Ben Thomas

Profile

Biography

Prior to joining Edge Hill University, Ben taught in a range of school settings in the United Kingdom and Germany. He held a variety of teaching positions across Key Stage 1, 2 and MFL departments. Having taught several different subjects, age ranges and curricula, Ben is able to appreciate and compare different pedagogical approaches and enhance his 

Ben has extensive experience of leading and delivering school improvement initiatives; as a subject, middle and senior leader. As a subject lead for Geography, Ben helped his school to achieve the ‘Primary Geography Quality Mark’ through careful curriculum design, planning, monitoring and assessment of Geography provision throughout the school. He also oversaw two schools’ Eco Schools accreditations in two schools. During his time overseas, Ben helped to deliver on whole school and departmental school improvement initiatives; both as Head of Department for EYFS/KS1 and Head of Primary. 

Research Interests

Ben’s research interests include:

• Primary Languages: Attitudes, Provision, Methods and Pedagogy
• English as an Additional Language
• Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) 
• Bilingualism and Multilingualism
• Second Language Acquisition
• Sociolinguistics

Teaching

Ben teaches on a range of modules across Edge Hill University’s QTS Initial Teacher Education programmes. This includes teaching BA(Hons) and PGCE students. He predominantly teaches the Primary Languages and EAL elements of the course. Ben is a Personal Academic Tutor for a group of second year undergraduate teacher trainees. He is Professional Practice Quality Lead for final year Primary 5-11 trainees.