Cambridge academic joins Plymouth University to lead Institute of Education

Plymouth University is delighted to announce the appointment of a respected Cambridge academic to lead its Institute of Education.
PIE School children

Dr Megan Crawford is joining Plymouth from the University of Cambridge, where she is currently Deputy Head of the Faculty of Education with a particular focus on postgraduate programme provision. 

Bringing a wealth of academic experience from across the Higher Education sector, Dr Crawford has also held academic positions at The Open University, Oxford Brookes University, Warwick University and the Institute of Education in London, where she was acting Dean of the Doctoral School for a year. She has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Calgary in Canada. 

I am delighted to have this opportunity to build on the already very strong work of the Plymouth Institute of Education. It's already a great place to train and study: I want us to work together to really build a centre of excellence.

Dr Megan Crawford

Dr Crawford’s teaching and research interests focus on school leadership, including restructuring, head teacher performance management and special measures. She has maintained close links with schools through her work as a governor and she is currently a National Leader of Governance, having been recognised with a national teaching award for the setting up of a multimillion pound school with over 1500 pupils.She has authored, edited or contributed to over 50 research publications and papers and has led or been involved in national and international research collaborations totalling over £400,000 in award funding. 

On her new leadership appointment as Director of the Plymouth Institute of Education, Dr Crawford said: "I am delighted to have this opportunity to build on the already very strong work of the Plymouth Institute of Education. In some ways it will feel like returning to my roots as I am from the West Country and did my teacher training at Rolle College, which is now part of the Institute. I'm really looking forward to getting started in September and working with the team. It's already a great place to train and study: I want us to work together to really build a centre of excellence." 
Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities at Plymouth University, Professor Dafydd Moore commented: “We are delighted to welcome Megan to this key leadership role at the helm of the Plymouth Institute of Education. Megan brings a wealth of expertise and experience which will further the University’s long and proud heritage of producing highly employable graduates and playing a leading role in research that informs best practice and policy in all aspects of Education, including teacher training.” 
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Purcell said: “Transforming lives through education and research is what we do and our new Institute of Education builds on our heritage from Rolle College and is a confident statement about our commitment to working with schools and to driving research in education theory and practice. Megan is an exciting appointment and we are delighted to have attracted her back to the South West."