Helen Lewis

Helen’s background is in primary, initial and continuing teacher education, and she is the Programme Director for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at Swansea University. She has previously led postgraduate and undergraduate programmes including BA Education Studies, BA Education, MA Education and a Primary PGCE.

Helen’s main research interests lie in the principles and pedagogies relating to the development of children’s thinking skills and metacognition, and her doctoral thesis focused on young children’s thinking and the teaching of this. She is an accredited trainer for a number of thinking skills programmes and has studied at Project Zero, Harvard University.

Helen is also interested in exploring approaches to support wellbeing, effective pedagogy, and creative, participatory research methods. She is currently undertaking original research in the rapidly growing field of human-animal education and interaction. Her own dogs work with her in various educational contexts, and Helen is particularly interested in best practices around the involvement of dogs in schools. She has published widely in these fields.

Helen is both a Team and Peer Inspector for the Welsh Inspectorate, Estyn and has been elected as Honorary Secretary of the International Professional Development Association (IPDA). She sits on a number of other committees including IPDA Cymru, the Let’s Think Forum and The Universities and Schools Council for the Education of Teachers (USCET). Helen is a peer reviewer for a number of academic journals, is an experienced External Examiner and experienced postgraduate student supervisor.