Overview

I explore changes in the contemporary conditions of education, and work to understand how childhood and young people's lives vary globally. I bring this to my scholarship of geographical learning and education which is informed by a participatory action research ethos.

In 2023, I received the Royal Geographical Society's Taylor and Francis Award for demonstrating "excellence in the practice and promotion of teaching in higher education".

As an Exeter Education Incubator fellow I worked with students to research experiences of transitions to university following the introduction of the reformed A Levels in England. In a second project I explored 'online resources and narrowcasting the curriculum'. This research informs my contribution to Exeter's Transition and Induction Working Group as part of the Success for All Strategy.

My Masters and PhD studies - on the rising use of data in education settings - were enabled by an ESRC Quota Studentship. I am a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers, a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy, a member of the Geography Education Research Collective, Education Officer for the RGS-IBG Geographies of Children, Youth & Families Research Group and a member of the RGS-IBG Geography and Education Research Group committee. I am a part of the editorial collective of Geography - the Geographical Association’s international journal for lecturers, teachers and students in post-16 geography.

I lecture on a wide range of courses and seek to combine enthusiasm for geography with opportunities for students and academics to shape learning together.

Before academia I had a variety of jobs including being a Human Resources administrator with a city council, a teacher, a local education administrator and a church-based pastoral worker with students.

You can follow me on Twitter @MattMattFinn.

Research interests:

• Geographies of education and schooling
• Childhood, youth and young people
• Geographical education and learning
• Participatory Action Research (PAR)
• Critical geographies of data

Qualifications

BA Geography (Durham)
MA Research Methods - Geography (Durham)
PhD Geography (Durham)
Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Exeter)

Research group links

• Spatial Responsibilities

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Research

Research interests

I am a member of the department's Space, Politics and Society Research Group and contributes to the Spaces of Education Research Programme. My research has had two main themes.

Geographies of education and childhood

My research has explored the place of data in the process of education and the production of futures in schools. This is connected with a wider interest in the contemporary conditions of education and learning, and the ways in which education is 'going global'.

An open access reading list I maintain periodically on the Geographies of Education is available here: www.tinyurl.com/GeogEd.

As an Exeter Education Incubator fellow I worked with students to research experiences of transitions to university following the introduction of the reformed A Levels in England 2017-2018. As a 2019-2020 fellow I explored 'online resources and narrowcasting the curriculum'.

Particiatory action research approaches

A second interest is in forms of participatory action research and co-produced research and how this has provoked reflection on 'gentle geographies', conceptually and methodologically. With Jayne Jeffries and a range of collaborators we have been problematising the notion of gentleness using this to explore the opportunities this concept offers for re-examining diverse empirical interests as well as academic practice. Details including audio from the first of two seminars on gentle geographies can be found here.

Review work

I have reviewed for the following journals: Annals of the American Association of Geographers; Area; Big Data and Society; British Educational Research Journal; Children's Geographies; Contemporary Social Science; European Educational Research Journal; Geographica Helvetica; Journal of Geography in Higher Education; Learning, Media and Technology; Political Geography; Progress in Human Geography; Sage Publishing and Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.

Presentations

I have had the opportunity to present his work at various conferences and organise various sessions and events:

Previous presentations and sessions

2024

Invited lecture for the Post-16 and HE Phase Committee: Barriers and bridges to Geography for everyone in HE, Geographical Association ‘Geography for Everyone’ Annual Conference, Manchester

2023

GCYFRG day-long international online event: Renewed questions of ethics in research with and for children and young people, Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group event, organised with Prof Sophie Hadfield-Hill

Coloniality and the figure of the child, Decolonising Geography online event

Invited presentation: Co-produced research – what can we learn from Participatory Action Research (PAR)?, Environment and Sustainability Research Group Seminar, Geography, University of Exeter

Providing audio-recorded versions of key readings – impacts and implications - University of Exeter ESE Faculty Pedagogy and Education Research Showcase

GCYFRG presents: Navigating Peer Review, Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group online event, organised with Nadia Von Benzon

GeogEd Sessions: Building Research Capacity with Prof Parvati Raghuram, RGS-IBG Geography and Education Research Group online event, host, organised with Vicky Johnson

2022

Geography education and student mental health event, RGS-IBG Geography and Education Research Group, part of the organising committee and online and Exeter host.

