Dr Sharon Hunter
Lecturer
Education
Personal statement
I am interested in the concept of child in relation to modernity. I focus on notions of freedom and transgression, and have drawn on thinkers such as Hannah Arendt, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin to explore educational concerns and gain an understanding of the ideas that underpin educational thinking in our time. My current work focuses on Dada and Surrealism, Queer theory, and the work of Georges Bataille. Though my interests are not often directly about children and schools, the underlying concerns are about who or what is marginalised, excluded and ignored in our thinking and practice: what is left out is as interesting and as important as what is included and the detritus of being human tells us a good deal about who we are. These concerns inform my teaching on inclusion, human rights and social sustainability. Before this I taught children. Current responsibilities include: Equality and Diversity Advocate for the School of Education Leader of Educational Studies component of the PGDE course
Area of Expertise
Has expertise in:
- Philosophy of Education
- Educational Inclusion
Publications
- ‘Where are the adults?’ : Troubling child-activism and children’s political participation
- Hunter Sharon, Cassidy Claire
- British Educational Research Journal (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4126
- Podcast #25 Meet some academics talking research ethics
- Hunter Sharon, Kirk David
- (2021)
- Podcast #17 : Meet a course team: PGDE
- Whitley Catherine, Hunter Sharon
- (2021)
- Agency and sovereignty : Georges Bataille's antihumanist conception of child
- Hunter Sharon
- Journal of Philosophy of Education Vol 54, pp. 1186-1200 (2020)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.12455
- Teachers and learning for sustainability : rights, democracy and social justice
- Hunter Sharon, Cassidy Claire
- Scottish Educational Review Vol 51, pp. 7-16 (2019)
- How modernity's futurism puts children in the front line
- Jessop Sharon
- Childhood Vol 25, pp. 443-457 (2018)
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568218778753
Teaching
Philosophy of Education
Educational Inclusion
Research Interests
My current work focuses on Dada and Surrealism, Queer theory, and the work of Georges Bataille. Though my interests are not often directly about children and schools, the underlying concerns are about who or what is marginalised, excluded and ignored in our thinking and practice: what is left out is as interesting and as important as what is included and the detritus of being human tells us a good deal about who we are. These concerns inform my teaching on inclusion, human rights and social sustainability.
Professional Activities
- The Education University of Hong Kong
- Visiting researcher
- 6/12/2018
- Contemporary Childhood Conference
- Participant
- 6/9/2018
Projects
- Children’s Rights and Human Rights Education
- Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator) Hunter, Sharon (Principal Investigator)
- This is the second iteration of this Career-long Professional Learning course run for the EIS that focuses on rights-based issues in schools and the incorporation on the UNCRC.
- 29-Jan-2025 - 29-Jan-2025
- Children’s Rights and Human Rights Education
- Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator) Hunter, Sharon (Principal Investigator)
- This Career-long Professional Learning session for the EIS was focused on identifying rights-based issues in schools and exploring how these might be addressed. It also considered incorporation of the UNCRC.
- 09-Jan-2024 - 09-Jan-2024
- Supporting Academic Literacies Development for Mature Students in Scottish Initial Teacher Education (Incentive grant)
- Sims, Rebekah (Principal Investigator) Hunter, Sharon (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2025
- Academic Literacy in Teacher Education
- Sims, Rebekah (Principal Investigator) Hunter, Sharon (Principal Investigator)
- Our research investigates:
- how higher education teaching professionals teach and/or support academic literacies
- what types of academic literacies students in teacher education need to develop for success in academic and professional settings
- what HE teachers and students think "good writing" looks like
- how teacher education programmes can integrate effective academic literacy instruction to enrich student learning and reduce inequalities experienced in academic settings - 01-Jan-2021
- Human Rights Education
- Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator) Hunter, Sharon (Principal Investigator)
- This one day short course was provided for Tealing Primary School, Fife. The school was working to focus on children's human rights across the school. All members of the school staff participated in the session.
- 03-Jan-2020 - 03-Jan-2020