7
Introducing Jon Spence
Director of the Institute of Education, University of Chichester
Dr Jon Spence brings two very unusual credentials to the post
of Director of the University's newly created Institute of
Education: he can claim to have been a figure of inspiration to
an international rugby union player as well as working with a
fox-trotting Strictly Come Dancing duo.
'It's true that Simon Shaw - international England forward and
part of the 2003 rugby world cup winning team - listed me in
his autobiography alongside Lawrence Dallaglio as an
inspirational figure,' admitted Jon Spence. 'I taught him in his
schooldays and I'm proud that he identified that as
meaningful in his success.
'It was some years later that I worked with professional Latin
dancers Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova. I had completed
my PhD on the importance of teamwork in sport and went on
to evaluate the impact of teaching ballroom dancing in
schools, which proved very successful in motivating children
to work co-operatively to learn new skills.'
Having continued his career with the University of
Roehampton's School of Education after being a government
education advisor, Jon Spence is enthusiastic about his next
task of piloting the University of Chichester's Institute of
Education through quickly changing political, social and
educational terrain.
'We aim to build on the University's distinguished 150-year
heritage of training teachers, to develop the Institute as a
leading body of knowledge for schools regionally and
nationally, and to establish our reputation internationally.
'In training the next generation of teachers, our focus will be
on practice-based research with an emphasis on working with
children in schools rather than lecturing in university
classrooms. This has clear synergy with the work we are doing
with our academies and our partnership with the University of
Chichester Academy Trust is certainly an integral part of our
vision for the Institute.
'This, I believe, will protect Chichester's long heritage and
strong reputation as of one of the country's finest teacher
training institutions for the next 150 years.'
Cloisters, University of
Chichester. Right: Dr Jon Spence