Rachel Stubley is a teacher educator, working on courses for new and experienced teachers in Post Compulsory Education and Training (PcET), including courses for specialist teachers of Adult Literacy and Communication, and English to Speakers of Other Languages. She is currently studying for a PhD in the field of Literacy Studies and Linguistics, looking at student writers and expectations of academic writing in teacher education.

"I started as an ESOL and literacy teacher in further, adult and community education in London, before moving into teacher education, and then moving to South Wales. 

"Early on in my career I spent two years in Indonesia with VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) teaching English in a secondary school and supporting local English teachers there.

"I have valued the opportunity to support and learn from (student) teachers at all stages of their careers, and to work in teaching teams which include expert practitioners from outside the University. I've also valued having the opportunity to run workshops and courses off-campus in colleges and community education venues. It's a privilege to work at a University, but as a teacher educator, it's also great to keep in touch with life and learning outside higher education.

"I worked with the Welsh Government (WG) and the Basic Skills Agency Cymru to develop the first adult literacy teacher education courses at university level in Wales. We later extended the University's provision to include ESOL and then adult numeracy and maths.

"During my time at the University, I've also been involved in two major WG teacher education projects in the field of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. This has involved collaborative work with literacy, numeracy and ESOL colleagues in FE colleges across Wales, which has been rewarding both personally and professionally - and has enabled me to get to know this beautiful country too!

"I am a member of the organisation Research and Practice in Adult Literacy (RaPAL) - a network for teachers and academics across the UK and in other English-speaking countries - and we hosted their annual conference here at the University a few years back. I recently co-edited their journal, which is unusual in being both a conventionally academic, peer-reviewed journal, and one which encourages other kinds of professional and reflective writing too.

"I'm delighted that some of our own student teachers have had pieces published in this journal over the years."