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Dr Neil Hopkins

Senior Lecturer and Advanced Researcher in Teacher Education

Neil Hopkins

I taught in further and adult education for 12 years, primarily in adult literacy (workplace and community contexts) and teacher training. I was programme leader for PGCE (post compulsory education) at North Hertfordshire College.

I teach on the BA Applied Education Studies, BA Education Studies and MA Education and am an Advanced Researcher in the School of Teacher Education. Alongside that, I am founder and co-secretary of the Bedford Philosophy of Education Society which runs regulars seminars from academics at the 天美传媒 and other universities.

My main research interests are vocational education, adult education, comparative/international education, philosophy of education, educational leadership and governance, and the study of English within the various phases of British education.

Other References

Qualifications

  • PhD Philosophy of Education, Institute of Education, London (2009-2013)
  • MA Philosophy, Open 天美传媒 (2005-2007)
  • Adult Literacy Teacher Trainer, London South Bank 天美传媒 (2004-2005)
  • Adult Literacy Subject Specialist, City & Guilds (2003-2004)
  • PGCE (post compulsory Education) English, Institute of Education, London (2001-2002)
  • BA (Hons) English Literature, 天美传媒 (1998-2001)

Teaching Expertise

  • English/Literacy
  • Philosophy of Education
  • Curriculum Studies
  • Educational Policy

Research Interests

  • Philosophy of education
  • Vocational education
  • Democracy and education
  • The teaching of English in all phases of education
  • Comparative education

Research Projects

  • British Council/ERASMUS+ (2016-2019), 'Time, Technology and Talent'. A project involving schools in Bedford, Copenhagen and Helsinki on developments in pedagogy and teacher professionalism
  • Chartered College of Teaching (2018-2020). A research project investigating the development of Chartered College of Teaching status (CTeach)

Conference Presentations and Podcasts

  • Citizenship Education in Further Education鈥 at 鈥楥itizenship Education in a Globalising World鈥, Institute of Education, London (November 2010)
  • 鈥楾he Apprenticeship Tradition in Further Education鈥 and 鈥楾he Self-Help Tradition in Adult Education鈥 (seminars), IoE/KU Leuven colloquiums (June 2010 and December 2010)
  • 鈥楾he Self-Help Tradition in Adult Education, IoE/Philosophy of Education Society Great Britain (October 2011)
  • 鈥楥itizenship in Adult Education: The Self-Help Tradition鈥, BERA Annual Conference (September 2013)
  • 鈥楾he Democratic Curriculum: Concept and Practice鈥, BERA Annual Conference (September 2014)
  • 鈥楩reedom as Non-Domination, Standards and the Negotiated Curriculum, PESGB Annual Conference (March 2015) and PESGB Oxford (January 2016)
  • 鈥楧ewey and the Democratic Curriculum鈥, PESGB and 天美传媒 of Cambridge (Democracy and Education Centenary) (September 2016)
  • 鈥楨ducating for Democracy in England and Finland鈥, Finnish Embassy, London (October 2016)
  • 鈥楶hilosophical Investigation of Pedagogic Partnership in Higher Education鈥, 天美传媒 of Hertfordshire (November 2016)
  • 鈥淐itizenship, Democracy and Radicalisation鈥, Masterclass at 天美传媒 of Windesheim, Zwolle (March 2017)
  • 鈥楥inderella and other stories: An exploration of practitioners' views on bringing Further Education out of the shadows鈥, ESREA, 天美传媒 of Verona (June 2017)
  • 鈥楧ewey, Democracy and Education and the Curriculum鈥, PESGB West Yorkshire (September 2017) and PESGB Bedford (December 2017)
  • 鈥楾he Research-Informed Teacher鈥 (keynote), Bedford Borough Learning Exchange Conference (November 2017)
  • British Council/ERASMUS 鈥3T鈥 presentations (Helsinki (April 2018); Copenhagen (September 2018))
  • 鈥楨nglish Literature as Citizenship Education鈥, BERA SIG English in Education conference, 天美传媒 (June 2018)
  • 鈥楥hartered College of Teaching in England鈥, AERA Annual Conference, Toronto (April 2019)
  • 鈥楥reating sites of community education and democracy: Henry Morris and the Cambridgeshire village colleges鈥, PESGB Bedford (February 2020) and 天美传媒 of Cambridge, PESGB Cambridge (May 2020)
  • The Henry Morris Story鈥 (Keynote), Henry Morris Centenary Conference, Sawston Village College, Cambridgeshire (June 2022)
  • 鈥楾hrough the Looking Glass - Reflections on identity in challenging times鈥, ESREA Access, Learning Careers and Identities Network Conference, 天美传媒 of Algarve, Faro, Portugal (July 2022)
  • 鈥Decolonising Assessment鈥, Conference: Decolonising the university within and beyond the curriculum, 天美传媒 of Winchester (February 2023); BERA Annual Conference (September 2023)
  • 鈥楶rofessional Identity as Power鈥, TEAN Annual Conference, Manchester (May 2023); BERA English and Education Conference, 天美传媒 (June 2023)
  • 鈥楥o-creativity, interdisciplinarity and professional identity鈥, seminar with Northeastern 天美传媒 (Boston), London (July 2023 & July 2024)
  • Podcast: 鈥楶hilosophy of Education鈥, Diversifying and Decolonising the 天美传媒 (March 2024). Available at:
  • Podcast: 鈥楻eflections on Identity鈥, After the Bell (April 2024). Available at:
  • Reflections on Identity: Narratives from Educators [book launch], TEAN Annual Conference, Manchester (May 2024)