GeogEd Sessions: Building Research Capacity with Dr Sarah Mills, RGS-IBG Geography and Education Research Group online event, organised with Vicky Johnson

GeogEd Sessions: Building Research Capacity with Prof Jo Waters, RGS-IBG RGS-IBG Geography and Education Research Group online event, host, organised with Joshua Ee

2021

Invited contribution: Possibilities for Teaching and Scholarship, TeaS Forum (Teaching and Scholarship), RGS-IBG and GeogEd

Looking ahead to the future of GeogEd: creating spaces of exchange between communities of practice - RGS-IBG Conference, in Evolving the ‘Higher Education Research Group’ to the ‘Geography & Education Research Group

Neoliberalization and marketization of education and alternative narratives or practices session - RGS-IBG Conference, organised with Dr Itta Bauer and Dr Sara Landolt (University of Zurich)

Student Voices on Transition to Geography in HE session hosted with Dr Niall Majury (Queen’s University Belfast) and Zara Hamilton, Sophie Graham, Lucy Millsopp, Morgan Beattie, Leanne Domican, Lauren Mallon, Julia Anusiak, Cara Greene, Paulina Gawronska, Fiona Duffy and Alice Murdock (geography students at Queen’s University Belfast) for the Geography and Education Research Group event: Student transitions: journeys into and through geography at university

Invited workshop: Growing up global - development, childhood and education, Department of Geography, University of Zurich

Invited seminar: On listening to and through children in geographical research, Department of Geography, University of Zurich

2019

Launching the ‘Geography and Education Research Group’ of the Royal Geographical Society, ‘Geography and the student experience’ event, part of the organising committee

Geography and Education: Panel session organised for the RGS-IBG, London

Renewed questions of ethics in research with and for children and young people session organised with Dr Sophie Hadfield-Hill (University of Birmingham) for the RGS-IBG, London

Invited keynote: A-level reform and implications for transition to University: the case of Geography - IGU CGE Conference, London

2018

Invited speaker: Provincializing the European Child, Child Studies Multiple 30th Anniversary Research Workshop, Department of Thematic Studies – Child Studies at Linköping University, Sweden

A-level reform and implications for transition to university: the case of Geography - RGS-IBG Conference, Cardiff, in Tear down the walls? Cross-disciplinary engagements with geographies of education, Geographiedidaktik and young people’s geographies session organised with Dr Itta Bauer (University of Zurich)

A-level reform and implications for transition to University: the case of Geography - 3rd International Conference on Geographies of Education, Loughborough

A-level reform and implications for transition to University - Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship Conference, Bristol, with Katie-Boyd Lee and Finlay Simmons

Transition to University following the reformed A Levels - EduExe2018 Education Conference with Alice Clarke, Scott Lewis, Connor Spence, Bella Tull, Sarah Tyrrell

Beyond frenemies: contact and collaboration with universities, Teacher-to-Teacher Session at the GA Annual Conference, Sheffield Hallam University

Data and schools spaces – materialisations, circulations and temporalities - Materialities and Mobilities in Education Day Conference, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford.

Workshop on Module Design, GCYFRG  Educating under- and post-graduate geographers for/about/using the geographies of children and youth Day Teaching Workshop, RGS-IBG, London

2017

The awkward geographies of schooling – working at the intersection of geographies of education, childhood and youth - AAG, Boston, USA, in Theorizing the Geographies of Education and Learning session, a session I organised. You can see a storify of tweets from the session here.

