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Dr David Littlefair

Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor

School: Communities and Education

I am Deputy Head of the Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) and an internationally recognised figure in the field of Teacher Education (Education).

I lead professional development for teachers nationally and internationally by designing innovative curricula and delivery models via stakeholder co-production with serving teachers and headteachers. Through service on the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers’ (UCET) Executive and CPD Committees, I have influenced policy and practice via the Department for Education, including in areas such as the development of the Master of Teaching and Learning (MTL). I have secured £2.3m in external CPD income to establish a number of learning hubs via university and school consortia in the UK as well as international programmes, such as in provinces of China. I am regularly invited to speak internationally on this work. I have a growing body of research in the field of inclusive education, which involves national and international collaborations with Australia, Germany, and Romania.  

I have made significant theoretical and pedagogical contributions to my discipline of teacher education through my pioneering ‘pupil voice’ pedagogical paradigm and strategic leadership of the Inclusive Education Research group. My creation of the Pupil Voice research programme has impacted policy and practice in areas such as Physical Education.

I am always keen to collaborate with colleagues within and outside Higher Education to advance excellence in teaching and to support research on this topic, including via doctoral study.  

David Littlefair

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Exploring UK residents’ views on substantive education reform: adversarially co-produced narratives indicate fluidity in support, Hudson, K., Mulholland, K., Croft, E., Benton, P., Stark, G., Littlefair, D., Atkinson, J., Johnson, S., Reed, H., Johnson, E., Johnson, M. 6 Oct 2025, In: Political Research Exchange
  • Interventions to Improve Connectedness, Belonging, and Engagement in Secondary Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Davies, C., Cordier, R., Graham, P., Littlefair, D., Speyer, R., Melo, D. 7 May 2025, In: Education Sciences
  • ‘Literal torture’: Vulnerability, resilience and young people's experiences of pressure in physical education, Littlefair, D., Jopling, M. 10 Oct 2025, In: British Educational Research Journal
  • Pupil voice as a method in education research: thinking the ‘in-between’, Littlefair, D., Jopling, M. 20 Feb 2025, In: Oxford Review of Education
  • Pupil Voice in Physical Education and the desire for (in)visibility, Littlefair, D., Jopling, M., Kelly, N. 24 Jul 2025, In: Sport, Education and Society
  • The Contribution of Teacher Education to universities: a case study for international teacher educators, Hoult, E., Durrant, J., Holme, R., Lewis, C., Littlefair, D., McCloskey-Martinez, M., Oberholzer, L. 3 Apr 2025, In: Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice
  • UK resident preferences on tax reform: Survey-based evidence suggests support for progressive change in the run up to the 2024 General Election, Johnson, E., Stark, G., Moseley, L., Littlefair, D., Atkinson, J., Johnson, M., Reed, H. 4 Nov 2025, In: Journal of Social Policy
  • What does transformation in Higher Education research culture look like? Evidence from action research within a diverse post-1992 department, Mulholland, K., Robson, I., Nichol, D., Counihan, C., Gray, W., Luke, C., Meller, S., Anderson, A., Heslop, K., Davies, J., Graham, P., Johnson, S., Hwang, S., Chan, W., Johnson, E., Hudson, K., Haighton, C., Littlefair, D., Defeyter, M., Kellehear, A., Atkinson, J., Johnson, M. 30 Oct 2025, In: Routledge Open Research
  • A systematic review of self-regulation measures in children: Exploring characteristics and psychometric properties, Chen, Y., Janicaud, N., Littlefair, D., Graham, P., Soler, N., Wilkes-Gillan, S., McAuliffe, T., Cordier, R. 19 Sep 2024, In: PLoS One
  • Content validity of measures in early numeracy in children up to eight years: A COSMIN systematic review, Speyer, R., Hakkarainen, A., Yoon, S., Kim, J., Windsor, C., Wilkes Gillan, S., Littlefair, D., Cordier, R. 19 Sep 2024, In: PLoS One

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Invited talk: IPDA Conference 2025
  • Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: BERA Annual Conference 2023 2023
  • Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: UCET Annual Conference 2023 Leeds 2023
  • Invited talk: APPG CPD SIG 2022
  • Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: BERA Annual Conference 2022
  • Invited talk: BERA SIG 2022
  • Invited talk: Navigating cultural diversity to engage International teachers in best practice professional development. 2018
  • Invited talk: Research evidenced teaching methods for Primary PE 2018
  • Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: Teacher Education Policy in Europe (TEPE) Network, Annual Conference, 2018
  • Invited talk: Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) CPD Symposium, London, May 2018 2018

  • Jennifer Hicken Start Date: 01/10/2025 End Date: 17/10/2025
  • Jennifer Hicken Start Date: 01/10/2025
  • Fiona Nicholls A School Participation and Connectedness Intervention for Neurodivergent Children in Mainstream UK Primary Schools. Start Date: 01/10/2023
  • Sophie Johnson What difference can classics make to primary school student self-efficacy? Pupil voice and the power of storytelling Start Date: 01/10/2023
  • Fiona Nicholls A School Participation and Connectedness Intervention for Neurodivergent Children in Mainstream UK Primary Schools. Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025
  • Sophie Johnson What difference can classics make to primary school student self-efficacy? Pupil voice and the power of storytelling Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025

  • Education PhD October 25 2021
  • Education MA (Hons) September 08 1994
  • Physics BSc (Hons) September 01 1986
  • Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy PFHEA 2018
  • Senior Fellow (SFHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2015


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