About

I am Programme Lead for iPGCE and Senior Lecturer in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Teaching responsibilities

I am Programme Lead on the iPGCE and teach across all Initial Teacher Education programmes.  I also teach across BA and MA programmes in the field of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Professional interests

My fields of interest are international and comparative education and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).  Within this, my precise areas of interest are around Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties in children, particularly those with Attachment Disorder and neuro-atypical children.

Research interests

I am interested in Attachment Disorder, in particular relation to its understanding in ITE students. I am also researching critical disability theory and its relationship to how we use language to describe inclusive practice.

Membership of professional bodies

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and am a member of the Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Association.

Qualifications

• MEd Birmingham
• PG Cert in HE Learning and Teaching
• PGCE Kent
• BA (Hons) Kent

Recent conferences

• Bloor, A (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK) & Ramo Garzarán, R.M. (University of Zaragoza, Teruel, Spain (in absentia)) (2016). "Comparative study of approaches to teaching inclusive practice in Initial Teacher Education in an English and a Spanish institution." Critical Reflections on Education and Injustice. Canterbury, UK: June 2016
• Bloor, A. (2015) “Naughty or not: an investigation into Student Teachers’ Perceptions of Attachment Disorder.” First South Africa Symposia on Teacher Education for Inclusive Education. Vanderbijlpark, South Africa: October 2015
• Ferguson, B., Sollenberger , C. & Bloor, A. (2019) “Cultural and Other Influences of Teacher Preparation Programs in Three OECD Countries”. International Association of Specail Education 16th bienial conference.  Magamba, Tanzania: July 2019

Experience in industry

I spent over 20 years as a teacher in Primary and Secondary education, including working in Pupil Referral Unit and as an Advisory Teacher for Behaviour across 21 schools in west London. I have spent the last nine years in Higher Education, including six of them as the ITE Lead in SEN at Canterbury Christ Church University.

International experience

I recently worked as an International Adviser to the World Bank, on a project looking at SEN in-service training for Palestinian teachers. This involved a site visit to Palestine and working closely with Palestinian colleague’s top devise a structured programmed for delivery in 2017. This work won the 2018 Times Higher Education International Impact Award.

I have also worked in Vietnam, establishing partnership agreements for bilateral exchanges and as a researcher and teacher as part of ERASMUS+ funded exchange with the University of Zaragoza in Teurel, Spain.  In the last 2 years I have supported blateral ERASMUS exchanges with students in Nijmegen and Zwolle, in the Netherlands.#

I have most recently undertaken research in California, US looking at the language teachers use around SEND and Inclusion.  This fully-funded project was the first stage of a multi-national investigation.

International papers have included:

• Garrido, P., Repulles, F., Sanguesa, J.A., Gallardo, J., Torres, V., Tramullas, J. (University of Zaragoza, Spain) & Bloor, A (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK: (in abstentia)) (2016). "AINA: Disney Animation Information as Educational Resources." ICALT 2016 : 18th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies. Paris, France: October 2016.
• Bloor, A (2016). "A summary of comparative approaches to teaching children with Special Educational Needs in England and Spain." Researching contemporary education: place, person and purpose. Canterbury, UK: July 2016.
• Ferguson, B., Sollenberger , C. & Bloor, A. (2019) “Cultural and Other Influences of Teacher Preparation Programs in Three OECD Countries”. International Association of Specail Education 16th bienial conference.  Magamba, Tanzania: July 2019

The ICALT paper was awarded the best paper in conference prize.

Additional interests and activities

Webinars:

The principles of International working (for the Council of British international Schools): January 2019

Power relationships with vulnerable children (for the University of Derby's first event in their online webinar series): March 2019

Language and its impact on international practice (for the Council of British International Schools): November 2019

Recent publications

Bloor, A. (2020) ‘The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few’: Support for Children with SEND in Times of Austerity in V. Bower, (ed.) Debates in Primary Education. London: Routledge.

Courses

• International Postgraduate Certificate of Education (iPGCE) PG Cert (online)
• International Postgraduate Certificate in Education (with International Qualified Teacher Status) (iPGCE with iQTS) (online)
• International Postgraduate Certificate in Education (with International Qualified Teacher Status) (iPGCE with iQTS) PG Cert (online)