Dr Karen Lowing

Karen is Subject Group Lead for Education and Lecturer - English with Education at Stirling.

Previous Roles

Previously Karen was Lecturer - English PGDE programme and External Examiner Team lead for Language and Literature at Strathclyde (17-18). From 2012-2017 she was Teaching Fellow in Durham University School of Education. She taught PGCE English, was module convenor for the (PGCE) Professional Issues module, the MA Education Enquiry module + Pathway Lead for the part-time MA in Education; she also led on support for Newly Qualified Teachers + supervised Masters / second supervised Doctoral students. In 2005, Karen took up the position of Teaching Fellow at Newcastle University. Here she was course leader for the PGCE English with Drama programme, Degree Programme Director for the MA Education Research programme + convenor: Education Research module. She also supervised Masters students, taught across Faculty on academic writing skills and collaborated on project to implement eportfolios to support PGCE students' professional development. Karen is External Examiner on Northumbria University's Schools Direct programme (2017 to date) and previously, was External Examiner for Sheffield Hallam's School's Direct programme - English (2008 to 2012). She also held a seat on the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) advisory board, UCAS, 2009 to 2011

From 1994 to 2005, Karen taught English in Lanarkshire, Dumfries + Galloway + Fife. She also taught Scottish Studies pt at Strathclyde University, Communication Studies + Higher English at Cardonald College + Adult Basic Education for Community Education in Dumfries + Galloway. Karen was awarded full Chartered Teacher Status in 2006.

Publications awaiting upload to site:

Book Chapters:

Lowing, K. (2017) 'To see oursels as ithers see us: constructions of Scotland’s place and identity within a changing Scottish curriculum and context' in: D. Stevens and K. Lockney (eds) Creative Spaces in Education: Students, Places, and Identities in English and the Arts (London, Routledge)

Journal Articles:

Lowing, K. (2017) The Scots Language and its cultural and social capital in Scottish schools: a case study of Scots in Scottish secondary classrooms, Scottish Language, 36, 1-20

Cotterill, S.J., Lowing, K., Cain, K., Lofthouse, R., Mackay, C., McShane, J., Stancliffe, D. & Wright, D. (2010) Blogs and e-Portfolios: can they support reflection, evidencing and dialogue in teacher training? (London: Association for Learning Development in Higher Education)

Stevens, D. & Lowing, K. (2008) Observer, observed and observations: Initial teacher education English tutors’ feedback on lessons taught by student teachers of English, English in Education, 42(2), 182-198

Memberships

Fellow of Royal Society of Arts, Royal Society of Antiquaries (Scotland), Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, member of Glasgow University's Existential Philosophy and Literature network + Association of Scottish Literary Studies

Scottish Studies, Scots Language, Northumbrian, Gaelic, British and global minority languages, national identity construction in New Zealand's Scottish diaspora + construction of national and cross border identities.