Browsing by Person "Lord, Kat"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Critical Engineering Pedagogy: Curricular peer mentoring as a case study for change in the Canadian neoliberal university
(Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland, 2018) Lord, Kat
The Impact of Parental Complaints on Teacher Mental Health and Wellbeing
(Diamond Scientific Publishing, 2022-03) Lord, Kat; Williams, Jane
This study examined the impact of parental complaints on the mental health and wellbeing of teachers within Scottish state schools during Covid-19. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, a significant proportion of teaching staff reported feeling undervalued by society (OECD, 2018) and over half of Scottish teachers reported mental ill health due to workplace stress (White, 2020). As the pandemic continued, poor mental health continued to affect UK teachers (Kim & Asbury, 2020) and a noticeable, negative rhetoric about teachers began circulating in the UK media (O'Donnell, 2020, Power, 2020; Prior, 2020; Vine, 2020; Woolcock, 2020) and via social media platforms (Chakrabarti, 2020; Education Support, 2020), with parental dissatisfaction and anxiety directed at teachers. The research was undertaken using a mixed methods sequential design consisting of an online survey followed by semi-structured interviews. The survey data was analysed using SPSS, providing descriptive and inferential statistical data about the respondent demographics, experiences of complaints, and level of wellbeing as measured through an interpretative phenomenological approach exploring how the parent – pupil – teacher – school relationship is impacted by complaints. Findings include: (i) the need for greater dialogue around the role of complaints and parental engagement in schools postCovid, (ii) what teachers believe they are able to deliver and parental expectations of that delivery, at times resulted in unreasonable and difficult parental behaviours that impacted the parent- pupil relationship in a minority of cases, and (iii) that most interviewees felt well supported but that the complaints process could be improved.
The National Framework for Inclusion, 3rd ed. [Document]
(The General Teaching Council for Scotland, 2022) Scottish Universities Inclusion Group; Alves, Ines; Barrett, Louise; Barnett, Hayley; Cantali, Di; Catlin, Jane; Darling-McQuistan, Kirsten; Dey, Donna; Essex, Jane; Florian, Lani; Foley, Yvonne; Graham, Archie; Jaap, Angela; Jones, Sian; Lord, Kat; McAuliffe, Lisa; McGill, Colin; Mercieca, Duncan; Munro, Alice; Mouroutsou, Stella; Priestley, Andrea; Sutherland, Margaret; Wang, Yuchen; Cantali, Di
Ode to Joy: discussions on creating a chorus of jubilation in education
(University of Aberdeen, 2025-09-16) Lord, Kat; Deazley, Stephen
In this dialogue, Stephen, Artistic Director of a non-profit arts organisation, and Kat, a former primary school teacher and Senior Lecturer in Education at a Post-1992 university, reflect on the nature of joy in informal and formal education spaces as taken from their professional experiences. They explore how to create the conditions for joy in those spaces through song, discussing their collaboration to design an inclusive and sustainable singing programme, Sing for Wellbeing.
The impact of parental complaints on teachers working within Scottish schools during Covid-19
(Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2023-06-08) Williams, Jane; Lord, Kat; Vettini, Amanda
This exploratory research examines the impact of everyday parental complaints on teachers working in Scottish Schools during the Covid-19 pandemic. Through interviews with 18 teaching professionals, our findings demonstrate that parental complaints both before and during Covid-19 are a feature of school life, even if they were not conceptualised in that way by teaching professionals. We found that teaching professionals have become accustomed to the everyday informal complaints parents voice about schools to the point only serious situations or repeat complaints were considered to be raising a ‘complaint’. Formal complaints procedures were seen as being a barrier to maintaining good relationships with parents. Complaints during Covid were rationalised as coming from anxious parents due to the pandemic, or a small group of parents with unrealistic expectations, or outdated understandings of education. Despite the fact our research was about complaints experienced by teachers during the pandemic, our respondents frequently referenced complaints prior to this, emphasising the impact complaints can have long after they have been made, which resonates with other research on the long-term practical and emotional impact of complaints.