Loretta Anthony-Okeke

I am the Deputy Programme Director and Academic Lead for Admissions, BSc Education and Lecturer in Education in the Manchester Institute of Education at the University of Manchester where I work to play a strategic and coordinating role in promoting and implementing University recruitment and admissions policy and strategy and in communicating a critical and asset-based approach to education. I work collaboratively with marketing colleagues and with admissions colleagues in the School of Environment, Education and Development in delivering the academic elements of the recruitment strategy and the School's offer making strategy. Through these I lead academic activities for Open Day and Offer Holder Day to attract the most talented students, regardless of their background to higher education study, to give prospective students a feel of what studying at Manchester might be like, and provide an opportuntiy for them to ask questions in person.

As Lecturer in Education, my teaching and scholarship interests are interdisciplinary, directly relevant to explorations of international education systems, policies and experiences focusing on three key areas of the student experience - access, progress and outcome. My teaching and research interests are in post-compulsory and higher education student experiences and the critical discourse produced by students about those experiences, through culturally responsive research methodologies. I am a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA).

I gained my undergraduate honours degree in English in Nigeria from the University of Abuja and went on to study for a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Secondary English) at the National Teacher's Institute, Kaduna. I spent the first part of my professional career in Nigeria teaching English and Literature in Junior Secondary school, before moving into the primary school sector as a Key Stage 2 teacher in independent and international schools. Following a couple of years in leadership positions, first as Head of Curriculum Development and then Head Teacher, I moved to Manchester to complete an MA in Educational Leadership, and a PhD in Education.

I currently teach on the BSc Education and MA International Education programmes and I am part of the Higher Education Research and Scholarship Group (HERSG@ Manchester).

• Humanities New Academics Programme (HNAP), University of Manchester
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
• PhD, University of Manchester
• MA Educational Leadership (with Distinction), University of Manchester
• PGDE English, National Teacher’s Institute, Kaduna, Nigeria
• BA English and Literary Studies, University of Abuja, Nigeria
• Diploma in Computing Software, University of Lagos

I am a scholar making significant contributions to scholarship of teaching and learning which strengthens Manchester's reputation as a world-class place to learn. l have a record of innovative teaching, assessment, student support and programme development in higher education consistent with senior academic status. I design, develop and deliver a range of modules and programmes at various levels which are closely aligned with UN SDG4; significantly and sustainably contributing to teaching at Manchester by leveraging my extensive pedagogical and scholarship experience, including drawing upon my teaching experiences in several schools in different roles in a multi-ethnic/cultural context in Nigeria to develop and apply innovative and appropriate teaching techniques and material which create interest, understanding and enthusiasm amongst students.

Through the democratisation of knowledge, I empower students to challenge conventions, fostering an inclusive environment that transforms education into a dynamic force for change. My mission is to inspire impactful scholarly outputs, making education a catalyst for progress. As an early adopter of innovative digital technologies, I utilise these to push the boundaries of education by seamlessly integrating advanced digital pedagogy, enabling student voice and democratizing the curriculum. I am not merely reshaping the curriculum—I am catalysing the broader field of Education into a vehicle for social change.

Through my expertise in digitally transformative teaching and learning practices, I am amplifying, and embedding digital pedagogy in the UGT curriculum, initiating the adoption of a Digital Skill Badge pilot scheme as a mechanism to document students’ non-tangible skill achievement and accomplishments.

My broader pedagogic objective for my teaching is to cultivate an inclusive and equitable learning environment, which I have done through integrating social responsibility into the curriculum, and revitalizing previously existing units through inclusive, emancipatory approaches. Through my engagement with the 100 Black Women Professors programme, I have developed my reflexivity and leadership skills in relation to this objective.

My commitment and standing as a HE critical teacher and scholar, and my commitment to collaboration and professional development to improve teaching and student-related activity has become widely recognised. This has led to, for example collaborative trans-disciplinary teaching, to develop critical museologies and decolonial approaches to interrogate colonial legacies within HEIs.

• Society for Research into Higher Education
• Council for Advancement and Support of Education  
• Association for Learning Development in Higher Education
• Association for Learning Technology
• 100Black Women Professors NOW
• Women’s Higher Education Network
• Higher Education Research and Scholarship Group
• Teacher’s Registration Council of Nigeria
• Teaching English Teacher Educator Network, British Council

BSc Education

• Deputy Programme Director 2022-contd.
• Programme Director (2020-2021, maternity cover)
• Course unit convener and teaching f2f, online, and dual delivery (2018-contd.)- EDUC11100 and EDUC34052 
• Dissertation supervisor

MA Education (International) and Educational Leadership

• Course unit tutor, f2f, online, and dual delivery (2016-contd.) 
• Dissertation supervisor 

Manchester Distance Access Scheme (MDAS)

• Mini degree module convener and teaching (2021-contd.) 

Manchester Access Programme (MAP)

• Programme tutor (2021-contd.)

BA English Language for Education

• Course unit tutor, f2f and online (2018-2020) EDUC11100
• Dissertation supervisor

University College of Interdisciplinary Learning

• eTutor, f2f and online on the Leadership in Action and Manchester Leadership Programme (2016-2018)
• Tutorial leader, assessment support, marking and feedback

• Reconstructing leadership through the lens of decolonising education such that it shifts focus away from dominant Eurocentric ways of knowing, and away from systems which replicate power, control, and dynamics. Broadened understanding of leadership from a Global Majority perspective among participants and encouraged an application of this understanding to their own contexts. 
• Support student transition into higher education and give them the chance to build on the academic study skills they have developed at sixth form or college and apply these to an undergraduate-style piece of work.
• Contributing to the University’s social responsibility and civic engagement priorities. Students improve skills that will help them to succeed in their current studies and at university, including research skills, referencing academic writing, and communication skills. Students receive preparation for the different types of teaching and learning at university. Students experience what it is like to be a university student. 100% of students I tutored have gained admission to study at Manchester.
• Instill ethical values, cultivated social responsibility, and equip students to confidently conduct research with integrity, evidenced in the research outputs of students final dissertation.
• Expose researchers to the idea that we will not be able to fully understand the perspective of the varied cultures with which we interact, as well as the need to be flexible and open to examining ethical issues in research from the perspective of the participants to the extent possible.
• Cultivating critical educators, fostering active learning, collaboration, and inclusive teaching approaches, enriching PGT students educational perspectives and practices.
• Promote innovative assessment approaches for the learning progress of students.
• Address challenges and barriers faced by international students in accessing career and employability support in HE, develop effective pedagogical strategies and approaches that can enhance career and employability support specifically tailored for international students, initiate programme-specific alumni mentoring in supporting the career development of international students, and embed social responsibility in career and employability support for international students.
• Supporting the progression of talented local young people to university and contributing to the University’s social responsibility priorities of tackling global inequalities, through one-to-one tutoring of up to four students each year, and overseeing their completion, and marking academic assignment.