Diane is PGCE Lead for Keele and North Staffordshire Teacher Education (KNSTE). She is also an associate lecturer with The Open University, specialising in curriculum design and professional learning. She was formerly Director of KNSTE where she was responsible for their Initial Teacher Education and research programmes whilst completing her doctorate. Di’s research related to how mentors support trainees in the development of their professional knowledge.

Di is currently chair of SSTEC, The Stoke and Staffordshire Teacher Education Collective ( https://sstec.online/). This is a collaboration of providers that support schools across the sub-region. They work together to produce free resources to enrich mentoring. Their most recent focus has been on the educative aspects of professional learning and the development of subject-specific questioning.

Diane has extensive experience in both secondary and primary schools as a teacher, senior leader and a MAT trustee. She regularly contributes articles to professional journals and has authored a variety of materials that support teachers to develop their professional knowledge, including their curriculum and pedagogic thinking.

She has worked extensively with teacher-colleagues on a variety of projects in relation to Philosophy for Children and Thinking Moves. Diane is fellow the Chartered College of Teaching. She is also an international associate of the Knowledge and Education Research Unit at the University of Auckland.

@diane_swift @KNSTE_ITTE