Dr Emma Clarke
Primary PGCE Programme Lead

Profile

Biography

I joined the department in December 2023 after working in postgraduate and undergraduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) at York St John University and Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. 

I taught in primary schools for 17 years before moving into Initial Teacher Education, where I led a range of subjects including maths and science. I completed my PhD in 2017 focusing on how Teaching Assistants manage behaviour in primary schools, and have published in this area, and supporting pupils with challenging behaviour more widely, since completion. I have taught across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in ITE. I have led an MA Education programme, taught on EdD programmes, supervised and examined a range of PhDs and EdD students in my previous universities.

My research interests centre around challenging behaviour and marginalised groups in education, particularly girls at risk of permanent exclusion. I work within qualitative methodologies and utilise creative methods, particularly photo and graphic-elicitation.

Departmental roles

• Primary PGCE Programme lead
• Deputy chair of ethics committee

Research

Overview

My research interests centre around experiences of challenging behaviour in school, from staff and pupil perspectives, as well as the experiences of marginalised groups in education including girls at risk of permanent exclusion and pupils attending alternative provision. I was awarded a BERA grant to use visual methods to examine the perspectives of girls at risk of permanent exclusion.

I have researched well-being for student teachers and was part of an ERASMUS+ funded project working with colleagues at the University of Eastern Finland and Københavns Professionshøjskole in Copenhagen. This was followed by a British Academy grant to examine the experiences of Newly Qualified Teachers who completed their teacher training during the Covid-19 pandemic.

I sit on the editorial board for Support for Learning journal and Pastoral Care in Education and regularly peer review for a number of national and international journals

Projects

• EU HORIZON – 2025 – 2030 - Supporting the Mental Health of Youth in Education, Training and Work - €4.5M

Research group(s)

• CRESJ

Grants

• EU HORIZON – 2025 – 2030 - Supporting the Mental Health of Youth in Education, Training and Work - €4.5M
• September 2022 - BERA small grants fund – 7 months – ‘Images from the edge’: Examining girls’ experiences of being at risk of permanent exclusion, £5000
• August 2020 - British Academy – 1 year - COVID and change in the public sector: A case study of newly qualified teachers, £9,650
• July 2020 - ERASMUS+ -3 years - Student Teacher Well-Being: Deepening Understanding and Building Support - £180,000
• 2018 - 2019 - Personalised Learning – ERASMUS+ - approx. £23,000

Publications

Selected publications

• Clarke, E. (2023). Voices from the edge: Girls' experiences of being at risk of permanent exclusion. British Educational Research Journal, 50(2), pp.1–21.  Commended in the BERJ Editors’ Choice Award https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/berj.3956 

Full publications list

Singly-authored books

• Clarke, E. (2020) Teaching Assistants Managing Behaviour: A Guide for Schools. Routledge: Abingdon.
• Clarke, E. (2022) New Perspectives on Classroom Behaviour and Mental Health. Routledge: Abingdon.

Contributions to books 

• Clarke, E. and McNichol, S. (2017) Behaviour. In Paige, R., Geeson, R and Lambert, S. (Eds) Building Skills for Effective Primary Teaching. Sage Publications Ltd.: London.
• Clarke, E. (2017) Working with Teaching Assistants. In Paige, R., Geeson, R and Lambert, S. (Eds) Building Skills for Effective Primary Teaching. Sage Publications Ltd.: London.
• Clarke, E., Compton, A. and Sharpe, J. (2017) Academic Writing. In Paige, R., Geeson, R and Lambert, S. (Eds) Building Skills for Effective Primary Teaching. Sage Publications Ltd.: London. 
• Clarke, E. Quickfall, A. and Thompson, S. (2022) Well-being: theory and practice for beginning geography teachers. in Healy, G., Hammond, L., Puttick, S. and Walshe, N. (Eds) Mentoring Geography Teachers in the Secondary School: A Practical Guide. Routledge: Abingdon.

