Alexander McMullan-Bell

Profile

Part-Time PGR and Full-Time Teacher of the Deaf. 

I began my Academic studies in Drama at the University of Essex, where my studies focussed predominantly on Shakespeare and Comedy. After Graduation, I started working immediately in Education. I found a love for teaching English in fun and engaging ways, especially given my own experiences as a student who had dyslexia and didn't enjoy English as a subject myself. Eventually, I became an English teacher in a school with a specialist provision for D/deaf learners. After a few years of teaching English, I found myself able to retrain as a Teacher of the Deaf and have never looked back. 

Currently, within my school in East London, I teach GCSE English and GCSE Combined Science to our D/deaf learners. I am always looking at new and innovative ways to create engagement within my classroom to benefit learning and progress. Teaching and Learning has always been a passion of mine and I hope to use this opportunity as a PGR in order to develop and discover more about my own practice, but also to produce something that will be a benefit to others working with D/deaf learners in any context. 
 

Research interests

My research interests are a culmination of my own experiences and journey so far, predominantly:

- Deaf Education – Especially the teaching and learning of secondary-aged learners and their development. 

- Social Cognition – In general, but also with a lens of the impact of deafness and the strengths deaf learners bring. 

- Drama – Its role and potential within education, not simply within the Drama studio but across all subjects and areas. 

- Shakespeare – Its delivery and teaching for D/deaf learners, how to ensure its inclusivity and accessibility for D/deaf learners, and how it can be made practical and engaging while still meeting the curriculum/exam requirements.  
 

Qualifications

• MA Deaf Education (Teacher of the Deaf Qualification) - University of Leeds
• QTS (Secondary English - University College London (Institute of Education)
• BA Drama - University of Essex
• Membership - British Association of Teachers of the Deaf
• Membership - Chartered College of Teachers

Research groups and institutes

• ICY: Inclusion, Childhood & Youth Research Centre