Student profiles

The scholarship from Wipro contributed heavily to me being able to undertake my MA in STEM Education. Having worked as a classroom teacher for five years, it felt important for me to understand the policy that dictated the Mathematics I was teaching, the way I was teaching it and, more interestingly for me, the content I wasn’t teaching.   The Masters in STEM Education from King’s College gave me an understanding of how policy is created, trickled down and implemented....

Riccardo is a Mathematics and Physics teacher with a profound passion for STEM education. After obtaining an MSc in Physics in Italy, Riccardo moved to the UK to become a qualified teacher. After completing a PGCE in Secondary Maths, he took on a teaching role at King’s College London Mathematics School, a specialist, state-funded selective sixth form college in Inner London. Believing strongly in the power of Socratic questioning, Riccardo guides students to discover knowledge independently, not only helping them...

Francis is an experienced science teacher whose specialism is in Chemistry who also worked as a school leader for a couple of years. My teaching experience is in KS4 Physics, Chemistry and Biology and my KS5 experience is in Chemistry.  From the masters in STEM Education at King’s College London, I understood the current limits on STEM education nationally. With a more detailed awareness of the methodological limitations across the UK, I started experimenting with alternative ways of teaching the STEM curriculums...

Following completing my degree in Electronic Engineering I worked as an engineer for all of three months before realising my passion lay in teaching instead of engineering. I have been teaching for 13 Years now. I originally did my teacher training in Newcastle Upon Tyne, but since then I have spent most of my time teaching at Sutton Grammar School, where I teach Physics and I am Director of Extracurricular STEM and Head of Electronics. I have taught a wide...

Katharine graduated from Bristol University with a degree and PhD in Chemistry and is currently Head of Chemistry at The Fulham Boys School. Prior to this Katharine has taught in four different schools in Surrey and London, with leadership roles in both science and year teams, including four years as a Head of Science. She is passionate about inspiring students in STEM careers and equipping them with the key skills for their future. This has included setting up events in...

After completing my undergraduate degree in Human Psychology, I embarked on a PGCE in IT/Computing at Keele University. Before joining Nishkam, I worked as an Assistant Curriculum Leader and Curriculum Leader of Technologies. I joined the Nishkam High School in January 2017 as the Subject leader of computer science and soon after became the Faculty leader of Business, Art and Culture. Subsequently, I held the position of STEM coordinator before stepping into my position as an Assistant Principal leading on...

I am currently a Lead Practitioner and for the last twenty-three years have enjoyed teaching science, in both primary and secondary schools.  Doing the Masters is greatly empowering me to build on my skills and realise my ambition of strengthening the success of everyone involved in STEM education.  I want to see that every individual student is fully equipped to enable the STEM career of their dreams to become a reality.  I aim to motivate my colleagues to even higher levels of performance...

My name is Jessica Desouza, and I am part of the 2022-2024 Part Time STEM Education course at Kings College London. I have been teaching Science for the past 5 years, moved to 3 different schools and I am currently the Head of Year 12 at Vyners School in Ickenham.  As a qualified teacher I have spent my time being a diligent classroom practitioner, positive role model to my students and established myself as a trusted member of the school. I had...

I am a Science teacher with a Physics Specialism in a Secondary in outer London. Although I was not intending to pursue the Sciences from my experiences of Science education at school it was a chance visit to CERN with my artist hat on which sparked my interest in the abstraction and beauty of Science. This led to me teaching Physics which combines my skill set of Mathematics and abstract thinking. From the MA I hope to challenge the scope...

Amiera is an experienced educator who has dedicated over a decade to chemistry education. Her passion for teaching began as a personal chemistry tutor and mentor, a role she successfully pursued for ten years. In August 2020, Amiera made a commitment to a career in education, and she received her PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) from Kings College London in July 2021. Since September 2021, she has been a devoted and full-time Chemistry teacher. Amiera’s teaching career started in an...

Allen Tsui was delighted to be one of the recipients of a scholarship from Wipro to enable him to be on the MA in STEM Education at King’s College, London. Allen said “It has been a life-long aspiration of mine to study at one of the World’s most prestigious University Colleges in a field that I have been deeply passionate about since I got to teach myself computing at the dawn of home computing in the early 1980s. The Wipro...

