Professional Learning and Management Education (PLME) Research Group

Blommerde, T., Charalambous, E., Bright, W., Musgrave, E., Ueno, L. and Magee, T. (forthcoming) 'Integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence into Teaching and Assessment: A Case Study from a University in the UK', in D. Ng and C. O’Dea, (eds) Effective Practices in AI literacy Education: Case Studies and Reflections, Emerald, pp. Forthcoming

 

2024

Black, K, Ciesielska, M. and Whitton, D.. “Dragged in the opposite direction”: Identity tensions facing women academics in management and organization.  In Ericsson, D and Cinque, S. (Eds.). Debating ‘Homo Academicus’ in Management and Organization: Ontological Assumptions and Practical Implications. (Chapter 8). Palgrave.

Black, K & Ma, G.. Weak ties, fragile lives: Challenges to career ecological diversity for international academics in the UK. In Noble, C (Ed.) International Careers and Academia: Professors without Borders. Routledge.

Alexander, J., McConnell, S., Mitchell, R., McGrane, A (2024) Technological challenges for modern law school pedagogy – preparing graduates for the modern legal workplace, The Law Teacher

 

Black, K & Warhurst, R. (Autumn 2024), A question of identity: A theoretical understanding of HRD. In R. Poell et al. (Ed.). Sage Handbook of HRD. Sage.

 

Charlton, H. (2024) Bridging The Gap. How business schools are building pathways to success with degree apprenticeships, Chartered Association of Business Schools

 

Kopnina, H., Wong, R., Black, K. & Djurovic, M. (forthcoming), Anthropocentrism and climate change: Discussing the need for radical re-orientation toward degrowth in business education. In S. Brechin et al., Routledge Handbook on Climate Change and Society (2e).

 

Mason, K., Anderson, L., Black, K. & Roberts, A (2024). A shout-out for the value of management education research: “Pedagogy is not a dirty word” British Journal of Management. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12805

 

McConnell, S (2024) Practice makes perfect? The role of a law school practice interview scheme in enhancing student employability. How to Include Employability in the Law School, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar

 

McConnell, S., Bengtsson, L., Dunn, R (2024) The Benefits and Challenges of the Policy Clinic Model of Clinical Legal Education, European Journal of Legal Education

 

Sliwa, M., Black, K., Anderson, L and Chaffer, C. (Autumn, 2024), Handbook of Inclusive Education in Business and Management. Edward Elgar.

 

Stuthers, A., McConnell, S. (2024) Improve children’s legal knowledge and skills through School Tasking: your time starts now, The Law Teacher

 

Trakulsunti, Y; Antony, J; Garza-Reyes, J; Tortorella, G; C; Foster, M. (2024) An exploration of operational excellence methodologies implementation in the logistics sectors: a global study. TQM Journal.

 

Warhurst, R. & Black, K. (2024), Theorising later-career as a basis for enhancing inclusion and extending working lives through HRD. Human Resource Development Review. Accepted 18/2024

 

Zulfiqar, M. Bhat, S. Sony, M. Salentijn, W. Swarnakar, V, Antony, J. Cudney, E. Furterer, S. McDermott, O., Jayaraman, R., Foster, M. (2024) Unveiling the potential of FMEA in higher education: pathway to improved risk management and quality. TQM Journal

 

Nicholson, H., Shrives, P. (2024) Stepping Beyond Transcripts: A Framework for Analyzing Interaction in Focus Groups, International Journal of Social Research Methodology

 

 

2023

Alexander, J (2023) Modelling Employability Through Clinical Legal Education: Building Confidence and Professional Identity, The Law Teacher

 

Foster, M., Stevens, M., Dixon-Todd, Y. (2023) Guest editorial: A retrospective and prospective of how to develop managers, framed by post-pandemic experiences of digital transformation, Journal of Management Development

 

Hall, J., Gold, N. (2023) Clinic Is a Constructivist, Inquiry-Based Learning Environment: Lessons for the Start of Law School – Re-imagining an Immersive Induction, Contemporary Challenges in Clinical Legal Education, London, Taylor & Francis

 

Lean, J., Newbery, R., Moizer, J., Hoddoud, M., Lim, W (2023) Developing future managers through business simulation gaming in the UK and Hong Kong: exploring the interplay between cognitive realism, decision-making and performance, Internet Research

 

Mamoojee-Khatib, H; Antony, J; Teeroovengadum, V; Garza-Reyes, J; Tortorella, G; Foster, M; Cudney, E. (2023) A Systematic Review of Lean Implementation Frameworks and Roadmaps: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward. TQM Journal

 

Mathieson, S., Black, K., Allin, L., Penlington, R, Orme, L., Anderson, E., Hooper, H., and McInnes, L., (2023), New academics’ experiences of induction to teaching: A Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) approach, International Journal of Academic Development. DOI: 10.1080/1360144X.2023.2217799

