Dr Valerie Farnsworth

Profile

I have been a Lecturer in Curriculum Studies within the Leeds Institute of Medical Education (LIME) since 2016. In LIME, I have been responsible for the Year 1 professionalism strand of the MBChB (IDEALS), supervised undergraduate and post-graduate research student projects in medical education and led the research module for the iBSc in Applied Health (Medical Education). I am the Lead for Postgraduate Research Students, supporting and developing PhD and DClinEd doctoral candidates in educational research. I was School Academic Lead for Inclusive Practice in the School of Medicine (Sept 2018 – Aug 2022) and currently I am a Decolonising Academic Lead (June 2022 – present) for the Faculty of Medicine and Health. 

In previous employment, as a researcher in the Schools of Education at the Universities of Leeds and Manchester, I have led on the narrative data collection (ESRC funded TransMaths project on student transitions into Higher Education STEM subjects) and have been the PI for an internally funded project (exploring spatial dimensions to imagined futures) and PI for a small grant project funded by ASME (understanding medical student transitions in learning). Recent funding I received has allowed me to explore changes needed to address under-representation of racialised minorities in academia (LITE-funded student researcher) and to explore what literature says about ways that colonial legacies are implicated in health inequalities (Curriculum Redefined funding from University of Leeds).

My research training (MA and PhD in Educational Policy Studies, UW-Madison, 1999-2006) has developed my skills and knowledge in social theories of learning, critical sociology, critical race theory, narrative theory and critical discourse analysis (including a semester at University of Amsterdam). I was awarded an ESRC grant to run a seminar series (Developing a ‘How Things Work’ Research Agenda in Education, 2008-9) which resulted in a book I co-edited with Yvette Solomon (2013) and organised a conference for scholars of social theories of learning, led a post-graduate research module at the University of Manchester (with Etienne Wenger-Trayner) and co-convened the BERA SIG on Sociocultural and Cultural Historical Activity Theory, 2006-2009.

Responsibilities

• Lead for Postgraduate Research Students
• UG and PG dissertation supervision
• Medical education research & scholarship

Research interests

My research and scholarship aims to develop the space where educator and student experiences and perspectives can interact. Using primarily qualitative methods and social theories, I conduct research that furthers conversations about how we widen access to Higher Education, practice inclusive education and sponsor a decolonial education. 

I supervise research students in education projects relating to curriculum reform, diversity education, learning and teaching, transitions and widening participation. 

I am a member of the Researching Professional Learning Group within LIME. Externally, I am a member of DIMAH (Diversity in Medicine and Health): http://www.dimah.co.uk/ 

I co-convene the BERA (British Educational Research Association) SIG on Socio-cultural and Cultural Historical Activity Theory: https://www.bera.ac.uk/group/socio-cultural-and-cultural-historical-activity-theory 

Qualifications

• PhD, Educational Policy Studies; University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Fellow, Higher Education Academy (HEA)

Professional memberships

• BERA
• ASME

Student education

Teaching and scholarship to redress inequities in the pathway into and through Higher Education.

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Medical Education
• Professional Learning Group