Professor Mike McLinden

Professor Mike McLinden

School of Education
Emeritus Professor

Contact details

Address
School of Education
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT, United Kingdom

With over 25 years’ experience of teaching in schools and Higher Education (HE) Mike has extensive experience of curriculum design, delivery and evaluation as a teacher, lecturer, senior manager and a researcher. Mike’s research interests include developing and promoting ‘research-informed’ pedagogical practice within HE with a particular focus on student-centred approaches (including enquiry-based learning). With colleagues in the University he has led a number of funded projects that link to strategic developments within the institution and HE sector.

Mike is involved in a wide range of research and knowledge exchange activities within and beyond the academic sphere (e.g. policy makers and practitioners in the field). These activities include:

  • contributing to strategic developments for project funders;
  • running workshops and training events for schools, services and other academic institutions;
  • invited sessions at national and international conferences;
  • national and international consultancy. 

In June 2013 Mike was conferred the status of  (PFHEA) in recognition of a sustained record of effective strategic leadership in academic practice and development and wide-ranging strategic leadership responsibilities in connection with key aspects of teaching and supporting learning.

Mike was Deputy Head of School in the School of Education for five years completing the role in July 2020. This role followed two periods as Director of Education in the School and Director of Educational Development for the University 麻豆精选.

Qualifications

  • PhD, University 麻豆精选,  2000
  • BPhil Special Education: Visual Handicap, University 麻豆精选, 1993 
  • PGCE, Oxford Brookes, 1986
  • MEd Child Development, Institute of Education, 1985
  • BSc Psychology, Leicester, 1983

Research

Mike's research interests in the field of inclusive education have been primarily concerned with the identification and reduction of potential barriers to learning and participation for children with sensory impairment including those with complex needs. Particular themes within this focus have included:

  • Role of touch in the learning experiences of children with vision impairment
  • Haptic exploratory strategies and children who are blind with additional needs
  • Early literacy/communication (including Moon, objects of reference, tactile symbols)
  • Role of Low Vision Aids for children with vision impairment and additional needs
  • Effective curriculum access for children with multiple disabilities 

Recent funded projects he has contributed to include:

  • ‘Evidence of best practice models and outcomes in the education of children with vision impairment’
  • ‘Mobility and Independence outcomes for children with visual impairment’
  • 'Development of online enquiry-based learning resources'
  • 'Inclusion of children with vision impairment in developing countries' 

Mike was co-investigator for two reviews of literature funded by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in Ireland (International review of literature in visual impairment and education and International review of approaches to measuring educational engagement, progress and outcomes for children with special educational needs). Following blind peer review, both reviews were launched at conferences in Dublin and are now published and presented on the NCSE website. On the back of these publications Mike was invited by the Government in Ireland to undertake a review of the Visual Impairment Visiting Teacher Service in collaboration with a colleague from the University of Manchester.

He also has a broad research interest in professional learning and pedagogy within Higher Education and has been involved in a number of funded pedagogical projects in partnership with colleagues in the University and HE sector. He was Strand Lead (Part Time Learners) for the 2013 'Flexible Pedagogies' project funded by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and project lead for a 2016 HEA project examining how to promote equality of opportunity through flexible learning (Promoting Equality of Opportunity through Flexible Learning)

Knowledge Exchange

With colleagues in VICTAR and the School Mike was involved in a wide range of knowledge exchange activities within and beyond the academic sphere (e.g. policy makers and practitioners in the field of sensory needs). These activities include:

  • contributing to strategic developments for project funders;
  • running workshops and training events for schools, services and other academic institutions;
  • invited keynote sessions at national and international conferences 

Other activities

Mike was Joint Editor of the British Journal of Visual Impairment (SAGE) between 2006-2012. He serves as a reviewer for a range of peer reviewed journals including: 

  • Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness
  • British Journal of Ophthalmology
  • British Journal of Special Educational Needs
  • European Journal of Special Education
  • Australian Journal of Special Education
  • Studies in Higher Education

Publications

Recent publications

Book

McLinden, M, Douglas, G, Hewett, R, Cobb, R, Keil, S, Lynch, P, Roe, J & Stewart Thistlethwaite, J 2022, . Routledge. <>

McLinden, M, Hodges, E & McCall, S 2020, . Second Edition edn, Routledge, UK.

Article

Hewett, R, Douglas, G, McLinden, M & James, L 2023, '', British Journal of Visual Impairment, pp. 1-17.

McLinden, M, Greenway, C & Matthews, A 2021, '', Higher Education Pedagogies, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1-21.

Hewett, R, Douglas, G & McLinden, M 2021, '', Educational Review.

Frank, H, McLinden, M & Douglas, G 2020, '', Nurse Education in Practice, vol. 42, 102620.

Soni, A, Lynch, P, McLinden, M, Mbukwa-Ngwira , J, Mankhwazi , M, Jolley, E, Virendrakumar , B, Bedford , J & Gercama, I 2020, '', Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 5, 2104.

McLinden, M, Ravenscroft, J, Douglas, G, Hewett, R, McCann, E & Roe, J 2020, '', British Journal of Visual Impairment, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 1-7.

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

McLinden, M, Lynch, P, Mbukwa-Ngwira, J, Mankhwazi , M & Soni, A 2020, . in Malawi: Its history, culture, environment, education and healthcare. Nova Science Publishers, New York.

Cleaver, E, McLinden, M, Lintern, M & Birch, A 2020, . in RC Plews & ML Amos (eds), 聽Evidence-Based Faculty Development Through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) (pp. 1-470). . doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-2212-7. IGI Global, Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Chapter

McLinden, M, Douglas, G, Terlektsi, E & Hewett, R 2022, . in A Holliman & K Sheehy (eds), Overcoming adversity in education. 1st edn, Routledge, London, pp. 41-53.

McLinden, M, Grove, M, Green, J & Birch, A 2019, . in K K艡膷m谩艡 (ed.), The Inclusivity Gap. Inspired by Learning, Aberdeen, pp. 160-176. <>

Commissioned report

Terlektsi, E, Wootten, A, Douglas, G, Ellis, L, Hewett, R, Hodges, E, McLinden, M, Ware, J & Williams, L 2019, . Welsh Assembly Government. <>

Hodges, E, Ellis, L, Douglas, G, Hewett, R, McLinden, M, Terlektsi, E, Wootten, A, Ware, J & Williams, L 2019, . Welsh Assembly Government. <>

Douglas, G, McLinden, M, Ellis, L, Hewett, R, Hodges, E, Terlektsi, E, Wootten, A, Ware, J & Williams, L 2019, . Welsh Assembly Government. <>