Dr Kat Lord (PhD, MPhil, BA, PGDE) is a Senior Lecturer in Education in the Psychology, Sociology and Education Division.
- Overview
- Research Interests
- Research Publications
- Teaching & Learning
- Activities & Awards
Before immigrating to Scotland in 2016, I was a Vanier Scholar and prior to that, a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Social Sciences and Research Council Master’s Scholar, both of which are highly competitive and generous national graduate scholarships offered by the Government of Canada, which were awarded to me for my research into critical pedagogy, curricular peer mentoring and engineering education. Throughout my graduate degrees I taught across the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Engineering, and was nominated and awarded teaching excellence awards from my students.
After moving to Scotland, I simultaneously undertook a PGDE Primary qualification and finished writing my doctoral dissertation. During my probationary teaching year, I returned home over the Easter holidays and successfully defended my doctoral thesis. After becoming a fully qualified teacher, I then taught in various state and independent primary school schools, until returning to full-time university teaching and research. My primary school teaching experience has shaped and informed my academic scholarship and research, with a clear focus on applying theory to practice in my teaching and responding to real-world problems through my research (refer to 'Research Interests' for further information).
While at QMU, I have taught across our UG and PG programmes. I was also instrumental in the design and development of our online education graduate programmes, as well as the wider QMU Online programmes within the School of Arts, Social Sciences, and Management, as the former Coordinator (ASSaM) for QMU Online, a role which has now been retired. I am currently the Pathway Leader for the MA in Education programme, and the overall Programme Leader for our four Education MA programmes in Educational Leadership, Special and Inclusive Education, and Early Childhood Education.
Affiliations (including memberships to other organisations:
My research is concerned with how educational institutions can provide high quality education within increasingly resource-poor environments. I am interested in how you can leverage the existing resources within a system to sustain and improve excellent teaching and learning, while also addressing specific educational needs or concerns. I explore themes of pedagogy, change, and agency within education systems, as our wider education systems continue to be impacted by a neoliberal agenda. I contend that neoliberalism curtails agency and shapes pedagogies, curriculum, learning outcomes and organizational structures. My research questions how we might challenge that neoliberal discourse, while at the same time existing within it. Contemporary education systems overly value technical knowledge and its commercial utility, but education systems must also value human rights, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship, if we are to address historic injustices within society, economics and politics.
Active research interests:
- Critical Pedagogy
- Creative Pedagogies
- Play-based Pedagogies
- Teacher and Pupil Wellbeing
Research Methods:
- Mixed
- Qualitative
- Arts-based
Research Projects:
Singing for Wellbeing: Building a sustainable programme for inclusive music in Scottish primary schools
(2022 - Ongoing)
Singing for Wellbeing aims to support the wellbeing of Scottish children and young people through a sustainable, arts-based pedagogical intervention for primary school pupils and teachers at a time when there is growing evidence of the increased vulnerability of children and young people, especially those living in poverty, to mental illness. This has become a notable public health concern in Scotland, and reflects the increasing prevalence of mental illness among children and young people globally. There are two strands to this study, both developed in partnership with Love Music, a local non-profit arts-based organisation, and its Artistic Director Stephen Deazley. One strand explores how we can sustainably embed inclusive music education through group singing and body percussion activities into Scottish primary education, the other how to address the wider gap in pedagogical knowledge of leading music education through a bespoke teacher training programme.
Critical Engineering Pedagogy: Curricular peer mentoring as a case study for change in the Canadian neoliberal university
(2013 - 2018)
Through my doctoral research I designed, delivered, and then researched, a service-based senior-level undergraduate engineering course that taught senior undergraduate engineering students how to mentor junior engineering undergraduates. The mentoring focus was on the engineering curriculum in the junior engineering courses, as attrition rates are highest in the first and second year of engineering undergraduate programmes. When the pilot ended, the faculty instituted an adapted version of the programme because junior engineering students who engaged with the curricular peer mentoring process reported its positive impact on their studies and motivation to stay on the programme.
QMU Online:
I have taught across the MA Education (Online) Programmes, which consists of eleven modules. I was directly responsible for the design and development of seven of these modules:
- Critical Education for the 21st Century
- Being a Reflective Practitioner in Intercultural Settings
- Digital Literacies for Education
- Shared Leadership for Sustainable Development in a Global World
- Academic Literacies for Learning: Critical Literacy
- Academic Literacies for Learning: Critical Numeracy
- Independent Enquiry Project
I have also supported and/or co-designed additional modules offered across our Education MA programmes, including:
- Engaging Learners
- Ethical Research
- Leadership Theories and Practice
- Inclusive Educational Leadership
TGIT: Thank Goodness It’s Thursday. 2022 – 2024
In collaboration with colleagues across all levels and areas of the university, I organised a weekly social gathering for students to help support them through the cost-of-living crisis by offering free hot food, take-away meal kits, and vouchers for the campus restaurant. We also offered free social activities to help support students with reported feelings of loneliness and isolation, as well as mental health concerns.
Thank Goodness It's Thursday (TGIT) was the recipient of three national award nominations during the 2022-2023 Academic Year (WhatUni, CUBO, The Herald Education Awards), winner of the Herald University Award for Supporting Student Wellbeing Award, and supported by Dame Prue Leith, DBE.
Education, Migration and Identity Symposium. 2023-2024
I organised a symposium on education, migration and identity that fostered discussions around migration, providing a space for voices of those who migrate to be heard, as well as understanding different approaches and practices towards the integration of learners who have migrated across a range of circumstances and communities. The symposium featured a keynote speech from Professor Paul Miller, a film screening and panel discussion, as well as a variety of contributions from diverse persons interested in the relationship between education, migration and identity, drawn from across all levels of the formal and informal education sector. The symposium resulted in the publication of articles to be featured in the Journal of Equity in Education & Society.
Other Funded Projects:
- 2023-2024: Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding. Creative Scotland. £162,689 awarded to Love Music. The Sing for Wellbeing (SfW) Programme and Research Project, which is a collaborative research project and programme development initiative between Love Music and QMU and was featured in the bid.
- 2013-2016: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Government of Canada. $150, 000 awarded.
- 2012-2013: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Master’s Scholarship. $17, 500 awarded.
- 2010: Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) Award. $6000 awarded.
