Dr Alison Prowle

Senior Lecturer

Children and Families

Contact Details

email: a.prowle@worc.ac.uk
tel: 01905 752261

Dr Alison Prowle joined the University of Worcester Department of Children and Families in 2012. Alison has extensive experience of education, family intervention (including the role of parenting) and community development, as an academic, a front-line practitioner and as a senior manager in local government. Following several years teaching in primary and secondary phases, she became Head of Department in a large urban comprehensive school. Subsequently, she worked for a number of years in various community development roles and as a Development Manager for SureStart. In 2007, she was appointed as Integrated Services Manager for Children, Young People and Families within the education department of a Welsh Local Authority. Within this role, Alison had responsibility for a range of universal and preventative programmes including early years services, parenting and family support, integrated children's centres, play provision, pupil referral units and the education welfare service. During this time, she worked closely with Welsh Government in the development and roll out of the Flying Start Programme and Families First Initiative.

Since joining the Department for Children & Families in 2012, Alison has enjoyed teaching across a number of programmes, retaining specific interests in parenting, family support, trauma-informed approaches, and childhood adversity. Alison’s research interests include researching with vulnerable populations, the impacts of forced migration and human trafficking on children and families, kinship care, multiple adversity and complex trauma.

Qualifications

BA (Hons 1) Theology and Religious Studies, University of Kent 1990
Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Primary), University of Cambridge 1991
Postgraduate Diploma (Distinction) in Public Services Management, Nottingham Trent University 2011
MSc (Distinction), Public Services Management, Nottingham Trent University 2012
Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Distinction), University of Worcester
PhD research at Cardiff University, 'Thank you for asking me about my story': An exploration of the perspectives of forced migrant parents, practitioners and strategic actors in South Wales’

Teaching & Research

Since joining the university, Alison has been keen to focus teaching and research activity linked to supporting families challenged by multiple adversity. She is passionate about employing strength based approaches, working in a trauma- informed way and integrated working.
Alison has contributed to a number of research projects, including an evaluation of parenting programmes, a widening participation project and currently a project designed to better understand the needs of kinship carers and their families. In partnership with GNG Nursery Smethwick, Alison was also engaged in an exciting Language Enrichment Project, working with local families to improve children's speech, language and communication skills. More recently, Alison has led a series of service evaluations for a local authority in Wales, including evaluations of early intervention programmes, edge of care provision, Looked after children Strategy and services for children with disabilities.
In 2015/16 Alison was privileged to undertake short placements within the Children’s Centre at refugee camps in North France. Working with families who had been forced to flee their homes was a heart- breaking and eye- opening experience, and since then Alison has been very keen to ensure that the needs of the families are understood by both practitioners and students. To this end, has completed a PhD at Cardiff university, focusing on support for forced migrant families seeking sanctuary in Wales. As a volunteer, she is also involved with a number of projects working with forced migrant families and women and children who have survived trafficking and modern-day slavery.

Professional Bodies

Fellow of Higher Education Academy
Member of Children in Wales

Publications

Books

Prowle, A and Hodgkins, A (2020) Making a Difference with Children and Families - Re-imagining the Role of the Practitioner, London: Palgrave Macmillan

Book Chapters

Prowle, A., Davidge-Smith, L. & Boyd, D (2015) The Welsh Foundation Phase in Boyd, D. and Hurst N( Eds.) Understanding Early Years Education across the UK, Routledge

Prowle, Alison & Musgrave, Jackie (2018). Utilising strengths in families and communities to support children’s learning and wellbeing. In: Cheeseman, Sandra and Walker, Rosie (eds.) Pedagogies for Leading Practice. Thinking About Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education.

Harvell, J. & Prowle, A. (2018) Supporting children's development in refugee camps, through play- based provision. In Sengupta, E. & Blessinger, P.(Eds) Refugee Education: Integration and Acceptance of Refugees in Mainstream Society. US: Emerald Press

Journal Articles

Prowle, A. & Harvell, J. (2017). Play provision enhances the lives of children in refugee camps. In International Journal of Birth & Parent Education. 4 (4).

Prowle, A. & Harvell, J. (2017). Challenges of parenting in a refugee camp. In International Journal of Birth & Parent Education 4 (2

Prowle, A., Murphy, P. & Prowle, M., (2014) Managing escalating demand for public services in a time of financial austerity: a case study of family interventions. The Journal of Finance and Management in Public Services 12 (1).

