About
Research
Email: sam.lovatt@stmarys.ac.uk
Biography
Sam Lovatt is the Course Lead for the PGCE Primary with QTS and lecture on primary computing modules across all primary QTS programmes.
Sam joined St Mary’s in 2021. He is the Course Lead for the PGCE Primary with QTS. Sam is also a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education, and the Subject Knowledge Lead for Primary Computing. He teaches sessions about primary computing on all programmes for primary education in the School of Education. Sam is currently the co-chair of the research group Creative Education, Innovation and Digital Futures within the Thea Bowman Centre for Educational Research. With his colleague Janine Pavlis, they are leading on multiple research projects within this field.
Sam graduated from CCCU in 2015 with a degree in Primary Education (QTS). He then went into working as a teacher in a South London primary school. He has a wide range of teaching experience in primary schools ranging from year three to year six. He was a middle leader in the school he taught in before joining St Mary’s, responsible for leading the teaching and learning within reading, as well as having other subject leadership roles for the foundation subjects, including computing. In 2021, Sam graduated from Roehampton University with a Master’s degree in Educational Practice. In 2022, Sam gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice, which means he is now a Fellow of the Higher Education Association. More recently, Sam has started his Professional Doctorate in Education with his research focussing on creative pedagogy within primary computing.
Sam is passionate about teaching, learning and providing the best outcomes for all children and students at St Mary’s.
Research
Research profile
Research interests include: the adoption of Generative AI technologies in schools, technology & pedagogy, computing education and primary education.
Recent published work includes:
- Lovatt, S. (2025) Generative AI in the classroom: Challenging the digital native assumptions of student proficiency with artificial intelligence tools in Impact: Journal of the Charted College of Teaching special edition
- Lovatt, S. and Sinclair, S. (2025) Using generative artificial intelligence to plan and resource primary science in Primary Science issue 185
- Clarke, S., Lovatt, S., Laskova, K., Wang, H. and Chisnall, L. (2026) Exploring the Theoretical Foundations of GenAI-informed Teacher Pedagogy. London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science. 25(16) pp.1-21
- In print: Pavlis, J., Montenero, E. and Lovatt, S. (2026) What are the opportunities and challenges presented by STEM education in the primary sector? Design and Technology Education: An International Journal.
Recent conference presentations include:
- In 2025 invited to present at the NEU and UKLA Literacies conference. My session was titled Digital Literacy in the Classroom: Whose responsibility is it? and discussed the commonalities between literacy and digital literacy.
- In 2025 invited to present at the Computing at School annual conference. My session was titled Teaching AI in Primary through the Lens of Digital Literacy and discussed how primary school teachers can teach about AI in the computing curriculum.
- In 2025 invited to be the key note speaker at the Archdiocese of Southwark’s Education Conference were 120+ headteachers attended a two day event. My 4 hour morning session covered AI in education for both teachers and students.
- In 2026 invited to attend and present at an NEU and Demos round table event were the focus was to discuss student use of AI within education. The event bought tougher 20 professionals to discuss AI and inform the NEU’s response to the increase in student’s use of AI.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sam-lovatt-7760a1150
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3343-1738