Dr Sophie Meller

Assistant Professor

Department: Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing

Sophie currently has three main roles within the area of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) at the University of Northumbria. She is the Admissions Lead for our suite of ITE programmes, planning, overseeing and implementing the interview process. In addition to this role, she is the Lead for ITE where she liaises closely with the Head of Subject in the strategic planning for the area. She is also the Programme Leader for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Primary) (PGCE) which is a one-year campus-based programme. Her pedagogy is rooted in a belief that education has the ability to empower (Freire, 1970) and that inclusive practice is fundamental to effective teaching and learning. This philosophy is reflected by her having won the Student Led Teaching Award for Northumbria’s ‘Best lecturer’ with the certifcate noting that 'she always has a positive attitude', 'creates a comfortable talking environment', 'listens to all students', 'makes her lectures interesting' and 'has an engaging presence'.

Before joining Northumbria University as an academic she was a teacher, and leader, in schools within the Gateshead and North Tyneside Local Authorities.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Sophie's research interests lie within the Mentoring of Student Teachers, Simulated Learning and Inter-Professional Learning.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
The Knowledge Exchange Framework and Levelling Up: understanding the importance of engagement for students and employers, Heslop, K., Meller, S., Johnson, M. 9 Feb 2024, How to ensure the employability of a university graduate, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar
Virtual reality check: A realist evaluation protocol for exploring the use of Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) to support pre-service teachers’ understanding of approaches to behaviour management, Woodley, H., Mulholland, K., Nichol, D., Counihan, C., Luke, C., Gray, W., Meller, S., Herridge, D., Anderson, A., Ross, J. 1 Feb 2024, In: Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching
Enhancing Support and Recognition for Teaching Mentors, Meller, S., Allan, J., Elsdon, M., Hayman, R., Mathieson, S. 27 Jun 2023, Annual Three Rivers Conference: The North East Universities Consortium
How can academics remove barriers for the most excluded? A call for advocacy from lived experience in the UK and Ireland, Efemini, C., Forster, N., Gallagher, M., Hardill, I., Heslop, K., Littlefair, D., Marsden, N., Meller, S., Toyne, A., O’Tuama, S., Johnson, M. 16 Nov 2023, In: Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
"The Bits of the Job Beyond Teaching": Can simulation-based learning in Initial Teacher Education better prepare students for real-life as a teacher?  , Mulholland, K., Nichol, D., Herridge, D., Anderson, A., Luke, C., Gray, W., Meller, S., Counihan, C. 13 Sep 2023
Using simulation in a primary education context to encourage student engagement and professional learning, Gray, W., Luke, C., Meller, S., Mulholland, K., Herridge, D., Anderson, A., Nichol, D. 14 Apr 2023, European Teacher Education Network (ETEN) Annual Conference
Welcome Matviy: Working in staff–student partnerships to develop simulation-based learning to support teachers’ understanding of EAL, Luke, C., Counihan, C., Nichol, D., Meller, S., Mulholland, K., Gray, W., Anderson, A., Herridge, D., Karikis, D., Sanderson, R., Collard, E., Hill, R. Sep 2023
‘We need more conversations like this’: The impacts of working with student pedagogic consultants in developing simulation-based pedagogies, Mulholland, K., Nichol, D., Counihan, C., Herridge, D., Anderson, A., Meller, S., Luke, C., Gray, W. 15 Oct 2023, In: Journal Of Applied Learning and Teaching
“Everyone’s talking about Oscar.”: Using simulation in a primary education context to encourage student engagement and professional learning, Luke, C., Meller, S., Anderson, A., Gray, W., Nichol, D., Herridge, D., Mulholland, K. 3 Nov 2022, UCET Annual Conference 2022
“Everyone’s talking about Oscar”: Using simulation in a primary education context to encourage engagement in professional learning whilst managing cognitive load, Anderson, A., Mulholland, K., Herridge, D., Meller, S., Gray, W., Luke, C., Nichol, D. 29 Jun 2022, North East Regional Learning and Teaching Conference 2022

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Organising a conference, workshop, ...: Advance HE Teaching and Learning Conference 2023 2023

PGR Supervision

Carl Luke A critical participatory action research study of the use of simulation-based learning as a continuing professional development tool for teachers in their early career phase. Start Date: 01/10/2023

Qualifications

Education PhD May 20 2021
Education BA (Hons) with QTS September 01 1992
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy SFHEA

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Research at Northumbria

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