About Me
My name is Katie and I am a Senior Learning Designer in the Central Education Office. I work on teaching and learning projects and inclusive education and I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
My Role Models
Personal Role Model - Katie Piatt
Katie Piatt, currently the head of Educational Enhancement at the University of Sussex and co-chair of the Playful Learning Association.
I met Katie when we were both working at a different institution and I was new to student support in higher education. I was keen to develop what I knew from a teaching background and learn more about university education. Katie was supportive from the moment I met her and provide me with ideas and resources to develop in the field of digital education. This has played a huge part in my career development however, what is more important is how Katie has role modelled being a good manager and led by example in her support of others. She always listened to my ideas and now I hope I can take the same approach to supporting and developing colleagues with their ideas. Katie is now a friend, a peer, and a colleague but I will always look to her for examples of how to lead and how to bring creativity and imagination to work and to education.
Academic Role Model - Alan Turing
As a famous figure in science, credited with the invention of the computer, Turing has much to share as an inspiration. He is often credited with the part he played in the war but also never allowed to be himself when he was alive. Clearly, he was an exceptional scientist but the reason I see Turing as a role model is less about what he did achieve, and more about what he could have achieved if he had been allowed to life the live he wanted.
Certainly, he would have lived longer and what would that have meant for the field of computing? For me Turing’s story is the reason to fight for equity. Gay rights have improved immensely since his time but there is still work to do for the LGBTQ+ community and other underrepresented groups to get to a point where people like Turing can focus on being brilliant without being hindered by the prejudices of others.
Learn More
If you want to learn more about my role models here are some recommendations
- Visit the Playful Learning Association website
- Read about how Escape Rooms can be used in education
- Visit the Science Museum to learn more about the history of computers and Ada Lovelace (another role-model of mine)
- Read or watch Enigma - the fictionalised story of Turing's life and work at Bletchley Park
- Read The Man Who Knew To Much - One of the many biographies about the life and work of Alan Turing