Dr Katie Gathercole

Profile

Before coming into academia, I developed extensive experience working directly with children and young people who are marginalised within the education system. This included supporting children excluded from school, those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and care experienced children.

My work focused on helping excluded students re-engage with education, advocating for the rights of children and families navigating SEND processes and exclusion appeals, and improving educational outcomes for those in care. I also led initiatives designed to increase access to support and challenge structural barriers that limit educational inclusion. This depth of frontline experience continues to shape my academic practice, bringing a strong grounding in real-world educational inequality to my research, teaching, and leadership within higher education

I completed the MA Special Educational Needs in 2010, and the MSc Educational Research Methods in 2012 at the University of Leeds. I then worked as a Research Assistant on two reading intervention projects, and a NASEN funded study concerning the transformations experienced by SENCOs following the nationally approved training. I subsequently undertook an ESRC funded PhD at the University of Leeds, supervised by Dr Sue Pearson and the late Professor David Sugden (2012- 2017) which concerned the Educational Experiences of Children and Young People with Cystic Fibrosis.

My research sits at the intersection of education, childhood, and health, and particularly the educational experiences and outcomes of children with long-term medical conditions. I have also developed an interest in participatory research and co-production within education and health contexts, including engaging patient communities in clinical research design.

I began working at the University of Leeds in 2018 as a Lecturer in Childhood Studies and Inclusive Education.

Responsibilities

• Director of Student Education

Research interests

My research interests are interdisciplinary and span the areas of education, childhood and health. I am interested in the education of marginalised groups of learners who may not fit easily into traditional categories of ‘SEND’. Much of my work focuses on children and young people with long-term medical conditions and their experiences of education. I have conducted research within the area of cystic fibrosis (CF), including biopsychosocial understandings of children’s educational experiences. This found school to be a much needed place of ‘normality’ for children and young people with CF. However, through the practice of ‘normality’, children’s needs could be obscured from teachers, leading to poor awareness of CF and a lack of understanding. More recently, I have conducted research with the Leeds Medical Needs Teaching Service (MNTS) which considered how learning communities can be built with children and young people who are out of school for medical reasons. I am also interested in patient engagement and involvement in the CF clinical research context, and particularly the involvement of children and young people. I have engaged patients in shaping the research agenda, identifying priority areas for future clinical research. My work has enabled the perspectives of children and adults with CF to be integrated into the design of several clinical research studies.

Qualifications

• MA SEN
• MSc Educational Research Methods
• PhD
• FHEA

Student education

I have teaching responsibilities in childhood studies, Education and Psychology with Education

Current postgraduate researchers

• Chloe Warrington