BERA Bites 15

the Scottish primary curriculum, having been a teacher for 17 years prior to joining the university in 2012. Some of his recent research and scholarship has focused on the promotion of the cultural base to learning Mandarin as a third language in Scottish primary schools. More widely, however, he is exploring pedagogies and models of practice that give insights into different ways of delivering languages within primary schools. He enjoys a very productive working relationship with colleagues at Scotland’s National Centre for Languages (SCILT) and is part of the editorial team for its in-house journal, The Scottish Languages Review . Andrew Ryder is Director of the Institute of Political and International Studies at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. Prior to this he held academic positions at the Corvinus University Budapest and the universities of Bristol and Birmingham. Andrew has a longstanding history of social justice activism and campaigning. He recently co-authored George Soros and the Roma: Praxis, Equity and Empowerment (2026). Kay Sidebottom is a Lecturer in Education, and Programme Director for a new MSc Education at the University of Stirling. With a background in community and adult education, her pedagogical specialisms include critical, radical and anarchist education, arts- based practice and community philosophy. Current research projects focus on what we can learn from ‘more-than-human’ teachers; that is, the animals, insects and wider ecological systems on which humanity depends. Her recent collaborators include dogs, bees and algae. Emma Simpson is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Education, UCL and Principal Social Researcher at The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). Before moving into research, she worked in the English education system for 26 years: for 12 years as a teacher and leader in inner London schools, and for 14 years as an educational consultant. She has particular interest in social justice, inclusion, equality, classism, racism, and the potential of more progressive forms of education than currently prevail in England. Reece Sohdi is a Senior Lecturer on the PGCE Further Education and Skills course at the University of Sunderland in the Faculty of Education, Society and Creative Industries. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and as an early career researcher his focus is on decolonising the curriculum within higher education, with a broader view towards its application in the further education and skills sector. Reece’s commitment to enhancing teaching practices and fostering inclusive learning environments aligns with research interests in curriculum decolonisation. Reece

Erika Jiménez is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the School of Law and Mitchell Institute Fellow: Rights and Social Justice at Queen’s University Belfast. Her project explores the human rights situation for Golani Druze youth in the occupied Golan Heights. Her first monograph, Rethinking Human Rights: Critical Insights from Palestinian Youth (Hart/Bloomsbury, 2024), explores Palestinian youth’s views and experiences of human rights and how these are shaped by what they learn through human rights education at school and their everyday lived experiences. Previously, Erika was a Research Fellow on a Nuffield-funded project, which explored the experiences of education among minority ethnic and migrant families in Northern Ireland. Overall, Erika strives to conduct research that centres marginalised voices and ways of knowing. She has experience of conducting rights-based approaches, participatory research and working alongside advisory groups of minoritised populations. Rebecca Loader is an Assistant Research Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, where she coordinates the Cambridge Positive Peace Education Hub and is a member of the THRiVE research group. Her research interests are in education, peace and conflict; migration and education; and educational inequalities. She has led (as principal or co-investigator) research projects on the educational experiences of minoritised ethnic groups in Northern Ireland, academic selection, and integrated and shared education. Aisling O’Boyle is Reader and Director of the Centre for Language Education Research at Queen’s University Belfast. Her research focuses on the relationships between dialogue and education, with methodological interests in corpus linguistics and discourse analysis. Her applied work in English language education explores the socially embedded nature of language teaching, including issues related to gender equality and community language education programmes for adults, young people, and children from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. Andrea Priestley is a Senior Lecturer in Education currently working with pre-service and in-service teachers. With a professional history in physics/science education, inclusive educational services, NGOs and local government, her interests lie in children’s agency, children’s rights and inclusion. Current projects include innovations in school and teacher education curriculum making, thinking beyond schooling to focus on inclusive educational experiences for all. David Roxburgh is a Principal Teaching Fellow and the current Deputy Head for Innovation and Impact in the Strathclyde Institute of Education at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. He has extensive experience of

BERA BITES 15 | EDUCATING FOR ALL