VALERIE HAGAN

Teacher and Key Leader in Pastoral and Inclusive Education

Valerie has been making valuable and effective contributions to the field of Education for over more than 30 years, as a teacher and as a key leader in pastoral and Inclusive Education. She is passionate about and committed to student and youth development, their learning progress and routes to self-actualization.

From a background of Drama and Theatre, Valerie was encouraged to share her significant experience as a young person of African heritage growing up in London by moving into teacher training in the South of England. She began her educational practice in the vibrant culturally, racially and socially dynamic London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Lambeth, teaching primary and secondary aged children from the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, Europe and the UK. Valerie then returned to the South Coast of England to work as a specialist teacher for Looked After children. She has enriched her international educational experience and skills by teaching in various Los Angeles school districts and in schools in the Netherlands and Portugal.

Valerie considers her major achievements to have been in developing the performance and attainment of students who have been delayed in or prevented from reaching their potential. She is particularly interested in the project´s employment of the creative forums of Literature, Art and Film to achieve expression and discourse.