Roger Wood

Before arriving at Oxford Brookes University in October 2018, I was a Senior Lecturer in Primary Teacher Development at Bishop Grosseteste University and a Research Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, having previously been a primary school teacher and headteacher for 23 years.

Prior to my doctoral research at the University of Birmingham, I held various teaching posts, was Head of Science Department at two schools, and enjoyed 13 years of senior leadership roles (including a Deputy Headship and two Headships) within independent and maintained schools.

I am a Chartered Biologist. In recognition of his work in science education and conservation, I have been elected to current and prior Fellowships with the Royal Society of Biology, the Royal Society of Arts, the Linnean Society of London, the Zoological Society of London, the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, and the Royal Anthropological Institute.

From November 2020, I will also be a member of the Council of the Zoological Society of London. From September 2016 to August 2020, Additionally, I am a Board Member with the chimpanzee conservation charity, the Jane Goodall Institute UK.

My Researchgate profile can be found here.

CURRENT RESEARCH

Social Sciences

1. Enhancing Children’s Engagement with Science, STEM Education and Outdoor Learning (including Nature, Conservation and Sustainability)

a. The influence of Inquiry-Based Learning approaches upon children’s engagement with Science

b. Enhancing trainee ITE teachers’ confidence and enthusiasm for Science Education through inquiry-based learning approaches

c. Influencing children’s enhanced engagement with Science through University initiatives to support teachers’ professional confidence and development within Inquiry-Based Science Education.

d. Enhancing Girls’ Engagement with Science and STEM.

e. Enhancing children’s engagement with nature and conservation through Inquiry-Based Learning and informal education (including outdoor learning).

f. The impact of teacher feedback and teacher-student relationship quality (as perceived by students) upon students’ engagement with learning.

Natural and Physical Sciences

2. Corfu wildlife conservation activities and education programme development (including the influence of places upon Gerald Durrell’s passion for enhancing others’ understanding of and engagement with active conservation; the importance of mentors in engaging children with conservation, science and the climate crisis, and; the impact of autonomy and freedom upon children’s informal learning and conservation activities).

3. Primate Conservation and Education (in collaboration with colleagues in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes University and BirdLife Madagascar): developing conservation education programmes at Twycross Zoo and in Madagascar.

PUBLICATIONS

My list of recent publications can be found here

Publications in planning and preparation stages

Wood, R. (2021, in planning stages) Guest Book Editor with Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Children’s Engagement with Nature, Conservation and the Climate Crisis.

Wood, R. (2021, in planning stages) Guest Book Editor with Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Enhancing children’s engagement with formal and informal learning through Inquiry-Based approaches.

CONFERENCE and SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS

Scottish Educational Research Association – Annual Conference November 2019

Invited Paper - Trainee Teachers’ Values and Practices relating to Inquiry-Based Learning in Science Education

Keynote Speaker – International Academic Conference on Education, November 2019

St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford: The influence of positive teacher-student relationships upon children’s sustained engagement with learning.

Scottish Educational Research Association – Annual Conference November 2017

Invited Paper - Enhancing student teachers’ understanding of the links between their reflective practice and classroom-based educational research.

University of Aberdeen – Research Seminar 7^th June 2017

The influence of the quality of Teacher-Student Relationships upon Students’ Motivated Engagement with Learning Activities

Bishop Grosseteste University – Research Conference 15^th July 2016

Children’s receptiveness to teacher feedback - the influence of perceived teacher-student relationship quality upon students’ autonomous motivation to engage with learning activities

University of Glasgow – BERA Postgraduate Symposium 15^th June 2016

Dilemmas in Educational Research - Theory Choice and Originality: Making the transition from Dazed in the Sweet Shop to Confectioner!

University of Dundee – Research Seminar (Social Motivation) 14^th June 2016

From Leaner to Learner – the impact of the Teacher-Student Relationship Quality upon Students’ Autonomy

University of Glasgow – BERA Postgraduate Symposium 11^th October 2013

Key Teacher-Student Interpersonal Relationship Dynamics Influential upon Children's Engagement with Science.

University of Cambridge – Kaleidoscope Conference 30^th May 2013

Theory-Informed Reflexive Research Designs

EXTERNAL RESPONSIBILITES and MEMBERSHIPS

· External Examiner, Primary PGCE programmes at three universities (2017 – 2023).

· Royal Society of Biology Scotland Policy and Education Network: Special Interest Group - Advanced Learning and Science - https://www.rsb.org.uk/regional-activity/scotland and https://www.rsb.org.uk/

· Council Member, The Zoological Society of London (from November 2020) - https://www.zsl.org/

· The Jane Goodall Institute UK: Vice-Chairman and Trustee (Primatology and Education) – Chimpanzee and endemic habitat conservation (2016 – 2020) - https://www.janegoodall.org.uk/

· Member, Executive Committee: Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) (2017-2018) - https://www.sera.ac.uk/

· Conference paper reviewer: SERA Conference 2018.

· European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) – PhD Abstract reviewer: 2019 PhD Summer School.

· European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) - Conference paper reviewer: 2018 Conference: Motivation and Emotion

· Book and Journal article reviewer:

o Bloomsbury

o Routledge

o Educational Research Journal (NFER)

o Journal of Biological Education (Royal Society of Biology)

o Scottish Educational Review (SERA)

· The Moral Sciences Club, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge

· Ordered Human Projects, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln - https://sites.bishopg.ac.uk/ordered-human-project/ordered-human-projects/