Dr Mandy Duncan

mandy-duncan-profile

Deputy Head of Institute of Education

Senior Leadership Team

Contact Details

email: a.duncan2@worc.ac.uk
tel: 01905 857548

Mandy joined the University of Worcester in 2019 as Head of Department for Children and Families. She is currently Deputy Head of the Institute of Education with responsibility for research, knowledge exchange and collaborative partnerships. Prior to joining the University, Mandy worked as Senior Lecturer in Education at Staffordshire University. She has led and developed a range of undergraduate and postgraduate early childhood and education programmes and has extensive experience of supervising research students on BA (Hons), Masters, EdDoc and PhD programmes. Her main teaching areas and research interests include sociological and global perspectives of childhood, children’s rights, child protection, child development and research methods.

Mandy has a deep commitment to early years having begun her career in this sector as a nursery nurse and then going on to teach early years practitioners and teachers for many years. She has also worked with young people in a variety of capacities including running summer camps and teaching 14-19 year olds in college.

Mandy gained a PhD at the University of Gloucestershire in 2016 for a thesis entitled ‘A critical examination of children’s participation in child protection interventions’.

Qualifications

  • PhD: A Critical Examination of Children’s Participation in Child Protection Interventions
  • PGCE Post Compulsory Education and Training
  • BA (Hons) Childhood Studies
  • FdA Early Years Practice with Senior Practitioner Status
  • Cache Diploma in Child care and Education

Teaching & Research

Teaching Interests

  • Sociological perspectives of childhood
  • Global perspectives of childhood
  • Children’s rights
  • Child protection
  • Child development
  • Social research methods

Research Interests

  • Children’s participation in child protection systems
  • Children’s rights and responsibilities
  • Developing theory in social sciences

Professional Bodies

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
  • Member of British Educational Research Association (BERA)
  • Member of European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA)
  • Member of Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) 

Publications

Duncan, M (2024) The Reflective Professional within a Workforce in Crisis. In Hayes, C, Daly J, Hudson, R & Duncan, M: Developing as a Reflective Early Years Professional. A Thematic Approach. 3rd Edn. Northwich. Critical Publishing

Duncan, M (2024) Reflecting on Global Childhood Poverty. In Hayes, C, Daly J, Hudson, R & Duncan, M: Developing as a Reflective Early Years Professional. A Thematic Approach. 3rd Edn. Northwich. Critical Publishing

Frearson, A & Duncan, M (2024) An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis of Teachers’ Lived Experiences of Working with Traumatised Children in the Classroom. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma. 1-16. ISSN 1936-1521 Online: 1936-153X

Duncan, M (2023) How can early years practitioners support the care of young children living in poverty? International Journal of Birth and Parent Education. 10 (2): 3-7

Duncan, M (2023) Safeguarding Practices. In Hayes, C [Ed] The Early Years Handbook for Students and Practitioners. An essential guide for the foundation degree and levels 4 and 5. London. Routledge

Duncan, M (2019) Participation in Child Protection. Theorizing Children’s Perspectives. Cham. Switzerland. Palgrave MacMillan

Hayes, C, Daly, J, Duncan, M, Gill, R & Whitehouse, A (2017) Developing as a Reflective Early Years Professional. A Thematic Approach. 2nd Edn. Northwich. Critical Publishing

Hayes, C, Daly, J, Duncan, M, Gill, R & Whitehouse, A (2014) Developing as a Reflective Early Years Professional. A Thematic Approach. Northwich. Critical Publishing

Duncan, M (2010) It ain’t what you know, it’s the way that you know it. Accommodating critical theory within a grounded theory study. Conference paper. Childhood and Youth Research Conference. Buxton. Stockport College Centre for Childhood and Youth Studies

Duncan, A (2008) Reflections on the gathering of negative data for dissertation and the dilemma of how to proceed when things do not go according to plan. MMU Journal of Childhood and Youth Inquiry

External Roles

2024 – Present: External Examiner for BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies, London Metropolitan University

2024 – Present: External Examiner for BA (Hons) Early Years and Childhood Studies. Manchester Metropolitan University

2020 - 2024: External Examiner for BA Childhood Practice/BA Childhood Studies, University of Dundee

2017 - 2021: External Examiner for BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies, Teesside University

2013 - 2017: External Examiner for BA (Hons) Early Years Education, University of Bedfordshire