Dr Karen Gravett is Associate Professor and Associate Head (Research) at the Surrey Institute of Education, where her research focuses on the Sociology of Higher Education. She explores how theoretically informed approaches can help us to understand education and society: for example, in the areas of digital education, student engagement, relational pedagogies, belonging and literacy practices. She is Director of the Language, Literacies and Learning research group, and a member of the Society for Research in Higher Education Governing Council. She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) and an Honorary Associate Professor for the Centre for Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University. Her recent publications include Critical Practice in Higher Education (forthcoming, 2025) and Relational Pedagogies: Connections and Mattering in Higher Education (2023).

Dr Catherine-Ann O' Connell, a Senior Lecturer with CPID, discusses with Karen the topic of Exploring Care and Relational Pedagogies in Higher Education.

This podcast was recorded in June 2024 and was funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, the Higher Education Authority, and the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation and Development Department within the Technological University of the Shannon.