Dr Roger Wood
PhD, BEd. (Hons), CBiol., FRSB, FLS, FRAS, FZS, FRSSA, FHEA, FRSA, FCCT
Senior Lecturer in Education (Primary Science, Nature Conservation and Inquiry-Based Learning)
School of Education, Humanities and Languages

Role
Prior to his move to the Oxford Brookes University in October 2018, Dr. Roger Wood was a Senior Lecturer in Primary Teacher Development at Bishop Grosseteste University and a Research Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. Dr. Wood was a primary school teacher and headteacher for 23 years.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Roger_Wood2
Dr. Wood held various teaching posts, was Head of Science Department at two schools, and enjoyed 13 years of senior leadership roles (including a Deputy Headship and two Headships) within independent and maintained schools.
Dr. Wood is a Chartered Biologist. In recognition of his work in science education and conservation, Roger has been elected to current and prior Fellowships with the Royal Society of Biology,, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Linnean Society of London, the Zoological Society of London, the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Dr. Wood gas previously been a member of the Council of the Zoological Society of London and a Board Member (and Acting Vice-Chairman) with the chimpanzee conservation charity, the Jane Goodall Institute UK.
He is the Project Officer and commitee member with the Cornwall Science Community - https://cornwallsciencecommunity.org/about-the-bsa/the-committee/ , and is a member of the Royal Society of Biology Devon and Cornwall Committee.
Dr. Wood is an External Examiner of Primary PGCE programmes at a number of universities.
Teaching and supervision
Courses
- Doctor of Education (EdD)
- Education (MA)
- Early Childhood Studies (BA (Hons))
- Education Studies (BA (Hons))
- Primary Teacher Education (Campus-Based) (BA (Hons))
Modules taught
- Module Lead: Primary Science and STEM Specialists (Level 6)
- Module Lead: UG ITE BA Primary Education – Becoming a Researching Teacher / Critical Analysis of Educational Research (Level 5)
- Module Lead: UG ITE BA Primary Education – Becoming a Researcher / Introduction to Educational Research (Level 4)
- Module Lead: UG BA Education Studies – Introduction to the Study of Education (Level 4)
- Module Lead: UG BA Education Studies – Introduction to Child and Adolescent Development (Level 4)
- Primary ITE Subject Lead: Geography and Outdoor Learning: UG and PGCE
- Primary ITE Team: Science Education – UG and PGCE
- Primary ITE: Primary Teacher Education Dissertation – Co-Teacher (Level 6)
- Primary ITE, Education Studies and Early Childhood Studies: Dissertation Supervisor (Level 6)
- Primary ITE: University-Based Mentor for school placements – UG and PGCE
- BA Early Childhood Studies: Research and Professional Practice: UG
- MA in Education (Level 7) - Research Supervisor
- EdD module: Mind and Brain (Level 8)
- EdD Director of Studies / Research Supervisor
Leadership and Teaching
- Lead Admissions and Interview Tutor: PGCE 3-7 and 5-11 programmes
- ITE Subject Lead: Geography and Outdoor Learning: UG and PGCE
- Primary ITE Team: Science Education – UG and PGCE
- Primary ITE: Primary Teacher Education Dissertation – Co-Teacher (Level 6)
- Primary ITE, Education Studies and Early Childhood Studies: Dissertation Supervisor (Level 6)
Supervision
- Currently supervising EdD research at Oxford Brookes University
- Successful PhD completion – January 2020: The Effectiveness of Bilingual and Monolingual English Language Teachers and the Impact of their Qualities on the Academic Achievements of Preparatory Year Saudi English Students. (University of Aberdeen
Research
Dr Wood's current research projects focus upon inquiry-based learning (IBL) in science education, especially teachers’ IBL values and practices; in situ and ex situ conservation education (including within primate education); the impact of confidence-informed motivation upon children’s engagement with social contexts, and; allied to this, the impact of teacher-student relationship quality upon children’s receptiveness to feedback during learning activities.Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) in Science Education.
Current Research
Enhancing Children’s Engagement with Science Education and Outdoor Learning (including Nature, Conservation and Sustainability)
- The influence of Inquiry-Based Learning approaches upon children’s engagement with Science
- Enhancing trainee ITE teachers’ confidence and enthusiasm for Science Education through inquiry-based learning approaches
- Enhancing children’s engagement with nature and conservation through Inquiry-Based Learning and informal education (including outdoor learning).
- Creative approaches to Outdoor Education and Learning – the impact of teacher characteristics and professional confidence upon approaches within outdoor education (including Forest and Beach School); creative and playful approaches to learning, engagement and understanding; individuals’ perceived benefits of outdoor adventures.
Cornwall Children’s Active Engagement with Science:
- organizing and developing practical, relevant and interesting science inquiry-based activities for children in Cornwall. I am organizing and, in some cases, leading the children’s science activities, together with partnership development, and related research and knowledge expansion opportunities
- The impact of student-perceived teacher-student relationship quality upon students’ engagement with learning.
- Philosophical approaches to enhancing confidence-informed social motivation within human knowledge and endeavour: this research is, specifically, developing extensions to philosophical hermeneutics (Gadamer) and hermeneutic phenomenology (Heidegger) through the novel theory of the Philosophy of Confidence-Informed Social Motivation (PCISM).
