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Graham Calvert, Dr

Honorary Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London

Graham was a secondary school teacher of psychology for 27 years, including 12 years as Head of Department before embarking turning to research. After becoming a seriously stressed and depressed teacher, he began and subsequently completed his PhD investigating teacher depression through a Foucauldian lens. Graham during his PhD he worked with his supervisor investigating the relationships between teachers’ motives to teach and the reasons why they might leave the profession. Subsequently he became a research assistant on the ‘Beyond Ofsted’ study. Drawing on his personal experiences as a teacher Graham is interested in the processes that can turn toxic for teachers and how these might be addressed. Graham has found that adopting an attitude to research derived from the work of Foucault is a useful means of unpicking excepted ideas offering a critical voice to accepted practice, using qualitative and quantitative strategies. Graham has found that his dual career as a Biomedical Scientist working in the National Health Service has buttressed his view that policy implementation can have untoward effects on those who work in health and education. Graham is now interested in looking at the similarities and differences between these two services and the levels of stress and depression experienced within them, investigating not only the negatives but also those practices that create positive environments for staff.

Graham Calvert's contributions