Peer-reviewed journals and articles

• Clarke, E. and Visser, J. (2016) How do teaching assistants view their role in managing behaviour and cultivate their learning and understanding in relation to managing behaviour? TEAN Journal, 9(1), pp. 66-79
• Clarke, E. and Visser, J. (2016). Teaching assistants managing behaviour - Who knows how they do it? A review of literature. Support for Learning, 31(4), pp. 266–280. 
• Clarke, E. and Visser, J. (2018) Pragmatic research methodology in education: possibilities and pitfalls. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 42(5), pp. 455-469 DOI: 10.1080/1743727X.2018.1524866 
• Clarke, E. (2019) Paint pot washers or pedagogues? Is gender an issue for teaching assistants?, Educational Review, 24(4), pp. 308-322 DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2018.1559800 
• Clarke, E. and Visser, J. (2019) Is a good Teaching Assistant one who ‘knows their place’? Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties. 1-15. 
• Clarke, E. and Visser, J. (2019) Teaching assistants managing behaviour – who knows how they do it? Agency is the answer. Support for Learning. 34(4), pp. 372-388 
• Thompson, S., Clarke, E., Quickfall, A. and Glazzard, J. (2020) Averting the crisis in trainee teacher well-being – learning lessons across European contexts: A comparative study. Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education 12 (Fall), pp. 38–56 
• Quickfall, A., Clarke, E. and Thompson, S. (2021) Wellbeing challenges and resources for ITE trainees: International comparisons. BERA Research Intelligence 146. 
• Geeson, R. and Clarke, E. (2022) Crossing the line: Constructs of TA Identity. Pastoral Care in Education 23, pp 1-7 
• Clarke, E (2022) Methodological pragmatism: Freedom from the squeeze? International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches 13(3), pp 267-282
• Quickfall, A., Wood, P. & Clarke, E. (2022) The experiences of newly qualified teachers in 2020 and what we can learn for future cohorts? London Review of Education. 2022. Vol. 20(1). DOI: 10.14324/LRE.20.1.50
• Pihlainen, K., Clarke, E., Kahila, S., Vellonen, V., Waltzer, K., Kuutti, T. and Quickfall, A. (2023) Timelines in Researching Student Teachers´ Well-being during Teaching Practice. International Journal of Research and Method in Education. DOI: 10.1080/1743727X.2023.2285477
• Clarke, E. (2023). Voices from the edge: Girls' experiences of being at risk of permanent exclusion. British Educational Research Journal, 50(2), pp.1–21.  
• Clarke, E. (2024). ‘I get in before they do’: The impact of Voice and Visibility on Girls’ Experience of Being at Risk of Permanent Exclusion. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
• Clarke, E. & Thompson, S. (2024) Systemic Vulnerability as a Lens to Explore Young People’s Experiences of Transition from Alternative Provision Settings to Post-16 Mainstream Education. Educational Review 1-21 Full article: Systemic vulnerability as a lens to explore young people’s experiences of transition from alternative provision settings to post-16 mainstream education
• Clarke, E. & Thompson, S. (2025) Vulnerability and Trainee Teachers: A Missing Piece of the Jigsaw? Pastoral Care in Education Vulnerability and trainee teachers: a missing piece of the jigsaw?: Pastoral Care in Education: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access
• Clarke, E. & Thompson, S (2026) Through Their Eyes: Student’s Images and Experiences Beyond Mainstream Schooling. Educational Review

Blogs

• BERA’s postgraduate symposium: A lifebelt in the methodological mire (Feb 2018) 
• BERA blog - Part of series: Researching education and mental health: From ‘Where are we now?’ to ‘What next?’ The PGCE journey: Wellbeing and workload (March 2020) 
• BELMAS blog - NQT experiences in the pandemic and what it might tell us about leadership (May 2021) 
• BERA blog - Part of series: Covid-19, education and educational research: How newly qualified teachers are coping in the time of Covid-19 (July 2021) 
• BERA blog - Understanding girls’ experiences of being at risk of permanent exclusion – how do we get there? (March 2023)
• The Conversation - More girls are getting excluded from school – here's why they feel misjudged by teachers (More girls are getting excluded from school – here’s why they feel misjudged by teachers) (March 2025)

Teaching

Postgraduate

• Primary PGCE

External activities

Editorial duties

Editorial board of:

• Support for Learning
• Pastoral Care in Education

Media coverage

• Behaviour Bites – Series 2 episode 4 - Behaviour and body language with Dr Emma Clarke https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/series-2-episode-4-behaviour-body-language-dr-emma/id1520666048?i=1000499888904 (September 2021) 
• Headteacher Update – Teaching assistants’ role in managing behaviour:  http://www.headteacher-update.com/best-practice-article/teaching-assistants-role-in-managing-behaviour/174957/ (June 2018) 
• TES - Teaching assistants too scared of 'undermining' teachers to confront unruly pupils: https://www.tes.com/news/teaching-assistants-too-scared-undermining-teachers-confront-unruly-pupils (May 2018)
• Education Executive - TAs too scared of 'undermining' teachers to confront unruly pupils: https://edexec.co.uk/tas-too-scared-of-undermining-teachers-to-confront-unruly-pupils/ (May 2018) 
• Schools improvement - Teaching assistants too scared of ‘undermining’ teachers to confront unruly pupils https://schoolsimprovement.net/teaching-assistants-too-scared-of-undermining-teachers-to-confront-unruly-pupils/ (May 2018)