Newton, Nigel (2020).
The rationale for subsidiarity as a principle applied within curriculum reform and its unintended consequences; The Curriculum Journal.
Power, S.; Newton, N.; Taylor, C. (2020).
'Successful futures for all?' The challenges of parity in curriculum innovation and outcomes for Wales. The Curriculum Journal.
Newton, Nigel (2019).
The place of knowledge within the curriculum from a Polanyian perspective; Tradition and Discovery (the journal of the Polanyi Society).
Reports
Newton, N., Power, S., & Taylor, C. (2019). Successful futures for all: explorations of curriculum reform.
Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods: Cardiff, UK.
Arthur, James; Wilson, Kenneth; Godfrey, Ray; Gray, Ben; Newton, Nigel (2009).
Values and Character: Higher Education and Graduate Employment. University of Birmingham; Canterbury Christ Church University; Templeton Foundation.
Other Articles
New Welsh curriculum may make education more holistic but students might miss out on subject knowledge; April 4th 2019, The Conversation (https://theconversation.com)
A New Welsh Curriculum; Research Intelligence (BERA); February 8th 2019.
Hopes and fears: The development of a new curriculum in Wales; Thursday 15 November 2018, British Education Research Association online blog, accessed:
https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/hopes-and-fears-the-development-of-a-new-curriculum-in-wales
What Quaker schools can teach the rest of the class about equality, mutual respect and learning; November 24, 2017, The Conversation (https://theconversation.com)
Lessons on learning from "La La Land"; May, 2017, The New York Academy of Public Education Professional Journal.
How to help teachers become inspiring; May, 2016, The New York Academy of Public Education Professional Journal.
Why there are no limits to your willpower; February 15, 2016, The Conversation (https://theconversation.com)
Conference Papers
What values and beliefs do Quaker schools communicate to their students and does it matter educationally? British Sociological Association, Sociology of Religion Study Group (SocRel) Annual Conference, 10th July, 2019, Cardiff.
Developing a new curriculum in Wales for the benefit of all learners - Symposium. WISERD Conference, 3rd July, 2018.
Equality, inclusiveness and mutual respect: the educational significance of Quaker school culture. Paper at BERA Annual Conference, 11th September, 2018, Newcastle.
Successful Futures for All - Symposium. WISERD Conference, 18th July, 2018.
Real cultures of mutual respects - lessons from research in Quaker schools. Workshop at BERA Alternative Education conference, London, "Alternative ways of educating teachers to educate children differently: What do curriculum, assessment and pedagogy look like when 'done differently'?" 23rd June 2018.
In search of truth, values and validity Michael Polanyi's theory of knowledge, Habermas and interdisciplinary research. Polanyi Society Conference - Polanyi Studies: Past, Present and Future, Wisconsin, U.S.A., August 2016.
Students' approaches to learning in Quaker schools. Quaker Schools Governors Conference, Warwick, February 2015.
Student Course Decision-making and Academic Success. European Conference on Educational Research, Istanbul, September 2013.
Understanding the Effects of School Culture on Student Learning University of Bristol, Graduate School of Education, Graduate Conference on Educational Research, June 2013.
Students' course choice: Discovering the relationship between students' expressions of interest in the contents of A-Level courses and their subsequent academic performance in a college context. Oxford University, Graduate Education Conference, March 2013.
Developing a Cardiff University Toolkit for School Governing Bodies in Wales. A research and development project funded by the Welsh Government aimed at developing a set of resources to assist school governing bodies in Wales evaluate their contribution and effectiveness. June 2019 to December 2019.
Successful Futures for all? A Welsh Government funded research project on the development of the new Welsh curriculum and its potential impact on more disadvantaged learners. December 2017 to May 2019.
Work based mentoring for pupils at risk of dropping out post-16; using concepts of learning power; in collaboration with a secondary school and Education Business Partnership, Lincoln, June 2016 - November 2017.
Research on the use of e-learning to help develop students' study engagement and design of an e-learning course, with short animations, to support students' use of the ELLI tool. UFI charitable trust funded project, October 2015 - August 2016.
Involved in the research design of a project to look at ways to improve first year undergraduate STEM students' academic progress. Fullerton College, University of California, December 2014 - February 2015.
Development of an interactive tool to help students choose their post-16 courses. St Laurence School, Wiltshire, September 2010 - September 2012.
Self-directed curriculum and self-assessment within the English lesson: how students understand autonomy. Action-research project at New College, Swindon, January 2011 to May 2011.
Students' use information in their course decision-making. LSC funded project at New College, Swindon, 2010.
AS to A2 progression and knowledge transmission. LEA funded project conducted in Swindon, September 2008 to August 2009.
Dr Newton's research includes work on graduate employees, student course choice, formative assessment, school culture, curriculum reform and school governance. He has provided teacher training and consultancy in relation to fostering student leadership, learning motivation and employability skills.
He previously coordinated research at WISERD, Cardiff University, "Successful Futures for all", funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales which explored the potential impact of curriculum reform in Wales on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. As a result of this research, he presented evidence to the Children, Young People and Education Committee of the National Assembly for Wales.
His PhD research at the University of Bristol explored the relationship between school culture and students' educational engagement. The research was carried out in Quaker schools in England and the findings point to the importance of a disposition towards inclusiveness in relation to students' willingness to engage in the learning opportunities their school provides.
Previously, he taught English, Classical Civilisation & World Development mainly in Further Education. He also wrote for the TES FE Focus on a range of subjects including college marketing, lecturer professionalism and the 'skills economy'. For several years, Dr Newton was projects director working with a learning disposition profiling tool developed at the University of Bristol. Projects he coordinated and supported included developing leadership skills in school learners in England and supporting first generation undergraduate progression in California.
Dr Newton is also interested in the use of technology to support education; he recently drew from research with school governors in Wales to develop a website aimed at supporting their work and building confidence; previously he designed an award-winning online tool to help students' post-16 course choice decision-making.
His academic writing includes papers on research methods, curriculum reform, school culture and educational theory.
Dr Newton is happy to consider supervising any PhD students whose work focuses on any of the themes mentioned above.
