Dr Rachael Paige

Interim Head of Institute

Head of Institute

Contact Details

email: r.paige@worc.ac.uk
tel: 01905 542504

Rachael is the interim Head of the Institute of Education. Her substantive post is the Deputy Head of the Institute of Education and she has a background in Primary Education. She has worked in Teacher Education and Training since 2010 and prior to that was a teacher and Headteacher in Lincolnshire.

During her time as a primary school teacher, she focused on areas such as English, Music and SEND. She worked with a school in ‘special measures’, supporting the Learning and Teaching (including assessment) approaches so that all children were able to achieve. Her school leadership was in a Church School and this opportunity further developed her interested in the holistic development of children, including the spiritual. During her Headship, Rachael undertook her MA in Leadership and Management with a focus upon implementing a whole school behaviour approach through a distributed leadership structure. Rachael continues to engage with leadership and management research and evidence as part of one of her areas of specialism and to impact her own effectiveness in her work.

Rachael moved into Higher Education to work on the Teacher Education and Training courses at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln. She became the Head of Programmes (Early Years and Primary) and led the team through a successful inspection. She developed collaborative working and peer feedback with her team and worked with students on areas such as graduate attributes. Rachael moved to the University of Worcester in February 2018 to lead the Primary Department as the Head of Department. Key work with this team was around developing a values-based culture and solution-focused ethos. This included the development of middle leader opportunities to provide opportunity for creativity and wider impact. Her most recent work with students has been linked to contributing to the local community through Summer Schools and After School clubs designed and led by trainee teachers.

In November 2021, Rachael was appointed as Deputy Head of Institute with a focus upon Learning, Teaching and Quality Enhancement and currently is the interim Head of Institute.

Qualifications

  • Doctorate in Education
  • Senior Fellow of the HEA
  • MA in Education (Leadership and Management)
  • ILM Executive Coaching and Mentoring
  • National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH)
  • SENCo Award
  • BA (Hons) in Education and English with QTS

Learn Upon Training completed

  • Safer Recruitment
  • Introduction to the Prevent Duty as it affects Higher Education
  • Safeguarding Essentials

Teaching & Research

Teaching Interests

  • Teacher presence
  • Positive behaviour management
  • Positive climate for learning, including relationship building, school culture
  • Leadership and Management (particularly relational leadership)
  • Professional Practice: Learning Theory and pedagogy
  • Subject specialisms: English and Music

Research Interests

  • Doctorate focusing upon Teacher Presence
  • MA in Leadership and Management
  • Behaviour
  • Developing the Whole Child/Whole Teacher
  • Relational Leadership
  • Leadership in small, rural schools

 

Professional Bodies

  • UCET Management Forum
  • All Party Parliamentary Group for the Teaching Profession
  • Regional ITTAG Network

Publications

Edited books

Howard, C. and Paige, R. (2022). Essential Guides for Early Career Teachers: Professional Behaviours. London: Critical Publishing.

Paige, R., Lambert, S. and Geeson, R. (2020). Building Skills for Effective Primary Teaching: A guide to your school based training. London: Sage

Contributions to books (chapters)

Kington, A. and Blackmore, K. (2020): Social and Learning Relationships in Primary Schools. London: Bloomsbury.

Taylor, K. and Woolley, R. (2013). Values and Visions in Primary Education. Open University Press

Journal Articles

Hodgkins, A., Gossman, P., Paige, R and Woolley, R. (2023) ‘“We cry together every day” – expressing complex emotion in research with early childhood practitioners’, Early years (London, England), pp. 1–15.

Adams, K., Lumb, A., Tapp, J. and Paige, R. (2020) Whole Child, Whole Teacher: Leadership for Flourishing Primary Schools. Education 3-13. 48:7 pp. 861-874.

Presentation at conferences

Learning and Teaching Conference – June 2024 Small steps for big gains: communities of practice as an alternative to traditional professional development.

Student Experience Conference (UW) – June 2023 Building Leadership Potential

Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) – May 2021 Exploring perspectives on Teacher Presence

Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) – May 2018 The x factor: what do teachers say Presence is.

National Primary Teacher Educators Committee (NaPTEC) Conference: Provider’s symposium. Overview of my Doctorate focus. September 2017

Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) - May 2017

  • Role play to support trainee teachers develop confidence in behaviour management techniques
  • Overview of literature from my Doctorate (Teacher Presence)

Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN) (international audience) - November 2016: Presentation on methodology from Teacher Presence research

UCET - 8th November 2016 - Research ethics in school

 

External Roles

External Examiner at Nottingham Trent University

School Governor – Pitmaston Primary School

Headteacher Advocate – North Worcester Primary Academy