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BERA Council and Committees

Conference & Events Committee

The role of the Conference & Events Committee is to:

  • Ensure that the Annual Conference and programme of in-year events operate to the highest academic standards
  • Ensure that the Annual Conference and programme of in-year events develop in line with BERA’s strategic objectives
  • Oversee, approve and monitor the academic quality across BERA’s events, with a particular focus on the Annual Conference
  • Ensuring the appropriate mechanisms to deliver high academic standards for BERA’s Annual Conference and events are in place
  • Ensuring that BERA’s Annual Conference represents the diversity of interests of BERA members, including all four nations and under-represented groups, and aligns with BERA strategic priorities.
  • Overseeing the academic programme for BERA’s Annual Conference, including reviewing the academic quality, reach and diversity of keynote speakers
  • Manage the processes by which BERA sends representatives to other international conferences
  • Manage the process by which bursaries for BERA’s conference and other events are allocated, keeping the range of such bursaries under review
  • Oversee BERA’s in-year events programme and monitoring its effectiveness in terms of quality, impact, reach and academic range
  • Review how BERA events including the Conference delivers upon BERA’s strategic priorities
  • Liaise with BERA’s Special Interest Groups about their role in the Annual Conference and in planning other in-year events
  • Ensure processes are transparent including open invitation to members to serve on the committee

If you would be interested in joining this Committee please contact secretariat@bera.ac.uk 

Chair of the Conference and Events Committee

Profile picture of Mhairi Beaton
Mhairi Beaton, Professor

Professor at Leeds Beckett University

Mhairi Beaton is Professor at the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University. After completing a Bachelor of Education at University of Edinburgh, Mhairi worked as a primary school teacher in Highland Region in the north of Scotland....

Conference & Events Committee Members

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Megan Crawford, Professor

Professor Centre for Global Learning at Coventry University

Megan Crawford has significant experience in HE as a leader and academic at a senior level, and her work is keenly focused on leadership and the relationships between research and practice in schools. Megan has worked in schools, and at various...

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Yuwei Xu, Dr

Associate Professor at University of Nottingham

Dr Yuwei Xu is an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at the University of Nottingham. Previously he has held academic positions at University College London (UCL) and the University of Portsmouth. With a PhD in gender and early...

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Aimee Quickfall, Dr

Head of School - School of Education at Leeds Trinity University

Aimee is Head of the School of Teacher Education at Leeds Trinity University, one of the BERA SIG leads for Mental Health and Wellbeing, and a member of the BERA Conference Committee. Her research interests are well-being and workload in...

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Louise Kay, Dr

Lecturer at University of Sheffield

Louise Kay is a lecturer in early childhood in the School of Education at the University of Sheffield. She is a qualified teacher and has worked across all three primary key stages, with the majority of her career spent teaching in the early...

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Tracy Ann Hayes, Dr

Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) in School of Education at Plymouth Marjon University

Dr Tracy Ann Hayes is Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) in the School of Education at Plymouth Marjon University, where she leads the Youth & Community Work Programmes and is the Post Graduate Research Co-ordinator. A qualified youth...

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Luke Donnelly, Dr

Head of Year at Pinner High School

I am a music teacher, head of year and Deputy DSL in a secondary school in London. My research interests are disadvantaged and vulnerable children. My PhD research investigated the support that is offered to Looked After Children in mainstream...

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Sharon Smith, Dr

Researcher at University of Birmingham

Sharon Smith recently completed her PhD at the School of Education at the University of Birmingham (July 2024). Her research interests relate to inclusion, education, the role of parents of children/young people with SEND, co-production, critical...

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