Dr Tyrrell Golding

Professional biography

I am Associate Dean (Curriculum and Assessment) for the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies having been Deputy Associate Dean (Curriculum) for three years and Associate Head of School - Curriculum & Quality, for the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport (ECYS) for five years. Prior to that I was Head of Qualifications (Undergraduate) Childhood and Youth, which included the BA (Hons) in Youth Work with JNC and BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies. I have been a full-time academic at the Open University since March 2011. Prior to this I was a Senior Lecturer in Youth and Community Work at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

I came into higher education after a career in Community Education, Community Development and Youth Work and became a lecturer to support those wishing to enter this field of work and those already working in the field. I have worked 'with' people throughout my career and through every life stage, though I am particularly passionate about work with young and older people. I am passionate about volunteering, lifelong learning and improving teaching quality and student experience.

Research interests

I research adult motivations for volunteering, particularly in work with young people from intersectional and lifelong learning perspectives. I am also interested in the ethics of volunteering, voluntarism and charitable activity.

My other research and scholarly interests focus on adult learners, learning in informal and non formal spaces and exploring the cultures and structures in HE institutions that can support, and indeed create barriers, to adult learning.

Teaching interests

I am currently Academic Director [WELS] for the XR Studios supporting colleagues across the faculty to embed extended and augmented reality learning activities into their pedagogy.

I have been involved in the production of many modules in the Working with Young People qualifications as follows:

E108 - Working with Young People: An Introduction

• Author: Study Topic 4 - Understanding Young People and their communities
• Co-Author: LGBT Youth Scotland audio-visual materials
• Co-Author: Reader Chapter - Curran, S and Golding, T (2013) 'Crossing the boundaries? Working informally in formal setting' in Curran, S., Harrison, R. and Mackinnon, D. eds. (2013)  Working with Young People, 2nd. ed., London, Sage

E118 - Introduction to Working with Young People in practice

• 2011 - present: Module Chair in presentation
• 2013 - 2015: Module Chair in production
• Co-Author: Study Guide 1 - Introduction to Working with young people in practice
• Co-Author: Study Guide 2 - Working with young people in context
• Co-Author: Study Guide 5 - Reflecting on working with young people in practice
• Co-Author: Open Learn Unit Professional relationships with young people

E318 - Youth: Policy in Practice

• Author: Unit 15: The voluntary–statutory relationship: integration, partnership and commissioning
• Author: Block 5 - Preparing for Your Further Professional Development

Impact and engagement

Throughout 2015-2016 worked as an Academic Advisor on the most recent Child of our Time programme which was aired in April 2017.  There is an OpenLearn microsite for more information about the Child of our Time series.

I was an Academic Advisor on the BBC2 Co-Production The Great NHS Experiment  broadcast during September 2019.