Before joining the University of East London in 2012 to design, establish and lead the BSc Sports Therapy programmes, Michael had previously worked in quality assurance for awarding bodies for over a decade, and had begun teaching in Further Education in 2001. Michael is now a Senior Lecturer and Principal Teaching Fellow, leading modules in Sports & Exercise Therapy, and a part-time PhD student researching social justice pedagogy in UK higher education.
A member of The Society of Sports Therapists since 1998, and a musculoskeletal therapy practitioner still clinically active in industry today, Michael had worked in private practice and in elite sport, notably with Queens Park Rangers Football Club and with Team GB Swimming. Michael has also served as a member of several institutional and national groups before becoming the Programme Director of two undergraduate BSc Sports Therapy degree pathways in London.
Michael has over a decade of academic praxis informed by Critical Whiteness Studies and Post-Colonial Theory in education and works tirelessly to develop anti-racist interpersonal and institutional approaches to leadership and equity in learning, teaching and assessment. Michael is particularly interested in manifesting ubuntu in leadership learning and teaching, and interrogating and dismantling white supremacy in education to create equity for all.
Michael has authored publications including book chapters and blogs, and continues to provide consultancy to higher education institutions as an external advisor, examiner and reviewer, and a staff development training facilitator in ‘white’ activism and anti-racist pedagogies, whilst also providing Sports Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation advice and guidance to industry.
Michael is a father and stepfather to three amazing children and loves reading, films and sport/exercise! Follow him on twitter at @Cole_Therapy_Ed.