About
Research
Email: karen.fox@stmarys.ac.uk
Biography
I am a Senior Lecturer in primary English and teach English on the Primary Education Work-based Routes, the BA Hons in Primary Education with QTS, and the PGCE in Primary Education with QTS. I am also a link tutor in St Mary’s partnership schools and a personal tutor for UG students. As Subject Lead for Student Experience, I oversee and enhance the student experience in the School of Education.
Prior to working at St Mary's, I taught in primary schools across Surrey, Kingston, and Merton for over twenty years. I have wide-ranging leadership experience and led English across the primary age range. I completed my MA in Professional Studies in Education at Kingston University in 2004 and my dissertation looked at the different strategies that can be used in the classroom to help improve children’s writing. I am currently a doctoral student at St Mary’s focusing on identity and representation in children’s literature.
Hobbies and interests
I love reading all types of books but especially children's books and YA fiction as well as anything with shifts in time. I enjoy therapeutic writing, being outdoors and painting pebbles when I have time!
Qualifications and accreditations
- MA Professional studies in Education
- PGCE Primary Education
- BSc Econ (hons) Development Studies
- FHEA
Membership of professional bodies
- UKLA
- Chartered College of Teaching
Research
Research profile
I am passionate about teaching English, particularly how English can support children with the explorations of their identity and can empower them to tackle issues of social justice.
I co-run an Open University/United Kingdom Literacy Association Teachers Reading Group which delivers high-quality CPD on reading for pleasure and includes participants engaging in research in their schools.
I am currently involved in a joint research project on teacher writer identity and the impact this has on teaching and learning.
I am also currently working on an initiative called Get Hounslow Writing with other members of the English team.
My doctoral research is focused on how children see themselves in the books that they read.
Conferences
I have presented at several conferences including:
BERA (2024), UKLA International Conferences (2022;2023;2024), Teaching and Learning Festival (2021,2022), UKLA Participatory Approaches to Literacy Research, and to online English Special Interest Groups.
I recently had an article on writing for pleasure published in the UKLA 4-11 English magazine.