 

McConnell, S. (2023) Commercial awareness and the law student journey into the legal profession – definitional challenges and the lived experience of the graduate interview, International Journal of the Legal Profession

 

Thirkell, E. & Munday, D. (2023) Re-imagining hybrid pedagogies: lessons from the pandemic using the Diffusion of Innovation model. In M. Carrigan, H. Moscovitz, M. Martini & S. Robertson (eds) Building the Post-Pandemic University: Imagining, Contesting and Materializing Higher Education Futures (1st Edition, pp. 111-135). Edward Elgar

 

Warhurst, R. & Black, K. (2023), Learning to manage as learning to fail: the lessons of running, Management Learning. Online First: DOI: 10.1177/1350507622115079

2022 and Earlier

Forster, G. and Robson, A. (2019). Developing the ‘oven-ready’ postgraduate: squeezing a quart into a pint pot to meet the employability agenda. In A. Diver et al (Eds.) Employability via Higher Education: Sustainability as Scholarship. London: Springer. ISBN: 978-3-030-26341-6.

 

Foster, M. and Killick, D. (2021) Learner Relationships in a Global Higher Education: Critical intercultural pedagogy for a multicultural globalising world. Routledge ISBN 9780367271145

 

Foster, M., Carver, M. (2018) Explicit and implicit internationalisation: Exploring perspectives on internationalisation in a business school with a revised Internationalisation of the Curriculum Toolkit. Journal of Management Education Vol 16 (2) 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2018.02.002

 

Foster, M., Mulroy, T., & Carver, M. (2020). Exploring coping strategies of transfer students joining universities from colleges. Student Success. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v11i2.1617

 

Gadelshina, G., Wilson, R., Richter, P., Lloyd-Smith, M. (2022) The Use of Freehand Drawing as a Means of Teaching Research Methods in a Business School, Visual Pedagogies in Higher Education

 

Hassan, A., Bamurange, Y., Foster, M. and James, K. (2019) The Journey and Experience of International students: An insight from a UK University. Journal of Economic Science Vol 2 (2) DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jesr.v2i2.427 http://ojs.bilpublishing.com/index.php/jesr

 

Ma, G., Black, K., Blenkinsopp, J., Charlton, H., Hookham, C., Pok, W., Sia, B., Alkarabsheh, O. (2022) Higher education under threat: China, Malaysia, and the UK respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education

 

Editor Reviewed Articles, Opinion Pieces and Blogs

Black, K. (2024). Doing academic careers differently. WonkHE, 21 February. [add hyperlink https://wonkhe.com/blogs/doing-academic-careers-differently/ ]

 

Black, K. and Hall, J. (2023). What is authentic enquiry learning? THES, 3 July. [add hyperlink https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/what-authentic-enquiry-learning ]

 

Foster, M (2023) How reverse mentoring helps co-create institutional knowledge, Times Higher Education [add hyperlink https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/how-reverse-mentoring-helps-cocreate-institutional-knowledge ]

 

Foster, M, Dickinson, J., Griffiths, T., & Johnson, S. (2023). Some academics are seen as more proper than others. Wonkhe. [add hyperlink https://wonkhe.com/blogs/some-academics-are-seen-as-more-proper-than-others/ ]

 

Foster, M. (2021) Fostering Growth Relationships Among Globally Diverse Students in Borderless University. Times Higher Campus [add hyperlink
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/fostering-growth-relationships-among-globally-diverse-students-borderless-university]

Thirkell, E., 2019. "Escaping" traditional technologies through a OneNote Escape Room. Advance HE, 22 July [add hyperlink https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/news-and-views/Escaping-traditional-technologies-through-a-OneNote-Escape-Room ]

Our PLME Researcher Development programme is a six-month initiative designed to support participants across all phases of the research cycle, from generating a research idea to submitting a manuscript to a journal and responding to reviewers’ comments. The programme typically comprises:

• Workshops on research methodologies and techniques
• Sessions on academic writing and publishing
• Peer review and feedback mechanisms
• Opportunities to present and refine research ideas

The group has made significant contributions through practice-led research, publications, conferences, and workshops. We aim to offer evidence-based policy recommendations to support the Department of Business and Law and inform good practice in UK Higher Education more generally.

Our members lead and influence sector-leading bodies such as the British Academy of Management's Management Knowledge and Education community [hyperlink to https://www.bam.ac.uk/bam-community/management-knowledge-and-education.html], the University Vocational Awards Council HE Tripartite Professionals network [hyperlink text to https://uvac.ac.uk/higher-education-tripartite-professionals/], and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Northern Policy Forum [hyperlink to https://www.cipd.org/uk/about/where-we-work/north-england/]. We also host the International Journals of Clinical Legal Education (IJCLE )and Public Legal Education, as well as the IJCLE annual conference.

