Personal Academic Tutor and Associate Lecturer
I have been teaching at University of Sunderland for three years as a Personal Academic Tutor and Associate Lecturer where I help students to attain academic success and develop the indispensable graduate qualities necessary for employment or further study.
My role involves academic support and study skills and assisting students to think seriously about their academic progress and to make decisions that will help them succeed in university and their future careers. I work alongside students to recognise their strengths and weaknesses regarding their academic study skills and help connect them with other academics in their course of study. I also assist students to appraise and reflect extensively on feedback received on evaluated work, so they grow their ability to convert feedback to knowledge and progress effectively.
I regularly talk over career desires and employability goals with students and embolden them to work towards reaching those goals while studying and suggest important opportunities that will benefit them such as volunteering, careers training participation, study abroad, gaining work experience, and student societies.
I help students to recognize and surmount obstacles through tutor referrals to specialist careers support while evaluating their progress to maintain enthusiasm and develop resilience. I want to help students learn how helpful extracurricular opportunities will impart their skillset and career prospects. They stand to gain transferable skills, build useful social networks, and add value to the advancement of the academic community.
Teaching and supervision
I have a broad range of tourism, hospitality and event experience after leaving college at 18 to pursue my passion for independent travel and worked my way around Africa, Canada, Europe, and the United States of America. I have 22 years of teaching experience in Early Years, primary, secondary, further education, higher education, and ESOL.
With a wealth of knowledge and a vast network acquired from travelling and working combined with my main interests in people and cultures, I give first-hand advice and experiences on current issues faced within the tourism industry. I have visited over 32 countries so far and have no plans to stop exploring any time soon: the last being the Arctic Circle.
I have studied three degrees at the University of Sunderland – the first was a BA in International Tourism Management. My research was regarding Ethical Tourism and the Perceptions Vs Reality of the Red-Light District, Amsterdam. During this three-year period of study, I also worked abroad as a Camp Counsellor (Camp America) during the summer of 2005 for Maine Teen Camp, USA, and then travelled around the United States independently afterward. In 2006 and 2007 I also worked as a site manager for Tui, in Italy and Croatia which then took me to relocating on graduation.
After moving to Venice, Italy in 2007; I decided to work as an English Teacher in two separate language schools and three different primary and secondary schools. English language, history, and literature have always been a passion alongside travel, and it was here I first started to create content and lessons with songs, games, and visuals to enhance the current structure of learning and taught English standard through Trinity College in Dublin (ESOL).
My second degree was MSc in Tourism and Events. After returning to the UK to raise a family, I decided to return to university in 2007 to complete a master's degree. My research was mainly in the events experience and my major research project was in screen tourism; specifically looking at Game of Thrones filming locations and tour experiences. I managed to visit the filming locations to gain an autoethnographic perspective and visited Iceland, Croatia, Northern Ireland, and Scotland and used qualitative research methods to gain an understanding of the screen tourist experience.
I also worked as an assistant site manager at The Tall Ships Races 2008 which took place in Sunderland. I was involved in the five-month project with Sunderland City Council and led a team of 348 volunteers.
My third degree in 2018 was a PCET PGCE in Higher Education specialising in teaching English. My placement was at Springboard which is a charity that enables and supports the development of sustainable communities and embraces the needs of all learners. Putting learning theories into practice was valuable to me and I learned to embrace different strategies of teaching methods to connect with young people who were severely lacking support and understanding. I taught both GSCE-level English and Functional Skills. The research conducted and presented was investigating positioning theory and the learner – peer relationship in alternative teaching provisions for further education.
In 2019 having then moved to Middlesbrough College, I taught tourism from level 2 through to level 6 in BTEC Aviation, Travel and Tourism, and English GSCE. I also created content for the BA in Tourism Management including International Government Policies, Critical Perspectives and Working Opportunities, and Reflective Practice.
I'm passionate about the student journey and regularly teach modules to first, second, and third-year students. I also supervise postgraduate dissertations and have recently been involved in helping students with their career progression, volunteering opportunities, and work placements. I have recently helped students establish the Travel and Tourism Society and I'm regularly involved with events and training with the Students' Union.
Research interests for potential research students
- TLH104 Tourism And Heritage Management
- TLH123 Study Skills for the Service Sector
- TLH228 Branding for the Service Sector
- TLH307 Urban Tourism
- TLH334 Gastronomy
- TLH125 Fundamentals of Aviation
- TLH 339 Service Quality
- TLH 345 Airline and Airport Commercial Operations
I also supervise and support postgraduates with their dissertations
- CHTM29 Tourism and Hospitality Major Project
- Screen Tourism
- Ethical Tourism
- International Current Issues
- International Government Policies
- Gastronomy
- Heritage Tourism
- Urban Tourism
- Service and Hospitality Management
- Climate Change and Sustainability
- Network Marketing
- Business Development
- Social Media and Communication
- Career Guidance and Coaching
- Send Teaching and Inclusion Strategies