
Faculty spotlight: Dr Bee (Belinda) Hughes, Senior Lecturer in Education Policy and Leadership; Deputy Programme Director of the MA Educational Leadership in Practice (ELiP)
Dr. Hughes’ role at The University of Manchester is Senior Lecturer in Education Policy and Leadership. She also teaches on master's programmes at the University and was formerly deeply involved with the PhD students and entry admissions for the whole of the Manchester Institute of Education, giving her a valuable perspective. She just taken on a new role as the Deputy Programme Director of the MA Educational Leadership in Practice (ELiP) and is involved with teaching on the programme. She is currently reviewing and refreshing the programme’s approach. Part of her role is to support marketing for ELiP (she is acutely aware of the importance of attracting professionals to the programme – a sense she developed when head teacher of a prestigious private girls' school in the UK, where the biggest budget was for marketing). Dr. Bee recently paid her first visit to the Middle East Centre in Dubai to teach ELiP students during course conferences, and deliver a keynote on leadership and leading.
“Philosophically, I come from a high school teaching background and came through the practice pathway and spent 30 years as an educational practitioner, both in the UK and Hong Kong. I was late to academia after doing a PhD at the University of Manchester in 2016. I'm arguably an expert in scholarship and teaching but I also have the option to spend time researching.
“Currently, I am involved with Dr Paul Armstrong (Programme Director ELiP) on a major research project in a very deprived area, just outside Liverpool, UK, focusing on understanding the role of community in supporting young people. Part of my work with the research project is looking at how we can support students moving from schools to become more aspirational in achieving a satisfying career. This is a cradle to career project and it resonates even in places like Dubai and Shanghai, so and we are also looking very carefully at what we're doing on the ELiP programme.
“There's great alumni infrastructure here at the Middle East Centre in Dubai and access to mentoring, which is important when our students are investing time and intellectual understanding to develop their thinking on education leadership. But what comes next in their careers? This is something we need to think about more in relation to our post master’s students. Certainly, when I did my MBA, I was really interested in how I could apply the learning. For ELiP, it’s also about putting theory into practise and applying it in relation to our children, our students, our colleagues, our marketing, our HR management, our financial management - all the aspects of running and supporting a school.
“ELiP is a fairly new programme and we are now in a consolidation phase, reviewing what we know, works and so on. I’m in Dubai for the very first time, trying to understand the place and it's very dynamic with a similar energetic feel to Hong Kong. We need to be responsive to this and understand the local context of our students. This means understanding the changing competitive nature of independent schools and private schools, in Dubai and the region, and being aware of the importance of local community, context, issues and challenges. It’s absolutely the right thing to do.
“This is also why the ELiP course conferences are really key. Face-to-face conferences are absolutely vital for faculty and help us understand the day-to-day operational aspects of a head teacher, schoolteacher, or school leader in an international school, and realise the different contexts. So, leadership practice has got to be different, culturally referenced and culturally informed. It's really important that we question prevailing theories and models and understand the situation and where power resides.
“I've just been talking about the rise of Saudi Arabia and the role of women in education leadership, which is really fascinating, as the first woman visiting and teaching on this programme. We see a lot of women in education and in higher education. The former President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manchester, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, did a huge amount to support and promote women in higher education and this is a great legacy for her. I think we can do more. I now see this as an important aspect of my role, particularly after running a significant girls' school. We all have a deep emotional connection with education.
“Our ELiP students are teaching kids of affluent families who are very supportive and ambitious, and looking for return on their investment. These children have the privilege of going into positions where they can make an impact and a difference around the world. So, teachers here are teaching those who may change the world to some degree. It is an important privilege. And once we start to enable children to understand their responsibilities as global citizens, then they can change the world. The world needs people – and certainly young people - who have the resilience, strength of character and inquisitive intellectual nature. International education is a great foundation and gives them confidence to face the challenges that life presents, personal or professional. I think if we're doing that, then international education is a wonderful success story.
“How do ELiP students and graduates put theory into practice in their context? When I was a head teacher, I had a big office but my door was always open. I felt if I lost touch and didn't understand the everyday lived experiences of my students and my colleagues, then I should not really be a head. It is a responsible and important and vital position for young people. So, I used to have lunch with the kids in the canteen, for example, and it's a wonderful phrase to understand that you need to ‘walk a mile in my moccasins’.
“The other powerful thing that I have used all through my teaching career is using lived examples, ethnographic stories that really have resonance. Telling these stories framed around informed debate is very helpful - speaking about one's own limitations as a leader and highlighting that there's no right answer. (Just like there's no one way of parenting - It's a human relationship and that's why face-to-face and experience is absolutely critical). I noticed a vision for Dubai and one point was excellent talent. I was really intrigued by this - it's very aspirational and I need to investigate this and try to bring it out when I'm teaching students.
“Students should have high expectations of The University of Manchester and the expertise in the classroom but they should also understand, hopefully through course conferences, that we don't have all the right answers. We're very interested in their experiences and the answers to potential issues they share and network and debate and deconstruct. I'm hoping the students will be receptive to this.
“We have four conferences over the two-year part-time course. This initial conference brings together the year one cohort with year two students, who can help reassure the new students that It’s going to be okay and there’s plenty of support. It’s about sharing their experiences and it’s been refreshing because people are prepared to question and debate things, and critical engagement is part of it. And that's fantastic.”