Groups
Publications
Professional information
Memberships of professional bodies
- Chartered Biologist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology
- Fellow of the Linnean Society of London
- Fellow of the Zoological Society of London
- Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Fellow of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
- Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching
- Earthwatch Education Fellow
Conferences
- November 2019: Scottish Educational Research Association – Annual Conference Invited Paper - Trainee Teachers’ Values and Practices relating to Inquiry-Based Learning in Science Education
- Keynote Speaker November 2019 – International Academic Conference on Education, St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford: The influence of positive teacher-student relationships upon children’s sustained engagement with learning.
- Scottish Educational Research Association November 2017 – Annual Conference Invited Paper - Enhancing student teachers’ understanding of the links between their reflective practice and classroom-based educational research.
- University of Aberdeen June 2017 – Research Seminar The influence of the quality of Teacher-Student Relationships upon Students’ Motivated Engagement with Learning Activities
- Bishop Grosseteste University July 2016 – Research Conference Children’s receptiveness to teacher feedback - the influence of perceived teacher-student relationship quality upon students’autonomous motivation to engage with learning activities.
- University of Glasgow June 2016 - Theory Choice and Originality: Making the transition from Dazed in the Sweet Shop to Confectioner!
- University of Dundee June 2016: Research Seminar (Social Motivation) From Leaner to Learner – the impact of the Teacher-Student Relationship Quality upon Students’ Autonomy
- University of Glasgow October 2013: – BERA Postgraduate Symposium Key Teacher-Student Interpersonal Relationship Dynamics Influential upon Children's Engagement with Science.
- University of Cambridge May 2013: Kaleidoscope Conference Theory-Informed Reflexive Research Design
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Consultancy
- Science Education
- Inquiry-Based Learning in Science Education
- Research-Informed Professional Learning
- Career-Long Professional Learning and Practitioner Inquiry
- Educational Leadership and Management
- Outdoor Learning
- Conservation Education
Further details
Other experience
University of Aberdeen
Leadership
- UG and PG ITE Subject Lead for Primary Science
- PG Distance Learning ITE Subject Lead for Primary Science
- Professional Focus Course Coordinator: Inquiry-Based Learning in Science Education (UG)
- UG and PG ITE Subject Lead for Primary Physical Education
- Module Lead: Teaching and Learning through the Curriculum (UG)
- Expressive Arts Curricular Team Lead (PG / UG)
- Member, selection and interview panels for Lecturer recruitment
Teaching
- Primary PGDE – Science and PE
- Primary MA ITE teaching – UG Programme modules:
- Professional Focus, including Inquiry-Based Learning in Science Education
- Transferring Professional Knowledge (Science)
- Teaching and Learning through the Curriculum
Bishop Grosseteste University
Leadership
- Module Lead – Primary PGCE: Classroom Focused Development (PDE 752 and 652). Assistant Module Lead during 2015-16. Included leading the successful reaccreditation of the module as ‘Practitioner Inquiry’
- Module Lead – MA TESOL: Public Policy and Professional Practice
- Module Lead – MA in Education: Public Policy and Professional Practice
- Expert Lead: Practitioner Inquiry (Postgraduate ITE)
- Expert Lead: Inquiry-Based Learning through approaches such as the IB PYP and Authentic Learning (Undergraduate and Postgraduate ITE)
- Dissertation Supervision Lead: Physical Education (Undergraduate ITE)
- Subject Lead: Science (Postgraduate ITE)
- Subject Lead: Physical Education (Undergraduate and Postgraduate ITE)
- University Based Mentor for ITE Trainee Teachers on School Placements
- University Research Committee (November 2015 to July 2017)
- Educational Research team (M.A. and Ed.D. in Education)
- Cluster for Public Policy and Professional Practice in Education
Teaching
- Primary PGCE, including: science education and inquiry-based learning; physical education; the application of philosophical schools of thought and learning theories within education, classroom pedagogy and professional learning; children’s social cognition and motivation within formal learning settings; public and education policy and their implications for professional practice, and; serving teachers’ and ITE trainees’ classroom-based practitioner inquiry as a foundation for their career-long professional learning.
- Undergraduate Third Year P.E. dissertation preparation, seminars and supervision
- A. in Education and M.A. in TESOL – Public Policy and Professional Practice / Research Methods
- Doctor in Education (Ed.D.) programme
Further information
MEMBERSHIPS
- Royal Society of Biology Scotland Policy and Education Network: Special Interest Group - Advanced Learning and Science
- Registered with the General Teaching Council of Scotland as a Fully Registered Teacher since 21st September 2011; Registration number – 119199
- Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) – Executive: 2017-18.
- European Science Education Research Association (ESERA)
- British Educational Research Association (BERA)
- The Moral Sciences Club, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge
- Ordered Human Projects, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln.
EXTERNAL RESPONSIBILITES
- External Examiner, Primary PGCE programme at three Universities (2017 onwards)
- Council Member, The Zoological Society of London (from November 2020).
- The Jane Goodall Institute UK: Vice-Chairman and Trustee (Primatology and Education) – Chimpanzee and endemic habitat conservation (2016 – 2020).
- European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) – PhD Abstract reviewer: 2019 PhD Summer School.
- European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) - Conference paper reviewer: 2018 Conference: Motivation and Emotion
- Member, Executive Committee: Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) (2017-2018)
- Conference paper reviewer: SERA Conference 2018.
- Book and Journal article reviewer:
- Bloomsbury
- Routledge
- Educational Research Journal (NFER)
- Journal of Biological Education (Royal Society of Biology)
- Scottish Educational Review (SERA)