Deborah Robinson is a Professor of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Inclusive Education at the University of Derby. Professor Robinson is shortly to take up the post of Professor and Head of the Strathclyde Institute of Education at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
Deborah brings with her over 35 years’ experience in the Special Educational Needs (SEN) arena. This includes over 12 years of experience working as a primary teacher and Deputy Principal with responsibility for leading on SEND and inclusion. She is an advisor to the Independent Schools Inspectorate, and education editor for the British Journal of Learning Disabilities. Deborah has a strategic role in the University of Derby, and leads the academic research theme Public Services across the organisation, and this work centres on catalysing research that innovates policy and practice across education, health and criminal justice.
Deborah has been commissioned by policy makers to investigate the implementation and impact of policies related to SEN and inclusion. Commissioners have included the Department for Education in England with studies of Education, Health and Care plans, and National statutory assessment for children with severe or profound learning difficulties, the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in Ireland, with research on the implementation and impact of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) and most recently, the National Council for Special Education in Ireland with investigations of service users’ perceptions of the agency’s frontline services.
Professor Robinson is widely published and has expertise in the field of teacher education and preparation for SEND and inclusion, and policy and practice for SEND
Recent publications include the following:
Robinson, D. (2024) Effective teacher education for inclusion: Critical Perspectives on the role of Higher Education. London: Routledge
Robinson, D. and Codina, G. (2023) Practitioners as Truth Seekers and Truth Tellers: Innovative, Counter-Hegemonic Approaches to Evaluating National Inclusion Policies. Education Sciences. 2024; 14(4):414. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14040414
Robinson D., Gowers, G., Codina, G., Delgado-Fuentes, M., Artess, J., Shepherd, S. and Qureshi, S. (2023) Investigating the implementation and impact of the Access and Inclusion Model. Research and Technical Report. Dublin: Department of Childhood, Education, Disability, Integration and Youth.