Andrew Wilkins is Reader in Education and REF impact coordinator for UoA 23 Education at the University of East London (UEL) where he teaches social research methods to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Andrew was Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton before joining the University of East London in 2015. Andrew completed his undergraduate degree in sociology at the University of Leeds in 2003, postgraduate degree in social research methods at Goldsmiths in 2005 and PhD in social policy at the Open University in 2009.
Andrew’s research is broadly situated in the field of education policy analysis and governance studies with a focus on technocratic cultures and elites and their influence on education structures and processes. He adopts an interdisciplinary approach to research that makes use of various conceptual frameworks, methodological tools and theoretical perspectives.
Andrew has worked as a research associate/fellow on several projects including ESRC, HEA and EU Tempus-funded projects. His book Modernising School Governance: Corporate Planning and Expert Handling in State Education (Routledge 2016) was awarded joint-second prize by the Society for Educational Studies for books published in 2016. Andrew’s new book, co-edited with Antonio Olmedo, is Education Governance and Social Theory: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research (Bloomsbury 2018).
Andrew is module leader of two undergraduate modules at the University of East London: ED6000 Independent Research Project and ED6015 Dissertation. He supervises various doctoral students and undergraduate dissertation students and teaches on the EdD Professional Doctorate in Education programme. Andrew is external examiner for the Sociology of Education Umbrella Board at University College London (UCL) Institute of Education.
Andrew is a member of several editorial boards including Journal of Education Policy, Critical Studies in Education, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Journal of Applied Social Theory, and Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies. He is co-director of the International Centre for Public Pedagogy (ICPUP) at the University of East London and co-convenes the British Education Research Association (BERA) Social Theory and Education special interest group (SIG). He is a member of several international research groups including the European Network on Neoliberal Education Policy (ENNEP) and the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change.
Andrew has been invited to peer review for numerous journals, book publishers and research councils as well as published in various international peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Education Policy, Critical Social Policy, Critical Policy Studies, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, and Journal of Educational Administration and History. Andrew has written for various websites and blogs including Education Uncovered, The Conversation and Democratic Audit.
In terms of public engagement, Andrew is committed to external collaborations and partnerships with different stakeholders and charities. In recent years Andrew has worked with various schools, school networks, education advisers and education training and support services to debate and rethink conventional approaches to school governance.
