies'. He is currently co-writing a fourth book - 'Researching Education', to be published by Routledge in 2012. Will's research focuses on the qualities of collaborative and democratic learning cultures: within A-level, further education, Finnish universities and, most recently, in his own programmes. At present, he is leading an ESCalate funded project examining current and future assessment feedback practices. The project involves teams of students and lecturers from DMU engaging in collaborative enquiry at six other universities. Will was awarded the Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2008 and a University Teacher Fellowship in 2009. He established and now edits Gateway Papers - a journal for pedagogic research in higher education. The journal aims to foster pedagogic dialogue within and beyond the university, to share innovative practice, and to provide a rigorous and supportive publication platform. He has been a member of the executive committee of the British Education Studies Association (BESA) since 2008.