Professional Associations

  • British Educational Research Association

External Roles

  • Co-secretary, Bedford Philosophy of Education Society
  • Committee Member, Bedford Associate Fellowship Group (Bedford Borough teachers)
  • External Examiner, 天美传媒 of Suffolk, PGCE/Cert Ed in post-compulsory education
  • External Examiner, 天美传媒 of Chester, Doctorate in Education (EdD)
  • Peer Reviewer: Journal of Philosophy of Education, Policy Futures in Education, Oxford Review of Education, Journal of Further and Higher Education, British Educational Research Journal

Publications

  • Hopkins, N. (2013), Citizenship and Education in Further and Adult Education, Dordrecht: Springer
  • Hopkins, N. (2014) 鈥楾he Democratic Curriculum: Concept and Practice鈥, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 48 (3): 416-427.
  • Hopkins, N. (2015), 鈥楩reedom as Non-Domination, Standards and the Negotiated Curriculum鈥, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 49 (9): 607-618.
  • Hopkins, N. and Tarnanen, M. (2016) 鈥楧emocracy and the Curriculum: English and Finnish Perspectives鈥, in Raiker and Rautiainen (eds.) Education for Democracy in England and Finland: Culture and Principles, London: Routledge.
  • Hopkins, N. (2017) Written Evidence to House of Lords Citizenship and Civic Engagement Committee [online] (CCE0016). Available at: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/citizenship-and-civic-engagement-committee/citizenship-and-civic-engagement/written/69337.pdf
  • Hopkins, N. (2018), 鈥楧ewey and the Curriculum鈥, in Heilbronn et al (eds.), Dewey and Education in the 21st Century: Fighting Back, Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.
  • Hopkins, N. (2018), 鈥楧ewey, Democracy and Education and the Curriculum鈥, Education 3-13 (Special Edition), 46 (4): 433-440.
  • Hopkins, N. (2018), 鈥榊outh in England: Government, Policy and the State鈥, Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies [online]
  • Thompson, C. and Hopkins, N. (2018), 鈥楥inderella and other stories: An exploration of practitioners鈥 view on brining Further Education out of the shadows鈥, Encyclopaideia: Journal of phenomenology and education, 23 (53): 5-14.
  • Hopkins, N. and Coster, W. (2019), 鈥楾he Levellers, political literacy and the contemporary Citizenship curriculum in England鈥, Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 14 (1): 68-81.
  • Belas, O. and Hopkins, N. (2019), 鈥楽ubject English and citizenship education, British Educational Research Journal, 45 (2): 320-339. Winner of BERJ's 'Editors' Choice Award' (2020)
  • Hopkins, N. (2019), Democratic Socialism and Education: New Perspectives on Policy and Practice, Dordrecht: Springer.
  • Hopkins, N. (2019), 鈥楻ethinking citizenship is vital in the age of Brexit鈥, Times Educational Supplement (May 2019).
  • Hopkins, N. (2019), 鈥楾eacher education and the development of democratic education in England鈥, in Raiker, Rautiainen and Saqipi (eds.), Teacher education and the development of democratic citizenship in Europe: policy and practice, London: Routledge.
