Ian Elliott

I have had a number of roles at the University of Sunderland. I am principally a Senior Lecturer in Education and in the past have been programme leader for the PGCE Education DL – one of the University's largest courses and sat by trainee teachers in over 60 countries – while working extensively across on-campus provision. I am now the Pathway Manager for the Assessment Only Route to Qualified Teacher Status (UK and overseas).

I am an elected member of the University Board of Governors – a position that I am very proud to fill so that I can continue to serve and support the work and growth of the University. I am also a Senior Fellow of the HEA.

My current day-to-day role on the AOR to QTS pathway involves overseeing practical teaching assessment for national and international teachers looking to achieve Qualified Teacher Status. My wider role involves observing teachers nationally and internationally, supporting and developing a large body of experienced teaching staff, and sitting on a range of strategic university groups, committees, and panels. I am also a Personal Academic Tutor to an international cohort of trainee teachers. 

I have also had the privilege of teaching a wide-ranging education history module (EDU101) that covers the advent of fire and the passing of vital life skills in the Neanderthal period, to the Spartan 'agoge', Incan and Aztec education systems, education in the Industrial Revolution, and the tripartite system of the 1940s and 1950s UK. Education history is indeed one of my main passions.

I began my own teaching career almost two decades ago. I initially taught in FE (basic skills tutoring), moved into secondary teaching after gaining QTS via the GTP, took up a position teaching English literature and literary theory at the University in 2008 (Romanticism, Medieval Literature, Gothic novel), moved into teacher training a few years later, and have since progressed to a full-time senior position in teacher training and education studies.

I have been at the University of Sunderland in some capacity since 1993. I completed my undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional qualifications at the University and hope to be here for many years to come. My job at the University is varied and it is a great honour to work alongside a group of dedicated, determined, and knowledgeable colleagues, trainees, and students.