Ruth Felstead

Lecturer in Education with Specialism in Special Educational Needs, Disabilities and Inclusion

Education and Inclusion

Contact Details

Ruth joined the University of Worcester after a career involving teaching and management within Further and Adult Education in Birmingham. She has taught students of all ages with the youngest being fourteen and the oldest over seventy. She has also worked for the West Midlands Fire Service as an Equality and Diversity Officer training firefighters and managers in equality and diversity public sector duty.

Ruth moved into teacher education in 2009, firstly within Further Education, and from 2014 at the University of Worcester, where she has taught on BA Education Studies, BA Special Educational Needs, Disabilities and Inclusion, and the Foundation Degree in Learning Support. She is currently working towards a PhD in the History of Education in Birmingham and Worcestershire.

Qualifications

B.Soc.Sc. (Hons) Sociology (University of Birmingham)
PGCE (University of Birmingham)
MA (Newman University)

Teaching & Research

Teaching has included Health and Social Care, Counselling Skills, History and Social Policy, and Teacher Education. In recent years equality, diversity and social justice has become a specialist area of interest.

Ruth’s research interests as part of her teaching include aspects of social inequality and social justice and their impact upon education

As part of her PhD she works with original historical materials to build a picture of how values, attitudes and morals were transmitted in Birmingham and Worcestershire schools

Professional bodies

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Member of the Historical Association.

Publications

Felstead, R. (2019) ‘How did elementary schools under the control of the Birmingham and Worcester School Boards between 1878 and 1903 contribute to the fostering of morality and patriotism in youthful future citizens?’ History of Education Researcher 104, 11/19

Paper presented to Midland History Conference: 'What was the role of state-funded schools from 1880 – 1914 in creating patriotic imperial citizens?' (Worcester, November 2017)

Paper presented to Victorian Fears: Colloquium held at Newman University June 2028: ‘"Defence, not Defiance": Citizenship, patriotism, and the school in late Victorian England' (Birmingham, June 2018)

Paper presented to the History of Education Society Conference: “An ABC for Baby Patriots”: Did late nineteenth and early twentieth elementary schools in Birmingham and Worcestershire encourage the development of a patriotic and imperial ‘character’ in pupils? (London, November 2019)

Paper presented to the History of Education Society Conference: 'Teaching morality, patriotism and empire in Worcestershire and Birmingham elementary schools 1880-1902: a view of the everyday through the prism of school logbooks.' (Online conference, November 2021)