Prowle A. & Prowle M.J. (2011), The preventative services agenda: Delivering value for money, Public Money and Management, Vol 31, Number 2, pages 139-144

Prowle, A. & Murphy, P. (2012), Managing escalating demand for public services in a time of austerity: A case study of family intervention, paper presented at the conference of the Journal of Finance and Management in Public Services, July 2012.

Lister E.G., Prowle A. & Prowle M.J. (2005), The role of community development in improving health status; paper presented at the UK Public Health Forum Conference

Harvell, J. & Prowle, A. (2019) Reflections on the lived experiences of refugee children in a French refugee camp. In Jain, P. & Savvides, N. (Eds) BERA Special Edition Research Intelligence

Harvell & Prowle (2017). The impact of the refugee experience on children’s development International Journal of Birth & Parent Education. 4 (3).

Stobbs, N. & Prowle, A. (2017) Becoming a kinship carer – education and support needs of grandparents who are parenting. International Journal of Birth and Parenting. Vol 4. Issue 2

Stobbs, N. & Prowle, A. (2016/17) Becoming a kinship carer – education and support needs of grandparents who are parenting. International Journal of Birth and Parenting (Vol 4, issue 2, Winter 2016/7).

Practitioner facing Publications

Prowle, A. & Harvell, J. (2017) ‘Still Human’. In Nursery World

Prowle, A. & Hodgkins, A. (2016) Cosy Up, Nursery World 12th December 2016

Prowle, N. & Stobbs, N. (2017) Nursery World: Good to Talk (1-14 May 2017 edition).

Stobbs, N. & Prowle, A. (2017) Kith and Kin Nursery World: (16-29 Oct 2017 edition)

Conference Presentations:

Date	Conference	Contribution
June 2008	WLGA Annual Excellence Wales Awards Showcase Event	Delivered Interactive workshop to showcase best practice in engaging families with disabled children in the design and implementation of new services for supported leisure and respite.
May 2009	Annual Conference of ADSS (Association of Directors of Social Services)	Delivered conference address exploring the journey undertaken d by Blaenau Gwent Children and Young People’s Partnership in implementing the Common Assessment Framework and Team around the Child
October 2010	ADEW (Association of Directors of Education in Wales)	Delivered workshop session exploring the challenges and opportunities generated by the introduction of the Common Assessment Framework and Team around the Child Approach, for schools in Wales
November 2010	WLGA Annual Excellence Wales Awards Showcase Event	Delivered workshop to showcase best practice in identifying, engaging, supporting and empowering vulnerable families in Blaenau Gwent
December 2010	Annual Conference of Children In Wales	Conference address exploring the journey undertaken d by Blaenau Gwent Children and Young People’s Partnership in implementing the Common Assessment Framework and Team around the Child, adapted for a third sector audience
May 2011	Welsh Government Launch of Families First Initiative	Delivered workshop to explore and showcase good practice in integrated approaches to family support
January 2012	Wales Public Health Network Annual Conference	Delivered workshop to explore the role of Families First in improving children’s emotional health and wellbeing.
May 2013	International Conference on Parent Education and Parenting, 2013. University of North Texas. Texas, USA.	'Landscapes of Practice: professional support for parents.' Symposium presented as an Online videocast from the University of Worcester. joint paper with R.Walker and M. Reed
March 2013	Children in Wales Annual Round Table Conference: Nurturing Resilience for Children and Families: What are the Protective Factors	Improving the Effectiveness of Family Interventions: Exploring the Concept of “Readiness for Change” Keynote presentation
September 2013	Children in Wales, Parents' Week Conference: Engaging Parents in Family and Parenting Support Services	Research in Practice: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Therapeutic Parenting Programme, keynote presentation to Conference. Joint paper with Rosie Walker
June 2014	Child's World International Conference Aberystwyth University	Enabling Male Role Models in Early Childhood. Joint presentation with Gurjit Bhattoy
July 2015	Children and Childhoods International Conference Suffolk University	It is as if these children are invisible: understanding the needs of kinship carers
July 2015	Children and Childhoods International Conference Suffolk University	Is there an important Role for Early Years Practitioners in delivering early intervention to mitigate the effects of multiple adversity
September 2015	EECERA conference Barcelona	Problem based learning as a tool for enhancing student engagement and exploring students’ reflective practice using alternative representations
November, 2019	Annual Conference of the Association of Child Protection Practitioners (AOCPP) York	A strength- based approach to supporting families at the edge of Care.
December 2020	online public lecture for AOCPP	Supporting Vulnerable Young People in Lockdown Best Practice and Shared Perspectives

External Roles

Department of Children and Families Steering Group Chair 2021-22
External Examiner Trinity St Davids (2015- 2020)
Providing evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kinship Care