All Staff Members | Jen Ager | University of Cumbria

Biography

Jen lectures on undergraduate and postgraduate primary teacher training programmes. In addition to teaching on campus, Jen works as a university partnership tutor, supporting students on primary school placements. Working as a Subject QA Coordinator Jen works with a subject team at the Institute of Education to support the monitoring and quality of curriculum areas. Outdoor learning and global learning have been great interests of Jen throughout her teaching career, and she is employed as a theme lead for Outdoor Learning for the Learning, Education and Development (LED) research centre.

Prior to joining the University of Cumbria, Jen taught in primary schools for twenty years across all age phases. During this time her role involved working as part of the senior leadership team and as an assistant headteacher. She also led a cluster of schools as global learning lead in developing and maintaining partnerships with schools in Tanzania, working on collaborative teaching projects and teacher development.

Qualifications and memberships

BA Hons with QTS in Primary Education and Physical Education

MA in Outdoor and Experiential Learning

NOCN Level 3 in Forest School Programme Leadership

Academic and research interests

Outdoor Learning in schools as a pedagogical approach.

Global learning and the implications this has/can have on people's lives and the earth's sustainability.

Curriculum Design

Publications

Publications

Ager, Jen (2022) Looking through both lenses: exploring long term school partnerships from the perspectives of both Cumbrian and Tanzanian teachers. London: Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning in collaboration with the Development Education Research Centre (DERC), UCL Institute of Education
Ager, Jen (2019) Can I Do It Outside? How to introduce a CIDIO approach in a Primary School. Horizons Magazine (84) Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL)
MA Dissertation (2018) Transcending CIDIO (Can I Do It Outside?): an (auto) ethnographic case study of designing a progressive primary school curriculum that embraces outdoor learning as a pedagogical approach.
Ager, Jen (2009) Comparing my life today with someone's in the past – Cross Curricular Approaches to Teaching and Learning, Sage Publications Ltd – Hilary Cooper and Chris Rowley
Ager, Jen (2009) The journey to achieving Fairtrade school status: Embedding FAIRTRADE into teaching topics.- Global Dimensions Issue 2, NWGEN
Cooper, Hilary and Ager, Jen (2008) KS2 History - Exploring Tudor Values plus Analysis. Teachers TV

Conference Attendance

(September 2022) Learning to Learn Outdoors – Good Shepherd Trust, Cumbria – Keynote Speaker: Learning to Learn Outdoors. CIDIO: How to utilise your school grounds on a daily basis.
(May 2022) Morecambe Bay Geography Leaders Development Day – University of Cumbria, Lancaster – Keynote Speaker: The Value of Learning Outside
(April 2019) Outdoor Learning Research & Development Symposium & Outdoor Learning NW Regional Hub Meeting – University of Cumbria, Ambleside – Presenter: Designing a progressive curriculum embracing Outdoor Learning as a pedagogical approach in a Cumbrian primary school
(July 2019) Learning and Teaching Festival –University of Cumbria, Carlisle – Co-presenter: Research informed practice or practice informed research? Reflections on master’s dissertation student journeys. Dr Heather Prince, Jen Ager, Andy Weller and Roo Bannister
(November 2019) – Council for Learning Outside of the Classroom National Conference: Beyond the Classroom. Bringing an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum to life. Co-presenter: Embedding outdoor learning into primary schools: strategies to maintain the momentum