Biography
Linda is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Education and Multi Professional Practice within the Faculty of Education. She teaches on the Postgraduate, Undergraduate and Foundation degree programmes.
Prior to gaining her Doctor of Education degree, Linda worked in Secondary Schools in the positions of teacher of English, whole school Literacy Coordinator, and Leader of Learning (Head of Department) in the English Department. Linda has been a teacher since 1996.
She also has past experience of teaching Academic English at HE level, inclusive of Course Leader role. Her doctoral research on Teacher Cognition focused on the tacit, non-observable components in teaching; undertaking her research using the multi method research design.
Linda’s areas of research specialism are: teacher cognition, cognitive processes in teaching, teacher development, and developing teacher expertise. She has also contributed to research on Alternative Educational Provision. Her research has been presented at national conferences. Linda has experience of supervising EdD and PhD students.
Profile
Research Interests
In Linda’s research, she works with teachers to understand decision-making processes involved in pedagogical design. Her research advocates for a refocus on the pre-active phase of teaching and the related thinking done by teachers.
Her work examines the mind of the teacher, examining, interrogating and evaluating the nature of decision-making processes undertaken. Decision making is central to teaching. Through Linda’s research, she identified a pertinent group of cognitive processes which shape pedagogical design; professional judgement, problem solving, intuition, perception, memory, pedagogical reasoning, as well as decision-making.
Whilst contemporary research centres on decision making as a key determinant in shaping pedagogical design, and to an extent professional judgement, very little is known about the mind of the teacher during the defining periods and moments in the complex work of thinking about teaching and preparation for teaching. Linda’s work unearths the complexities of teaching and makes the case for more attention to be paid to the interplay of cognitive processes.
Teachers at various stages of expertise development will experience this interplay in different ways, and gain unique insights which reflect their developmental stage. Linda’s work utilises the 5 –stage Dreyfus model to capture the nature of thought processes for teaching.
The argument is; teachers at various stages think about teaching in unique ways and teacher development opportunities need to be more precise in the identification and utilisation of cognitive processes and their interplay in order to actively engage with the complexity of teaching. Linda advocates a careful combination of teacher cognition, cognitive processes in teaching and developmental stage (e.g. the Dreyfus model).
The outcome of this combination is a teaching profession more insightful of the internal, as well as external, constituents of its core activities. Achievable expectations should also result from this knowledge of practice ensuring professional discussions are based on shared understanding of the complex and nuanced nature of practice.
Some key areas of Linda’s research focus:
- Teacher cognition
- Cognitive processes in teaching
- Teacher development
- Developing Teacher expertise (Dreyfus model)
- Multi method Research design
Teaching
Linda’s teaching mainly covers advanced interrogation and critical analysis of Education across policy, pedagogy and practice. In the context of schooling, she focuses on both mainstream education and alternative educational approaches.
At postgraduate level her teaching is on advanced conceptualisation of learning, teaching and assessment. Her postgraduate teaching also involves leading on the dissertation and research methods. She has expertise on postgraduate research skills development, with past experience of module leadership on two EdD modules.
Linda teaches and leads modules at postgraduate, undergraduate and foundation degree levels. She has programme leader responsibilities at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Linda is the MA Education co-ordinator, and the Head of Programme for the BA (Hons) professional Practice top-up. Linda is passionate about education and through her teaching works with teachers in schools, teaching assistants, FE professionals and practitioners.
Through the BA (Hons) Professional Practice top-up Linda seeks to work with education practitioners in Training and Development teams in a range of organisations, and practitioners engaged in educating in varied and specialist ways.
Other Activities
Administrative Responsibilities
Head of Programme: BA (Hons) Professional Practice Top-up
MA Education: co-ordinator
Member of the university’s Minor Amendments Panel.
Member of the university’s Research Ethics Committee
Research Ethics Link tutor for Education and Multi-Professional Practice
Membership of Professional Organisations
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
British Education Research Association (BERA)
National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE) – member since 2006
Conferences and Other Research Activity
Research Supervision:
Doctorate research supervisor
MA Education research supervisor
Undergraduate research supervisor
Conference Addresses and Papers:
Scott, C. [student], Naylor, S. [student], Johnson, B. [Staff] & Enow, L. [staff] (2022) Co-construction of an Education Studies course with aspiring post 16 students. Conference presentation, Newman University, Staff-Student Partnership Projects [SSPP] celebration day, 23rd June 2022.
