Home Faculties & Schools School of Education Our Staff Dr James Shea

Dr James Shea

Principal Lecturer and Initial Teacher Education Portfolio Leader

James Shea

I am the portfolio leader for all the undergraduate and post graduate teacher education courses in the School of Education and English here at the University of Bedfordshire. I have a strong interest in research, writing, education and technology and have been delivering a series of keynotes on AI in education across the region to headteachers, mentors, MAT conferences, professional tutors and fellow teacher educators at a number of universities.

In terms of research, I have recently published a nationally significent paper on retrieval practice and how schools are implementing research from this into their teaching. In addition, I have completed research into how GCSE students revise with N=2000+ (the paper for which is now with a leading journal), a dual-university research project into how teachers are using cognitive load theory in their teaching and published a paper on handwriting intervention based on research I undertook for my keynote to the National Association of Handwriting.

As part of my writing, I have recently published a new book: 186 Days, a month by month guide to secondary teaching (with co-writer Mohammed Amin), and my latest book:The Learning Sciences in the Secondary Classroom: A practical guide for trainee teachers (with co-writers Dr Audrey Wood and Stephen Cox) is due to be released in January 2026. I am currently working on a proposal for a book provisionally titled 'Primary Education in the 21st Century' with James Robertson. In addition, I am the senior editor on an education blog alongside Dr Gareth Bates titled The Peer Reviewed Education Blog

Book cover: 186 days in teachingBook cover: Inspiring the secondary curriculum with technologyBook cover: The learning sciences in the secondary classroomBook cover: Social justince in practice in education

Across the Faculty of Education and Sport and within the School of Education I am the Faculty Teaching and Learning representative for the School of Education and chair the recruitment committee and the subject knowledge partnership group. I also sit on a range of committees including: the Faculty Executive Leadership Group, the Faculty Recruitment Group, the Faculty Quality Standards Committee, the Faculty Academic Support Team (FAST), the Training Partner Committee, the Mentor Development Committee, and the QTS Development Committee. I also represent the School of Education and English in the regional BBLE partnership.

Previously I was the elected academic governor of the University of Bedfordshire from 2010 to 2012.

Currently, I am an external examiner for The University of Cambridge, Anglia Ruskin University and King Edward's Consortium. Further, I am a trustee for the Pyramid Multi Academy Trust group of schools.

As a former secondary Head of English and now Principal Lecturer in Teacher Education, my main work is in educating teachers whilst working with partnership schools through research and teacher education.

You can follow my twitter profile at @englishspecial

You can access my academic work at Research Gate

Qualifications

  • BA (Hons) Language and Literature
  • PGCE English, Drama and Media
  • PGCE Academic Practice
  • MA Education – Leadership and Management
  • Ed.D. in Teacher Education
  • Fellow of Higher Education Academy
  • NPQLTD

Teaching Expertise

  • Leadership and Management in Teacher Education
  • Theories of learning: cognitive science, neuroscience and social constructivism
  • The teaching of English
  • Research and Evidence Informed Teaching
  • Partnership and Mentoring
  • Technologies and Education
  • Constellations of Communities of Practice in Education
  • Secondary and Primary Teacher Education

Awards

  • Winner 2023 for the Vice Chancellor's Awards in the Living By Our Values category
  • Runner Up 2021 for the Vice Chancellor's Awards in the Inspirational Teaching category
  • Runner Up 2020 for the Vice Chancellor's Awards in the Personal Tutor of the Year category
  • Runner Up 2019, University of Bedfordshire's Outstanding Teaching Award in the VC's Student Experience Awards
  • Runner Up 2019, University of Bedfordshire's ‘Best of Beds’ Award in the VC's Student Experience Awards
  • Runner Up 2017, University of Bedfordshire's Use of Technology Teaching Award in the VC's Student Experience Awards
  • Highly Commended 2016, University of Bedfordshire's Outstanding Teaching Award in the VC's Student Experience Awards
  • Highly Commended 2014, University of Bedfordshire's Inspirational Teaching Award in the VC's Student Experience Awards
  • Winner 2013, University of Bedfordshire's Inspirational Teaching Award in the VC's Student Experience Awards
  • Winner 2011, University of Bedfordshire's Staff of the Year Award in the Commitment Category

National Curriculum for Drama

In the United Kingdom, Drama is not seen as a national curriculum subject in its own right. As such, there are no national curriculum documents to aid novice or experienced drama teachers. As part of a national round table, a group of people got together to create a 'National Curriculum for Drama' document - for Key Stage 3. This document seeks to act as a placeholder until such a time that the DfE recognises drama as national curriculum subject and commissions a genuine national curriculum for drama in consultation with those in the drama industry.

The following people were instrumental in its construction.

