Staff profile

As the Director of Professional Development, I lead the professional learning offer in the School of Education, working with national and international partners to support opportunities and deliver bespoke courses, both online and face-to-face.  As part of my role at Durham, I am involved with outreach and engagement with local schools, providing professional development courses in primary and secondary education and organising events to promote participation.

I graduated with a BSc(Hons) in Medicinal Chemistry at University College London in 1991 with an interest in neuropharmacology. As a Graduate Assistant, I continued this work by designing and synthesising 5-HT1A (Serotonin) receptor partial agonists. After completing the PGCE Science programme at Durham University in 1993, I taught and held leadership roles in London and North East schools before joining the School of Education in 2009. Over the past fifteen years, I have contributed to a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching as Module Convenor and in various leadership roles as PGCE Science Leader and Programme Director of the BA(Ed) Primary course. My Masters in Online and Distance Education developed a passion for technology-enhanced learning, evident in our Teacher Education offer and CPD courses.

From 2017 to 2023, I held the Director of Professional Programmes role and was responsible for delivering all teacher education in the School. This included several innovative routes into teaching and Masters level courses, including Undergraduate and Postgraduate routes for Core and School Direct provision, an International PGCE and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education Theory for local and international partners.

• Communities of Practice
• International and Comparative Education
• Peer Review
• Professional Learning and Development
• Science Education

• 2000: Prizes and Awards: Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, SFHEA, 2017

  Leading Transformation in Learning and Teaching, HEA Award, LFHE, 2017

  Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award, Durham University, 2016

  Enhancing the Student Learning Experience Award, 2016

  Chartered Science Teacher, CSci Teach, 2015

• 2000: Professional Development Offer - International: Developing Pedagogic Knowledge through School Immersion

  Developing Pedagogic Knowledge and English Language through School Immersion

  An Immersion in the British School Context

  The Autonomous Teacher (online)

• 2000: Internal Seminars and Workshops: Earth Sciences Department, Feb 2018. Observations in Earth Sciences; developing evaluative judgements.

  Learning and Teaching Network, April 2017.  Using Peer Review to develop evaluative judgements.

  Learning and Teaching Network, March 2017.  Gaining an Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award.

  Learning and Teaching Network, Sept 2016.  Gaining an Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award.

• 2000: Conference Talks: International Assessment in Higher Education Conference, Manchester, June 2018. Developing as a peer reviewer: enhancing student graduate attributes.

  Durham Teaching and Learning Conference, September 2017. Transitions in a professional programme: scaffolding the development of an essential profesional attribute through peer review.

  TEAN conference, Aston University, May 2017. Using Peer Review to develop evaluative judgements.

• 2000: Professional Memberships: Senior Fellow of the HEA

  Member UCET Management Forum

  Member Russell Group ITE

  Member of RSc (MRSC)

  Member of ASE Futures

  Vice-Chair ASE North

Chapter in book

• Reading, C. (2020). Reporting in science at a deeper level. In A. Bushnell, A. Gill, & D. Waugh (Eds.), Mastering Writing in Greater Depth (207-223). SAGE Publications

Journal Article

• Rushton, E. A., Murtagh, L., Ball-Smith, C., Black, B., Dunlop, L., Gibbons, S., …Scott, C. (2022). Reflecting on ’classroom readiness’ in initial teacher education in a time of global pandemic from the perspectives of eight university providers from across England, UK. Journal of Education for Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2022.2150840
• Simpson, R., & Reading, C. (2019). Developing as a peer reviewer: enhancing students' graduate attributes. Practitioner research in higher education, 12(1), 38-49
• Reading, C., Simpson, R., & Roberts, R. (2017). Peer review: some reflections on a pilot project in the School of Education
• Roberts, R., & Reading, C. (2015). The practical work challenge: incorporating the explicit teaching of evidence in subject content. School science review, 31-39