About

I am the Head of Discipline for Primary Initial Teacher Education based in the Institute of Education. My role is to lead the development of the Primary Initial Teacher Education programmes including PGCE (Provider-led, university-based), PGCE (Provider-led, school-based), B.Ed (Hons) QTS and M.Edu QTS. I work a lot with Programme Leaders and the Head of Institute to evaluate provision and enhance our Teacher Training and Education offer for students, current and prospective. Student voice is an important element of my role and I am interested in hearing about students' experiences of our programmes to enhance our course offer. It is important for me to understand current students' needs and ensure that we are doing all we can to support every member of our community of practice.

Teaching responsibilities

I teach across most of the research modules of the undergraduate programmes and support students individually or in groups on their own research journeys or with their research projects associated with their programmes. I really enjoy challenging and shaping research projects which will add to students' skill sets and have real benefits to their practice. Teachers are researchers every day - they identify problems, seek solutions and work in different ways to evaluate the impact of those solutions. I am passionate about this approach in order to ensure teachers are thinking professionals who embrace the levels of accountability which the profession demands.

Research interests

My research interests are in Higher Education policy, reform, change and evaluation. I am interested in language use and its effectiveness in learning and teaching. My current interest is around reframing the belonging needs of student teachers, especially while they are on assessed practical teaching placements and seeking to understand how they engage with the resources of academics to nurture a sense of belonging to programmes, courses and the profession. 

Membership of professional bodies

• Teaching Regulation Agency
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Qualifications

• BA (Hons) English Studies QTS, York
• LLB (Hons), University of Northumbria
• MEd (Applied Linguistics), The Open University
• PGCertHE, University of Derby
• PGDip Ed, University of Derby

Experience in industry

I have a wide range of teaching experience covering ages 6 to 18 and in a variety of settings, including primary schools, secondary schools and alternative provision. I have been Head of Key Stage, Head of Year and was an Assistant Head Teacher in a large secondary school. I was a Senior Achievement Leader in a large new Academy and then moved to work as an Assistant SENCO and in nurture provision too. I started teaching in 1999 and joined the University in September 2015. I have enjoyed all of the phases and age ranges I have taught and am an advocate of life-long learning and development. 

International experience

• For two years, I have delivered Continuing Professional Development in Kolkata and Durgapur, India focused on dialogue and the use of talk to engage learners in large classroom settings
• I have attended the Educational Role of Language Conference in Gdansk, Poland
• I am pleased to offer an international QTS award as part of the disciplinary portfolio as well as an international PGCE

Recent publications

Poultney, V. A. & Anderson, D. B. (2019) ‘Leading change for survival: the rural flexi-school approach’ Management in Education

Poultney, V. A. & Anderson, D. B. (2019) Leading change for survival: the rural flexi-school approach [Blog] Leading change for survival: the rural flexi-school approach