  • Hopkins, N. (2020), 鈥楥reating sites of community education and democracy: Henry Morris and the Cambridgeshire village colleges, British Educational Research Journal.
  • Hopkins, N. (2021), 鈥楾he Challenges of Teaching for Democracy in the 21st Century: Dewey, Dialogic Pedagogy and Teacher Education in England鈥, in Waks, L., Ring, E., Rud, A.G. and Avila, J. (eds.), The Contemporary Relevance of John Dewey鈥檚 Theories on Teaching and Learning: Deweyan Perspectives on Standardization, Accountability and Assessment in Education, New York: Routledge.
  • Berrill, M. and Hopkins, N. (2021), 鈥極racy, Dialogic Learning and Education for Democracy. Developing an authentic 鈥榮tudent voice鈥 in an Eastern Region secondary school鈥, in Wearmouth, J. and Lindley, K. (eds.), Bringing the Curriculum to Life, Milton Keynes: Open 天美传媒/McGraw Hill.
  • Hopkins, N. (2021), 鈥楾he Challenges of Teaching for Democracy in the 21st Century: Dewey, Dialogic Pedagogy and Teacher Education in England鈥, in 脕vila, J., Rud, A.J., Waks, L. and Ring, E. (eds.), The Contemporary Relevance of John Dewey鈥檚 Theories on Teaching and Learning; Deweyan Perspectives on Standardization, Accountability and Assessment in Education, New York: Routledge.
  • Hopkins, N. (2022), 鈥極rwell: On Writing Clearly鈥 (PESGB Blog). Available at:
  • Hopkins, N. (2022), 鈥楻ichard Pring鈥檚 鈥楨ducation, Social Reform and Philosophical Development鈥 (Book Review), PESGB/Journal of Philosophy of Education [online]. Available at:
  • Hopkins, N. and Mathew, D. (2022), 鈥楾he (Co)Creation of Shared Meaning: An interdisciplinary discussion 鈥榖etween鈥 dialogic learning and the analytic third鈥, Modern Psychoanalysis, 46 (2): 167-186.
  • Hopkins, N. (2022), 鈥楢 Socialist in Disneyland鈥 (PESGB Blog). Available at:
  • Hopkins, N. (2022), 鈥榃hy I go on strike鈥 (Radical Education and Humanities Group). Available at:
  • Hopkins, N. (2023), 鈥楾wo Essays on Art鈥 (Radical Education and Humanities Group). Available at:
  • Mathew, D. and Hopkins, N. (2023), 鈥楾raining for the Impossible? Induction and identity formation among trainee teachers and psychoanalysis鈥, Modern Psychoanalysis, 47 (2): 223-239.
  • Hopkins, N. (2023), 鈥楯azz and Psychoanalysis鈥 (Radical Education and Humanities Group). Available at:
  • Hopkins, N. and Thompson, C. (eds.) (2024), Reflections on Professional Identity: Narratives from Educators, Dordrecht: Springer.
  • Hopkins, N. and Thompson, C. (2024), 鈥楾hrough the looking glass: Professional identity during a pandemic鈥, in Paulos, L. (ed.), Adult education in times of crisis and change: perspectives on access, learning careers and identities, Leiden: Brill/Sense.
  • Wearmouth, J. and Hopkins, N. (2024), 鈥業ntroduction鈥, in Wearmouth, J., Lindley, K., Maylor, U. and Shea, J. (eds.), Exploring Social Justice in Practice in Education: Understanding Tensions and Challenges Through Lived Experiences, London: Routledge.

Contact Details

E: neil.hopkins@beds.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1234 793406 (ext. 4406)