Staff

Peter Ireland
Head of the Department of Education
Course Director for MEd in Educational Leadership

Peter is an experienced Headteacher who was educated at Lancaster Royal GS, New College, Oxford (History) and Sheffield University (MEd). He began his teaching career at Merchant Taylor’s School, Crosby. He became the Head of The Nelson Thomlinson School in Cumbria in 1989, when it was a below-par comprehensive with a rapidly falling roll. He transformed the school into an oversubscribed OFSTED-rated 'Outstanding' school, producing an average of four Oxbridge students per year. In 2005, Peter was asked to take a failing comprehensive out of special measures, a feat he achieved in two terms, whilst retaining the headship of Nelson Thomlinson. Peter retired in 2007 after 19 successful years of headship and became Dean of Education at Buckingham in 2009.

Professor Anthony O'Hear
Garfield Weston Professor of Philosophy

Director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, editor of the journal Philosophy, author of many books on the subject, formerly Government Advisor on Education and Teacher Training. He is a philosopher with a special interest in education.

More information about Professor O'Hear can be found in the Directory of Experts.

Professor Chris Woodhead
Sir Stanley Kalms Professor of Education

Formerly Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, author of Class Wars and the recent A Desolation of Learning. He is a Sunday Times columnist and Chairman of the Cognita group of schools.

More information about Professor Woodhead can be found in the Directory of Experts.

Professor Dennis O'Keeffe
Research Professor in Education

Editor of The Salisbury Review, author of many books on education and a noted authority on the subject of truancy.