Dr Jane Cullen

Professional biography

I  have worked in Higher Education since 2000, first as a Research Associate/Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, then at the Von Hugel Institute, St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge, and at the Open University since June 2006.

My substantive role at the OU is in educational leadership and global education and development.  My current work is as Academic Director of OpenSTEM Africa (OSA), an initiative guided in Ghana by the Ministry of Education to work collaboratively with government organisations and universities  to improve participation in STEM subjects, particularly among girls. In 2024, OpenSTEM Africa is also working as a small partnership of universities in Ghana, (e.g. OSA University of Cape Coast; OSA University of Ghana) Kenya and the UK to research technology-based approaches to STEM learning at tertiary level.

Previously, I was associated with the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA)  programme working with colleagues from universities, colleges of education, regional and local education officials and NGOs in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Republic of Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. I served as Director of TESSA 2012-2014, concurrently as Director of the Malawi Access into Teaching Scholarships (MATS), and subsequently as a key adviser on the T-TEL teacher education project in Ghana, on projects in South America in Colombia and with the Ministry of Education in Peru, and on research projects in Bangladesh, India, Uganda and Ghana.

My teaching now focuses on leading the OU's EdD programme, the Professional Doctorate in Education, on a 3 year secondment. There are currently just over 100 EdD students at the OU.  Previously my teaching was centred at masters level, including the production of a new module for the Masters in Education (2021-23)  and previous to that the instigation and co-chairing of the production of the new multi-disciplinary dissertation module for the Masters in Education and Masters in Childhood and Youth (2019-21). From 2016 to 2019, on secondment, I led the M.Ed/MA in C&Y taught postgraduate programme at the OU.

Before  moving into HE I was a teacher, head of department, senior teacher and then head teacher in various schools, beginning as a young teacher in the Philippines then moving to Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Namibia and to Egypt.

Research interests

I currently co-lead the Learners and Learning (L&L) research hub in the OU/WELS Centre for the Study of Global Development(CSGD), led by Kwame Akyeampong. My current research continues a focus on the embedding of large-scale change in education and on the complexities in developing ICT-based approaches to learning via my continued work since 2018 on OpenSTEM Africa.  Previously as Director of  TESSA (2012-14), I worked on R&D projects on extending the use of digital OERs, the use of OERs in inclusion in francophone Africa, OER use for teachers new to OERs (all Ferguson Trust funding);  the professional development of teaching assistants and the challenges of access to teacher training in Malawi  (DfID/Scottish Government funding); the development of OERs for  teaching lower secondary science (Waterloo Foundation funding) and widening participation through improving teaching in rural areas in Uganda and Zambia (Commonwealth of Learning funding). On the DfID-funded T-TEL project in Ghana (2014-15),  I led work on a critique of the current model of curriculum and assessment in teacher education in Ghana, and on the professional development of teacher educators in the Colleges of Education in Ghana. In 2016 I led on the qualitative strand of a British Council-funded study into the assessment of the secondary school English curriculum in Bangladesh. My research also includes studies of pedagogic leadership in India, the design of initial teacher education in Peru and teacher education through distance learnng in Ghana. Previously as Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and at the Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD) at the Von Hugel Institute, St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge (2001-2009) my work included the role of lead researcher in a major DfES evaluation of schools ‘in exceptionally challenging circumstances’ and a UNICEF-funded project researching open and distance learning in basic education for hard-to-reach children in South Asia. My research throughout is co-designed and collaborative and focuses on issues of quality and sustainability at scale as they relate to learning, school improvement, educational leadership and communities of practice.

Teaching interests

My teaching interests are in postgraduate education, particularly at doctoral level: in research methods, in leadership and management and in education in contexts of development, particularly in LMICs.  I supervise on both the Ph.D and the Prof. Doc programmes and I have previously chaired multiple M.Ed modules. On the Prof Doc programme I often work with research students whose projects focus on contexts other than the UK - for example a student based in Cyprus, and a student researching the work of head teachers in Ghana. On the Ph.D programme I recently completed supervision of a Ph.D student researching the kinds of learning valued by parents in rural communities in Nigeria. In parallel, I am also involved in supervision of doctoral students researching UK contexts, including exploration of student perspectives on consumerism in HE, academics' perspectives on inclusion in HE, appraisal in independent schools and issues of trust between headteachers and staff.  For 5 years I also chaired the 'Education for Development' postgraduate module, a course for students interested in education across the developing world. When working at the University of Cambridge I taught research methods on the M.Phil course and I taught and supervised extensively on part-time M.Ed courses, working with students who were professionals in education.  

Impact and engagement

In 2015 I worked as academic consultant on a BBC TV  three-part series called 'Are our kids tough enough: Chinese School' and produced Open Learn materials to augment the tv programmes. In 2018 I again worked as an academic consultant to a BBC TV series  - the six episode 'School' focusing on the challenges facing staff and students in a multi academy trust, and which aired throughout the Autumn of 2018. 

International links

Since 2016 I have developed the partnership between The Open University's School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport and the Arab Open University's Faculty of Education, provding academic oversight of the OU education programmes which are already offered by AOU, and working collaboratively with AOU colleagues to expand our partnership via joint interests in teaching and research. 

Through my current research for OpenSTEM Africa I am collaborating with the University of Cape Coast, Ghana; University of Ghana; Kenyatta University, Kenya; and University of Nairobi, Kenya. The Ministry of Education, Ghana, the University of Ghana Legon, the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, and Kyambogo University Uganda have signed MoUs with the Open University based on work with which I am involved.