Azumah Dennis
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Carol Azumah Dennis | |
|---|---|
| Add a Photo | |
| Born | Carol Azumah Dennis 1963 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Academic |
| Known for | Research on post-16 education, educational leadership, and quality in further education |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Kingston University (BSc) University College London (MA, EdD) |
| Thesis | How Do FE Professionals Define, Deliver and Maintain Quality? (2010) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Education |
| Institutions | The Open University |
Carol Azumah Dennis (known as Azumah Dennis), born 1963, is an academic and professor of Education, Policy and Practice.[1] in the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport at the Open University, United Kingdom.
Her research focuses on post-16 education, leadership and quality[2].
Early life and education
Dennis received a BSc in Sociology from Kingston University in 1984 and an MA in Adult and Continuing Education from University College London in 2003.
Between 1985 and 2010 she worked in various roles in further and adult education in London and Ghana.
She was inspired to continue her education to Doctoral level by the New Labour focus on "Education, Education and Education" as an aspect of economic policy.
In 2010, Dennis received her Doctor of Education (EdD) from the Institute of Education, University College London for a thesis entitled “How Do FE Professionals Define, Deliver and Maintain Quality?”[3]. Her thesis explored the nexus between research, policy and practice and explored the tension between quality-as-professional-aspiration and quality-as-demanded by policy. She argued that practitioners talk about quality across these competing and contrasting meanings, which has implications for framing professional practice.
Research and career
Following her graduate work, Dennis moved to the University of Hull as a Lecturer in Education, first taking on the role of Programme Director for Post-16 Teacher Education and later as Programme Director for their Postgraduate Taught provision. She has worked at the Open University since 2017, first as a Senior Lecturer in Education, Leadership and Management, and, since 2025, as Professor of Education, Policy and Practice[4].
Dennis’ research focusses on Post-16 policy, professionalism and practice; quality in vocational education, teacher education and ethics and social justice[5]. Her most influential works focus on decolonisation of curriculum, blogging as public pedagogy and leadership in further education colleges[6].
Dennis is the lead editor for the British Educational Research Association Curriculum Journal[7] and co-leads their Educational Leadership Special Interest Group[8]. She edits book reviews for the journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning[9]. She is the coordinator of the EdD Directors National Network.
Dennis has served in numerous leadership roles at the Open University, with specific focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Since 2023 she has served as Deputy Chair of the Open University’s Race Equality Charter Working Group, and between 2022-2024 she served as the Deputy Associate Dean for Curriculum and Assessment of the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies.
Dennis is a founding member of the Open University Black Women’s Academy. Dennis participated in the 100 Black Women Professors Now[10] programme, an initiative spearheaded by the Women in Higher Education Network to increase the number of Black women in the academic pipeline.
An aspect of her current work with the Open University that is important to her is exploring Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research[11].
Dennis was promoted to Professor of Education, Policy and Practice in November 2024. She delivered her inaugural lecture in April 2025[12]
Teaching and outreach
Dennis is the current director of Praxis[13], one of the four Open University Centres for Scholarship and Innovation. Praxis aims understand and advance practice in the field of teaching and learning through research.
She served as programme leader for the Open University EdD programme from 2020-2023. She was recognised as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (now Advance HE) in 2013.
References
- ↑ "OUPPS (Open University People Profile System)".
- ↑ "The Open University".
- ↑ https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10019897/1/Dennis%2C%20Carol%20Azumah_Redacted.pdf
- ↑ "The Open University". 11 March 2025.
- ↑ "The Open University".
- ↑ "Carol azumah dennis".
- ↑ "The Curriculum Journal".
- ↑ "Azumah Dennis".
- ↑ https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/openu/jwpll
- ↑ "100 Black Women Professors now".
- ↑ "EDI in research: A collection".
- ↑ "The Open University Inaugural Lecture - Professor Carol Azumah Dennis". YouTube. 3 April 2025.
- ↑ "The Open University".
External links
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