Our research methods incorporate both qualitative and quantitative approaches. We actively collaborate with industry partners, educational institutions, and policymakers to ensure our research has practical relevance and a positive impact.

PLME Convenor – Professor Kate Black

Deputy Convenor - Professor Monika Foster

Dr Jill Alexander

Steve Ball

Dr Tadhg Blommerde

Peter Breakey

Dr Princess Bwanya

Dr Helen Charlton

Dr Ian Charity

Sam Clegg

Dr Liz Cunningham

Dr Imane El Hakimi

Dr Kellie Forbes-Simpson

Dr Gillian Forster

Dr Gyuzel Gadelshina

Dr Mark Gatto

Dr Lis Griffiths

Dr Jonny Hall

Dr Melissa Hawkins

Dr Jakki Holland

Dr Angela McGrane

Dr Siobhan McConnell

Professor Robert Newbery

Dr Helen Nicholson

Dr Phil Oliver

Dr Teresa Roca

Dr Shaima' Moh'd

Dr Chris Storey

Dr Emma Thirkell

Jane Underhill

Dr Helen Watson

Dr Kayleigh Watson

Members of the group are engaged in research that is wide ranging, across all areas of Business and Law. This includes:

• Contemporary innovations in management and legal education
• Professional and manager learning and identity formation
• Supporting learners' skill and competency development
• Intersections of formal and informal learning
  
  
  

 

Our members are currently involved in a range of projects, including:

• Later career working, bridge jobs and identity work (Professor Kate Black
• Placements as a site for students' professional identity formation (Professor Kate Black and Dr Phil Oliver)
• Navigating the Post Pandemic University (Dr Emma Thirkell)
• Integrating on-and-off the job learning in apprenticeship education (Professor Kate Black and Dr Emma Thirkell)
• Gamification in responsible management education (Dr Helen Tracey and Dr Emma Thirkell)
• The emergent new role of ‘tripartite practitioner’ (i.e. apprenticeship coach) across the English and Welsh apprenticeship sector (Dr Helen Charlton)
• Perceptions and implications of AI detectors on various stakeholders in HE and Testing the performance of AI detectors to against various evasion techniques (Dr Tadhg Blommerde)
• Investigating the gap between the data skills taught to students and the skills which are required by industry (Dr Liz Cunningham)
• Entrepreneurship education and explorations of neurodivergent student experiences of an experiential entrepreneurship education programme (Dr Kellie Forbes-Simpson)

Upcoming Events

*coming soon*

 

Past Events

Learn at Lunch sessions

These sessions introduce theories, and include sessions on "Identity work" (Professor Kate Black and Dr Russell Warhurst), "Deweyist pragmatism" (Dr Jonny Hall), "social learning and communities of practice" (Dr Steve Pattinson), "Responding to reviewer feedback" (Dr Gill Forster and Dr Dawn Witton (Durham University))

Internal Seminars 

Dr Emma Thirkell (Northumbria) and Dr Kamilya Suleymenova (Birmingham University) [italic] Adapting to the New Normal: Innovations in Teaching and Learning Post-Pandemic

Dr Sean McCusker [italic] Pedagogy of the clown

 

Researcher Development Programme

The PLME Researcher Development programme is a six-month programme that aims to support participants across all phases of the research cycle from generating a research idea through to submitting a manuscript to a journal and then responding to reviewers’ comments.  The programme typically comprises as follows:

Session	Guiding questions
Session 1: Getting started	1. How can I get myself motivated to do this? 2. How do I define my paper topic? 3. How do I find the right journal and how do I then join the conversation within that journal? 4. How should I organise my paper?
Session 2: Finding time to write	1. How do I find time to write when I have so many other competing activities?
Session 3: Positioning my paper	1. How do I define the aims of my paper? 2. How do I understand and then articulate the contribution to knowledge that my paper is making? 3. How do I contextualise my paper aims/topic?
Session 4: Using the literature	1. How do I contextualise my paper in the literature? 2. How do I embed relevant theory into my paper?
Session 5: Locating the literature	1. How do I find the key papers in my field?
Session 6a: Conceptual (doctrinal) papers	1. Conceptual (doctorinal) papers: How do I write up the Methodology and methods?
Session 6b: Empirical papers	1. Empirical papers: How do I determine my methodological position and write this up? 2. How do I generate/collect empirical data that will be considered suitable for publication?
Session 7: Writing up	1. How do I write the discussions and conclusions for my paper? 2. How do I submit my paper? 3. What happens next? How am I going to deal with the feedback I receive from the publisher?