Dr Mary Webb has developed and researched the use of digital technologies in learning and teaching since computers first appeared in schools. Mary is internationally recognised for her research on pedagogy and formative assessment across both Computer Science as a subject and the uses of new technologies for learning. Mary’s research has resulted in over 150 publications. Recent research has focused on analysing computing curricula, pedagogy for learning computing, especially programming, and for using digital technologies for learning especially in science...

Amy has been a teaching fellow in mathematics education since January 2017 and teaches on undergraduate, PGCE and master’s level modules. Prior to joining King’s College London she worked as a classroom teacher for seven years teaching mathematics in secondary schools. Amy spent two years as head of department and two years as head of year. She also has experience in consultancy, authoring, and as a voluntary governor for a secondary school.

Alex has worked in education in various capacities for the last 20 years. He has worked as a Computing teacher, examiner, teacher educator and educational researcher. Alex is committed to research-informed teaching and has helped to shape the practice of Computing educators through his numerous published teaching resources. Being neurodiverse, Alex had a challenging journey through the education system, and this has shaped both his teaching and his research. He strives to create inclusive learning environments in his teaching and...

Dr Carla Finesilver works mainly in the areas of mathematics education and inclusion, with a particular interest in the intersection of these two fields – inclusive mathematics education. Through both her research and teaching, she aims to make mathematics, STEM subjects, and education in general more inclusive, accessible and relevant for diverse learners. Prior to her academic career, Carla spent 10 years as a classroom teacher at various secondary schools in London, including as Head of Mathematics (and one of...

Dr Owens joined the Centre for Public Policy Research in September 2007 to take up an AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral award (in association with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain). In 2010, he completed his thesis, entitled ‘Personalising the NHS: A Philosophical Analysis’. Previous to this Dr Owens studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and applied ethics, also at King’s.

David’s background is in research and development supporting school curriculum and assessment policy at England, UK and EU levels. He has been involved in the School since 2005 when he started a part-time MRes at King’s. David joined the School full-time in 2010 when he started a PhD studentship with Economic and Social Research Council funding. David then became a post-doctoral research associate on an Education Endowment Foundation project in 2014 and began his lectureship in 2016.

Peter has worked as a computing and philosophy teacher, curriculum designer, senior examiner, teacher educator and educational researcher. He is interested in how computing can be used as a vehicle for social mobility and how interpretations of computing help reinforce social inequalities. Peter is actively involved with digital arts education through the 3Dami organisation.

Professor Heather King’s research examines the ways in which educators foster learner engagement with science across many contexts including schools, museums, the natural environment, and non-formal spaces such as maker-spaces. In particular, her work focuses on social and environmental justice concerns with respect to science education practice. Heather is co-chair of the Science and Technology Education Research Group at King’s College London and teaches modules in STEM education leadership, in STEM Making and Creating, and in Education in Arts and...

Lulu’s research interests focus on the challenges associated with building more inclusive school mathematics and in understanding the mathematical practices of learners with disabilities. Her work includes investigating and designing forms of accessing and expressing mathematics that respects the divergent needs of all our students; contributing to the development of teaching strategies that recognise this diversity, and examining the relationships between sensory experiences and mathematical cognition.  

Before joining King’s, Dr Brock worked as a secondary physics teacher. He is interested in learning in science education, particularly in critiquing the concepts of knowledge and understanding. Dr Brock has used the microgenetic method, which uses relatively high frequency sampling to develop fine-grained representations of change, to study students’ learning. He is interested in how short-term and long-term changes to students’ learning can be represented. Through his work on the PGCE, and with colleagues Alex Manning, Emma Towers and Helen Damon,...

Before joining King’s College London Melissa’s previous posts included secondary science teacher in inner London and project officer for London Outdoor Science (Field Studies Council) where she wrote several outdoor curriculums. Between 2018-2023 Melissa was a trustee at the London Wildlife Trust and was an invited fellow of the National Association of Environmental Education (NAEE) and London Environmental Education Forum (LEEF). Alongside her research, these experiences inform Melissa’s teaching responsibilities. Melissa is interested in why teachers teach what they do,...