2016

Invited presentation: How can we think about data in schools? Atmospheres of progress and forging futures in a data-based school. Audio, slides and handout available. Research seminar at School of Education at the University of Brighton

Invited session: Student Voice in schools with Dr Sara Bragg, Blatchington Mill School, Hove

The awkward geographies of schooling – working at the intersection of geographies of education, childhood and youth - RGS-IBG Conference, London, in The nexus between Young People`s Geographies and Geographies of Education session

Growing up global – children, young people and the geographies of global change - RGS-IBG Conference, London, in Educating undergraduate geographers for/about/using the geographies of children and youth session

Introducing Gentle Geographies - University of Exeter, in A Gentle Alertness to Geographies of the (Non)human & (Ir)Responsibilities seminar - details including audio from the day
The two-part seminar series is co-organised with Jayne Jeffries (Newcastle University) and funded thanks to the Spatial Responsibilities Group at the University of Exeter, the School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape and Open Lab at Newcastle University, the Participatory Geographies Research Group and the Geographies of Justice Research Group.

Invited presentation: Ran and facilitated half-day training event on Participatory Action Research, Plymouth University Social Science Doctoral Training College.

2015

Towards more gentle geographies - RGS-IBG Conference, Exeter, in Gentle Geographies session organised with Jayne Jeffries (Newcastle University)

Report from Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship: The Role of Teaching Focused Academics in driving the evolution of HE - RGS-IBG Conference, Exeter, in GEES LTHE Network Annual Meeting

2014

Forging futures in a data-based school - Futures in Question International conference as part of the ESRC Austerity Futures series, Goldsmiths, University of London

Forging futures in a data-based school - RGS-IBG, London, in The co-productions of data-based living session organised with Nat O'Grady (Southampton University)

Co-producing methods/knowledge in geographies of childhood and youth session organised with Grace Sykes and Thomas Grant (University of Leicester) for the RGS-IBG, London

Invited presentation: Forging futures in a data-based school - 2nd ESRC code acts in education seminar, University of Edinburgh

Forging futures in a data-based school - St. John's College Durham University, Broaderlands Seminar

Forging futures in a data-based school - AAG, Tampa, USA, in Data-based living: peopling and placing 'big data' session, a session I organised

Atmospheres of progress in a data-based school (revised) - Education, Emotions and the Future Seminar, Geography Department, University of Leicester

2013

Atmospheres of progress in a data-based school - RGS-IBG Conference, London

Governing futures in a data-based school - RGS-IBG Conference, London, in Governing the self: young people's futures, aspirations and ambiguous agency session organised with Jo Pike

2012

(In)dividuals and data-based futures in schools - 2nd International Education Conference on Geographies of Education, Loughborough University

How to hear a voice? 'Student Voice' and Participatory Action Research - RGS-IBG Conference, Edinburgh

How to hear a voice? 'Student Voice' and Participatory Action Research - St. John's College Durham University, Broaderlands Seminar

2010

Engaging Geography students in participatory action research with communities - with Rachel Pain, RGS-IBG Conference, London

Faith, encounter and confession: an undergraduate's experience of the lecture theatre as a site of geographies of religion, Geographies of Religion: a new dialogue conference, Newcastle University

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Publications

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Teaching

I lecture on a wide range of courses from thinking about 'growing up global' to supporting students develop their research design expertise. I seek to combine enthusiam for geography with opportunities for academics and students to shape learning together.

I have also been invited to facilitate training and workshops, for example on Participatory Action Research for the Plymouth University Social Science Doctoral Training College, and Growing up global - development, childhood and education for the Geography Department at the University of Zurich.

I welcome enquires about PhD supervision on areas of eduction, childhood and geography and have been a co-supervisor to Emma Marshall (Geography) and Abbie O'Brien (Education).