  • Tracy Dorrington
  • Martin Robinson
  • Ross McCrory
  • Kirsty Davey
  • Annie Wallace
  • Luke Attridge
  • Zoe Enser
  • Kalib De Merchant
  • Dr James Shea

Download the KS3 National Curriculum Document [PDF]

Research Interests

  • Retrieval Practice
  • Neuroscience and Cognitive Science in Education
  • Revision strategies for GCSE students
  • Handwriting and Supportive Interventions
  • Technology and Education
  • Communities of Practice
  • Teaching of English
  • The development of AI in education

Research Projects

  • Retrieval Practice - how are teachers implementing ideas from the research base?
  • Memory formation through the process of priming - see blog: Cognitive Science v Neuroscience: retrieval at the start of a lesson or not?
  • The use of revision strategies by GCSE students
  • The use of handwriting consultants by parents
  • The role of social networking in teacher education
  • Mentee and Mentor relationships within school placements

External Roles

  • Reviewer for Elsevier journals (including Teaching and Teacher Education)
  • Trustee for the Pyramid Multi Academy Trust group of schools
  • Senior Editor and Writer of Education Blog Site: PeerReviewedEducationBlog.com
  • External Examiner for the University of Cambridge PGCE (QTS)
  • External Examiner for the King Edwards Consortium PGCE Secondary Education Programme (QTS)
  • External Examiner for Anglia Ruskin University PGCE (non-QTS)
  • Former Chief External Examiner, University of Birmingham

Publications

Texts in Production

  • Shea, J., Woods, A., Cox, S. (2026), The Learning Sciences in the Secondary Classroom: A practical guide for trainee teachers, SAGE MANUSCRIPT IN PRODUCTION (Release scheduled for May 2026)
  • Bates, G. and Shea, J.(2025) Cognitive Science in the Wild (Ethics approved and data collected)
  • Bates, G., Shea, J., and Brooks (2026) GCSE Revision Strategies in the Wild PAPER WITH JOURNAL

Published Texts

  • Shea, J., Amin, M., (2025) 186 Days in Teaching - A Month by Month Guide to Secondary Teaching in England, Routledge
  • Shea, J., Woods, A., (2025) Teaching teachers: reflections from English teacher educators, English Association (238), available at: https://englishassociation.ac.uk/newsletter-238-spring-2025
  • Shea, J., (2024) Handwriting: should we be intervening?, Association for the study of Primary Education, June (2), pp. 1-6
  • Bates, G. and Shea, J., (2024) Retrieval Practice in the Wild, Mind, Brain and Education, 18(3), pp. 249-257
  • Wearmouth, J., Maylor, U., Lindley, K., Shea J., (2024) Social Justice in Education, London: McGraw Hill
  • Shea, J., (2024), How Reforms of Teacher Education Challenge Issues of Social Justice: in Wearmouth, J., Maylor, U., Lindley, K., Shea J., (2024) Social Justice in Education, London: McGraw Hill
  • Shea, J. and Bates, G. (2022), Preventing Fractured Memory Formation With Captioning Software, in Teaching Times, available at: https://www.teachingtimes.com/preventing-fractured-memory-formation-with-captioning-software/
  • Shea, J. (2021) Planning and designing a creative secondary English curriculum, Chapter 5, in Wearmouth, J., and Lindley, K. (eds), Bringing the Curriculum to Life, London: McGraw Hill
  • Connolly, S., Bates, G., and Shea, J., (2020) First meetings: constructive first encounters between pre-service teachers and their mentors, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 9(4), pp. 411-426.
  • Shea, J. (2020) Primary English - how does talking help a child learn?, Association for the study of Primary Education, Issue 13
  • Shea, J. (2019) The hidden voice of pre-service teachers in their private social media interactions, Chapter 6, in J. Wearmouth & A. Goodwyn (eds) Pupil, Teacher and Student Voice in Educational Institutions. Values, opinions, beliefs and perspectives, London: Routledge
  • Shea, J., (2018) Secondary ITE in England and Wales, Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies
  • Shea, J., (2018) Digital Technologies and Online Learning in England and Wales, Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies
  • Shea J., and Stockford, A., (2017), A Critical Approach to Global Citizenship in Initial Teacher Education in the UK, Journal of Pedagogic Development 7(2), pp. 3-12
  • Shea, J., (2014) ‘Social Networking: A Curse or a Blessing?’ Special Children, 224 pp 40-42,
  • Shea, J., (2014) ‘ICT and Assessment’, in M. Leask and Pachler (eds) Learning to Teach Using ICT in the Secondary School, London: Routledge
  • Shea, J., Stockford, T. (2014) 'Inspiring your students with technology - embedding technology into the secondary curriculum', Routledge
  • Shea, J., ‘Teaching English with ICT’, in Andrew Green, (2012) A Practical Guide to Teaching English in the Secondary Sector, Routledge

Knowledge Mobilisation

Contact Details

T: +44 (0)1234 793276
E: james.shea@beds.ac.uk
Room: J0.10b, Bedford campus