Enow, L. (2021) Steps towards becoming an expert teacher: the Dreyfus model. Conference presentation, Newman University internal conference, 10th September 2021.
Enow, L. (2018) How do we frame discourses on the tacit dimension of teaching? Newman University Research Seminar series, 9th May 2018. Presentation at Newman University, Birmingham, UK.
Goodwyn, A. & Enow, L. (2017) The future of expert teaching in England: how should the newly established College for Teaching recognise the best teachers and what can it learn from other successful education systems, BERA conference 5th -7th September, University of Sussex, Brighton.
Trotman, D., Tucker, S & Enow, L. (2017) Alternative Provision in Four English Local Authorities: Findings from a multiple-case study evaluation. BERA conference 5th -7th September, University of Sussex, Brighton.
Enow, L. & Goodwyn, A. (2016) Cognitive processes involved in teaching and insights into developing teacher expertise. Presentation at the 9th Oxford Education Research Symposium, 7 – 9th December 2016, University of Oxford.
Enow, L. & Cornejo, J. C: (2016) Multimethod research design: the ‘new’ rigour-subsumed outlook for qualitative research. Faculty of Business and Law Internal conference, Coventry University, 30th June 2016.
Enow, L. & Goodwyn, A. (2016) Who is an expert teacher of English and how did they get there? Presentation at National Association for the Teaching of English, NATE conference, Stratford-Upon-Avon, 24th -25th June 2016.
Enow, L., Goodwyn, A. & Powell, D. (2016) Multimethod research design: the way forward for qualitative research. Presentation at Literacy Research Group, Psychology department, Coventry University, 13th April 2016.
Enow, L., Goodwyn, A. & Powell, D. (2015) Teacher expertise: the journey. Presentation at Coventry University Teacher Workshop – Secondary and Special Educational Needs, 7th October 2015, Coventry University.
Enow, L., Goodwyn, A. & Powell, D. (2015) Teacher cognition: a study of secondary English teachers. Presentation – Reading University Education Doctorate 2014 and 2015 cohorts on 8th May 2015.
Enow, L., Goodwyn, A. & Powell, D. (2014) Teacher cognition: a study of secondary English teachers; presentation at British Education Research Association (BERA) conference, 23-25th September, Institute of Education, London.
Projects:
2017: Collaboration with colleagues at Newman University on an evaluation of Alternative Provision for a Local Authority [LEA Funded project]
2013 – 2014: Coventry University – China collaboration with teaching visits at three (3) Universities in China. [Zhejiang University of Media and Communication, Renmin University Beijing, and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou]
Publications:
Enow, L. (2022) The EdD as a medium for harnessing and extending agency, in L. Saunders & D. Trotman (eds) The professional doctorate in Education: activism, transformation and practice, Cambridge Scholars Publisher, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central.
Trotman, D., Enow, L. & Tucker, S. Young People and Alternative Provision: Perspectives from participatory– collaborative evaluations in three UK local authorities, in R. Willoughby, K. Kadi-Hanifi, I. Jones, C. Bright, J. Bayley, P. Assi, S. Dixon, H. Davies, S. Griffin, C. Hedges, R. Sanders (eds) Dave Trotman: selected papers on education. Birmingham: Education Studies Press.
Trotman, D., Enow, L. & Tucker, S. (2018) Young people and alternative provision: Perspectives from participatory–collaborative evaluations in three UK local authorities, British Education Research Journal – BERJ. DOI:10.1002/berj.3495 https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/berj.3495
Enow, L. & Goodwyn, A. (2018) The invisible plan: how English teachers develop their expertise and the special place of adapting the skills of lesson planning. English in Education – research journal of the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE), 52:2, 120-134, DOI: 10.1080/04250494.2018.1438119 https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/BXKJszdwVQNWJW6nqTdn/full
Enow, L. & Goodwyn, A. (2017) Multimethod Study: Secondary English Teacher Cognition. SAGE Research Methods online publication. < http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473993976>
Enow, L. (2016) Teacher cognition: a study of secondary English teachers. Doctoral thesis, The University of Reading. <UNIVERSITY OF READING Linda Enow
centaur.reading.ac.uk/66017/1/20012638_Enow_thesis.pdf · PDF file>