Vicky Plows

Dr Vicky Plows is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity & Lifelong Learning at Victoria University. In this role Vicky is focusing on professional learning for socially inclusive schooling. Prior to joining The Victoria Institute, Vicky led the Childhood and Youth Studies program at Manchester Metropolitan University.

As a researcher (at the Victoria Institute, University of New South Wales and University of Edinburgh) Vicky has worked on projects addressing the social inclusion, education and well-being of children and young people. She has most recently been involved in a project about Alternative, Flexible Learning Programs aimed at (re)-engaging marginalised young people with education.

Vicky has an interdisciplinary background in Human Geography, Childhood Studies and Social Policy. Her PhD in Social Policy from the University of Edinburgh was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. An ethnographic study of challenging interactions in an informal educational setting, this research explored how the youth workers and young people negotiate the boundaries around behaviour in a process of conflict and co-existence. Vicky's interest in challenging behaviour emerged from her experiences of working with young people identified as having social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.