Published on 17 September 2019
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Sunderland’s Childhood Studies programme has welcomed two new academics onto the team who bring with them a wealth of experience working in education and academia.
With a career heavily rooted in further education and spanning more than 20 years, Gayle Blackburn takes up the role of senior lecturer leading the Early Childhood Studies Graduate Practitioner Competencies. The competencies aim to shape the identity of the early childhood workforce and strengthen the professional practice aspect of the degree.
With a passion and enthusiasm for early years education, Julie Ovington has more than 10 years’ experience working with families, intervention and within education. She takes up her lecturing post this month having worked as an academic tutor at Sunderland over the past year and gaining her Post Graduate Certificate in Education. She brings her extensive research and own unique perspective on the subject, in the areas of New Materialism and Posthumanism.
Lindey Cookson, Principal Lecturer and Team Leader for Childhood Studies, said: “Following recent exciting developments in our Childhood Studies programmes, which includes the additional option for students to undertake the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies, I am delighted to welcome Gayle and Julie to the Childhood Studies team. They bring with them many years of professional experience and different research interests which strengthens the team and will continue to enhance the student experience.”
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Gayle qualified as a primary school teacher, specialising in early years’ education, before transitioning into further education, supporting students who want to work with children.
Working at both Derwentside and Gateshead Colleges, her teaching career has been based on all aspects of child development from observations and assessments, to the childcare environment.
On taking up her post at Sunderland, Gayle says: “I have worked a lot with students who go into placement and utilise their skills, and I’m delighted to be leading on the Graduate Practitioner Competencies. There are so many opportunities for a Childhood Studies graduate and I want to make sure the students are gaining as much experience during their degree as possible. I am delighted to be part of such an exciting and committed team.”
She added: “I hope the students on the course absorb everything they can; university is such an amazing journey, you meet some of the people who will likely be in your life for a very long time.”
Sunderland is one of only eight universities in the country - and first in the North East - to introduce a new level of recognition for students on its Childhood Studies course. The competencies have been developed by members of the national Early Childhood Studies Degree Network in conjunction with students and employers, and endorsed by the Department for Education.
Since moving into the world of academia 10 years ago, Julie Ovington has not looked back. She left her job as a bank manager in 2009 to study her undergraduate degree in Health and Social Care at Northumbria University, this was followed by a Masters, then PhD, research which explores the concept of school readiness.
She completed her PGCE at Sunderland this last academic year, which included teaching Functional Skills in English to inmates at HM Prison Deerbolt, a male Young Offenders Institution in County Durham.
She says: “I hope to bring my vibrancy, passion and enthusiasm into my teaching at Sunderland at such an exciting and creative time for the programme, which really reflects the pace of what is going on in education.
“I’ll also bring my own theories and research. My PhD research is enabling me to explore the concept of school readiness. This interest is particularly relevant in the wake of nursery entitlements now extended to two-year-old children. I am aiming to identify the competencies and efficacies needed to develop learning aside from attainment and league tables.”
She added: “I hope our students enjoy every minute of their university experience and invest in the process as they’ve invested in themselves. This is a process of self-discovery.”