Professor Hugh McFaul

Head Of Law School

hugh.mcfaul@open.ac.uk

Biography

Professional biography

I have studied at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Oxford, the University of Lancaster, Liverpool John Moores University and The Open University. I was called to the bar at Middle Temple and am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I joined The Open University Law School in 2011 and was appointed Head of School in January 2022. Prior to becoming Head of School, I was Director of Knowledge Exchange and Impact for the Faculty of Business of Law.

Research interests

My research focuses on innovation in higher education, including technology enhanced learning and the opportunities provided by emerging policies on the third mission of universities. I was guest editor for a special edition of the International Journal of Clinical Legal Education which explored the impact of Covid lockdowns on legal education and my latest book argues for a more theoretically engaged approach to legal education. My current research project uses the Capability Approach to evaluate Knowledge Exchange policy in England.

Teaching interests

As Co-Director of the Open Justice Centre and module chair of W360: Justice in Action, I pioneered online approaches to clinical legal education and worked to develop a range of innovative community based experiential learning opportunities for OU students by developing partnerships with national and international third sector organisations. I’ve won several awards for my teaching and was highly commended in the 2020 Times Higher Education Most Innovative Teacher Awards.

Impact and engagement

In the UK, I've developed partnerships with civil society organisations including a project funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission with AdviceUK on discrimination and human rights law issues. My prison engagement work featured on BBC Radio 4's Law in Action and his partnership with Support Through Court was recognised as an excellent collaborative project by the UK Justice Secretary. I was academic advisor for two series of Bafta nominated BBC2 Documentary The Detectives.

My international engagement includes working extensively with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to support their Education for Justice initiative, a project which was awarded UN Secretary General Innovation Award and consulted on the development of GRACE; the UNODC's Global Resources for Anti-corruption Education portal, which aims to develop a global community of practice of anti-corruption educators.

Projects

Improving lives through online learning for the advice sector: Discrimination and Human Rights

A proposal for a collaborative project between the OU Law School and Advice UK to support the development of discrimination and human rights law training in the UK social welfare advice sector. Funding for the project will be sought from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Stage 1 - Preliminary mapping analysis, looking at current practice in discrimination and human rights training Stage 2 - Questionnaire circulated to a representative sample of AdviceUK member organisations Stage 3 - Learning design workshop including a focus group to assess current training needs and provision, and a design workshop to develop a brief for a prototype Open Educational Resource Stage 4 - Development and testing of online learning prototype Stage 5 - Data gathered in stage 1-3 will inform the production of a final report regarding discrimination and human rights law education and training in the social welfare advice sector