Undergraduate modules 23/24:

• Geographies of Global Change (Convenor) - GEO1106
  I convene the module and contribute to it with the 'Growing up Global' section exploring why as geographers we might look to the lives of children and young people to make sense of globalisation.
• Study Skills for Human Geographers - GEO1309
  As a tutor and lead tutor I work with students to develop the key skills they need for university and beyond.
• Learning through place: doing human geography - GEO1313b
  As part of one of the fieldtrip teams, I work with first-year students providing guidance in the field.
• Doing Human Geography Research (Co-Convenor) - GEO2465
  This module introduced students to research design in human geography and prepares students for their dissertations. Students work in research teams to learn about the practice and principles of designing research in human geography exploring the geographies of consumption. I created and co-lead this module and also act as an academic tutor.
• Dissertation advisor - GEO3311/GEO3312
  I work to support students in carrying out their diverse dissertation projects with fortnightly tutorials and individual meetings.
• Seville Field Course - GEO3149
  As part of the fieldtrip team to Seville, I work with students to develop the projects they carry out while on the fieldtrip and provide guidance in the field.

Departmental roles:

• Co-Director of Education and Student Experience (since 2024)
• Academic Lead for Transition and Induction (since 2023)
• Geography EDI Taskforce (since 2023)
• Geography Ethics Committee member (since 2014)

University roles:

Deputy Chair, Transition and Induction Working Group, Success for All Strategy (since 2022)

Previous teaching:

• Research Methods for Geographers - GEO1315
  I contributed to the section of the course that helps students think through the process of research before and following the Bristol fieldtrip. With Dr Ewan Woodley I taught the introductory statistics component.
• Human Geography Fieldtrips - GEO2308C, GEO2308D
  As part of one of the fieldtrip teams to Seville and New York, I worked with students to develop the projects they carry out while on the fieldtrip and provide guidance in the field.
• In/visible spaces of modern life - GEO2135
  This module that I created and convened examines some of the taken-for-granted spaces that are fundamental to making modern life work. I introduced and rounded-off the module and supported the site visit(s)/workshop as part of the module.
• Human Geography Virtual Fieldtrip - GEO2322A
  As part of one of the teaching team, I worked with students to explore New York through a range of innovative desk-based methods.
• Research Methods for Human Geography - GEO2325 - ELE page, Course Twitter feed/hastag
  With Dr Ewan Woodley, we took students on from introductory statistics to more advanced techniques and through examples seek to show some of the potential and difficulties with these techniques. I also acted as an academic tutor on this module.
• Research Design in Human Geography (Convenor) - GEO2326, GEO2328
  In this module, which I led, I helped students learn about the practice and principles of designing research and help students to prepare for their dissertations. I also acted as an academic tutor on this module.
• Geographies of Justice: Research Methodologies in Action - GEO2327
  I acted as an academic tutor on this module.
• Geographies of Consumption: Doing Human Geography Research (Convenor) - GEO2329
  Through exploring the geographies of consumption students worked in research teams to learn about the practice and principles of designing research in human geography. The module also prepares students for their dissertations. I led this module and also acted as an academic tutor.
• Geographies of Education and Learning (Convenor with Dr Sarah Dyer) - GEO3140
  In this module we explored key concepts that geographers use to understand education and learning at different scales, from the local sites/spaces of learning to the international. We examine different concepts and theories of learning and how these might influence understandings of our own educational experiences and how we communicate geographical knowledge to others.

Past roles:

• BA Geography Programme Director (2022-2024)
• Admissions Tutor for the BA Geography programme at Streatham campus (2015-2022) and Director of Admissions - Geography, Streatham (2019-2022)
• Senior Academic Misconduct Officer for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences (2016-2019)
• Academic Misconduct Officer for Geography (2014-2019)
• Student Engagement Co-ordinator (2014-2018)

Modules

2024/25

• GEO1106 - Geographies of Global Change
• GEO2338 - Doing Human Geography Research

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Office Hours:

Office hours can be found here.

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