Sue Dixon

Staff details

Position Joint Head of Teacher Education Departmental PGCE Senior Tutor
Department Educational Studies
Email s.j.dixon (@gold.ac.uk)
Phone +44 (0)20 7919 7358
Sue Dixon

Sue joined Goldsmiths in 2007 as the Head of Initial Teacher Education. During 2013 to 2016 she held a seconded post as an Associate Pro Warden with a remit for teaching and learning and the Head of TaLIC)

Within the department, she has previously held roles of Head of Goldsmiths Teachers’ Centre and chair of the Learning and Teaching Student Committee.
She is currently joint Head of Teacher Education and the Departmental Senior Tutor for PGCE students. She also chairs one of the department’s Assessment Boards.

Her background is in primary teaching. She taught in London for many years and has worked in Higher Education since 1999. Her background is in Mathematics Education. In addition to teaching on Initial Teacher Education programmes (Postgraduate and undergraduate), she has been extensively involved in curriculum development.

She is a qualified psychotherapist/ counsellor and has volunteered in centres in London. She has a small private counselling practice.

Academic qualifications

  • BSc Hons (Maths) with QTS (Education)
  • MA in Mathematics Education
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling
  • BSc Hons Integrative Counselling
  • MA in Counselling & Psychotherapy
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • BACP (Accreditation)

Teaching and Supervision

Sue teaches extensively on the PGCE programme specialising in PSCHE. She supervises students on their placement. She guest lectures on some of the Education degree modules. She supervises UG and MA dissertations when her specialism is required.

Research interests

Sue is a Part-Time Psychology PhD student at the University of Hertfordshire. She is researching how Eating Disorders Self Help Groups can support the recovery journey of sufferers of an Eating Disorder and how such groups can provide an adjunct to professional support. This research has emerged out of her longstanding voluntary relationship with the leading national Eating Disorders charity BEAT and her involvement with a Self Help Support Group spanning over two decades.

Sue’s previous research interests lay in teacher subject knowledge particularly the Numeracy Skills Tests and student teachers’ use and application of mental methods: Dixon, S (2003) ‘Student teachers, mental mathematics and the numeracy skills test’. In Williams, J. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 23(2) June 2003.

Further profile content

Professional projects

Sue has been involved in several government projects including Taster courses for under-represented groups in teaching, the Partnership Promotion Schools initiative, the Primary Professional Studies Harmonisation project, Multiverse Working Party and the TDA SED working party. She has extensive experience as an External Examiner and has acted as an external advisor/panel member on a number of university validations around the country.

She is a member and active participant at several UCET committees and has been a UCET Executive committee member. She is a board member of the London South Teaching School Hub.

In her role as an Associate Pro-Warden, she successfully developed an institution wide CPD Framework for teaching and learning in Higher Education which was accredited by the Higher Education Academy. She has jointly delivered CPD school workshops on topics such race and unconscious bias to schools. She is engaged in bespoke projects for schools.

Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups

Centre of Identity and Social Justice Research Group.

Community Engagement

Outside of Goldsmiths, Sue is a volunteer group contact and co facilitator of an Eating Disorders Self Help support group in London for adults. She was shortlisted in May 2014 for a BEAT national lifetime achievement award in recognition of her longstanding commitment to BEAT and the Self Help Group that she co-facilitates in Central London which spans over 25 years.

She has been a governor for schools in the London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham and Southwark. Most recently she was an active foundation governor at St James Hatcham C of E Primary School. She has been a board member of the St Mary's Teaching School Alliance Strategic Board based in Waltham Forest.

She was a member of the UKCP Child College Complaints Committee and an ‘ex officio’ member of the UKCP Child College Training Standards Committee developing documentation and policy documents.