Dr Jonathan William Firth
Senior Teaching Fellow
Education
Personal statement
I am a Senior Teaching Fellow at Strathclyde’s Institute of Education. The main focus of my teaching, scholarship and research is the application of cognitive psychology to education. I lead the BA Joint Honours Education Studies at the Institute, teach across several other courses, carry out research, and supervise students.
Prior to working at Strathclyde I gained experience of school teaching and adult education, including more than 15 years as a secondary school teacher. I also write textbooks and books for teachers, most recently ‘Metacognition and Study Skills’ (David Fulton Books, 2024).
Area of Expertise
Research: I have carried out several review studies, including a systematic review and meta-analysis of interleaving as a learning strategy (Firth, Rivers & Boyle, 2021), as well as conducting field experiments and writing theoretical papers.
Course design: I led a team which created an in-service teacher education programme for Crescent School in Pakistan, covering all aspects of teaching practice. I have also designed and refreshed university modules at the institute.
CPD: I have given many talks on the psychology of education, and led workshops and training days for teachers on such issues as creativity, memory strategies, debunking educational myths, and supporting teacher research engagement.
Science communication: I co-lead and write for the Strathclyde Institute of Education's blog, and also write a weekly newsletter on memory and metacognition for educators .
Publications
- Metacognition and Study Skills : A Guide for Teachers
- Firth Jonathan
- (2024)
- Metacognitive tools for writing
- Firth Jonathan William
- Teaching Hacks Fixing Everyday Classroom Issues with Metacognition (2024) (2024)
- What Teachers Need to Know About Memory
- Firth Jonathan, Riazat Nasima
- (2024)
- A metacognitive approach to developing creativity
- Badger Claire, Firth Jonathan William
- 19 (2023)
- Interleaving
- Firth Jonathan William
- The researchED Guide to Cognitive Science An Evidence-informed Guide for Teachers (2023) (2023)
- Ethics in psychology teaching
- Firth Jonathan
- Learning to Teach Psychology in the Secondary School A Companion to School Experience (2022) (2022)
- https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003162223
Research Interests
My research interests focus on the psychology of memory and metacognition as it applies to learning, as well as learning theories, higher-order skills, assessment, and teachers' professional learning. Applications of these interests include teaching strategies, educational interventions for critical thinking, approaches to teacher education, and professional engagement in evidence-based practice.
Professional Activities
- Metacognitive illusions
- Speaker
- 13/10/2024
- Autobiography, Fan Fiction and Education - Roundtable
- Speaker
- 26/6/2024
- Supporting students to become self-regulated learners.
- Speaker
- 3/6/2024
- Getting started with metacognition in your classroom
- Speaker
- 11/5/2024
- Praise motivates pupils - but it tails off as they get older
- Recipient
- 7/5/2024
- The natural order of things
- Speaker
- 20/11/2023
Projects
- Columba 1400 Senior Leadership Academy for Police Scotland
- Sosu, Edward (Principal Investigator) Firth, Jonathan William (Principal Investigator) Wilson, Claire (Co-investigator) Chen, Yueling (Post Grad Student)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
- Columba 1400 Head Teachers’ Leadership Academy: A Retrospective Evaluation Study
- Sosu, Edward (Principal Investigator) Firth, Jonathan William (Co-investigator) Wilson, Claire (Co-investigator) Chen, Yueling (Post Grad Student) Liu, Jia (Post Grad Student)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 29-Jan-2024
- Columba 1400 Head Teachers’ Leadership Academy: A Retrospective Evaluation Study
- Wilson, Claire (Principal Investigator) Sosu, Edward (Co-investigator) Firth, Jonathan William (Co-investigator) Chen, Yueling (Post Grad Student)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 29-Jan-2024
- Columba 1400 Head Teachers’ Leadership Academy: An Evaluation Study
- Sosu, Edward (Principal Investigator) Firth, Jonathan William (Co-investigator) Wilson, Claire (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2024
- The role and perceived effectiveness of approaches adopted by Into Headship students at a Scottish university to support the wellbeing of the school community during and in the aftermath of the pandemic and the perceived efficacy of the course in preparing them to meet these challenges
- Mowat, Joan (Principal Investigator) Beck, Anna (Co-investigator) Firth, Jonathan William (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2025
- An investigation into the factors in teacher burnout
- Firth, Jonathan William (Principal Investigator)
- The focus of this research collaboration is to better understand factors that cause teachers stress, and which motivate them to remain in or leave the profession.
Funding awarded: £2002 - 01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2022
Contact
Dr
Jonathan William
Firth
Senior Teaching Fellow
Education
Email: jonathan.firth@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 444 8069