Esther Cummins

About Esther Cummins

After qualifying with a First Class Honours in Primary Education, Esther worked as a class teacher and SENCo in primary schools in Kent. Whilst in Oxford, she worked as a Nursery and Reception teacher before she was seconded as the Acting Assistant Principal in a new free school within the city.

Following achieving a Distinction in her Masters in International Educational Management, Esther worked as an Inclusion Manager at a primary school in North Yorkshire. In addition to her leadership responsibilities for vulnerable learners, she led the Early Years Foundation Stage, data analysis, and celebration of diversity within the school.

Esther joined the Carnegie School of Education in August 2017 on a part-time basis, and became full-time in October 2017. She is the Level 4 and Level 6 Leader for the BA in Primary Education (accelerated degree).

Current Teaching

Research Interests

Esther's research focuses on the impact that beliefs and values have on the outworking of policy within education. Her PhD research is enabling her to consider how the hidden curriculum, ethos, and culture impact the decision making in education settings, and how the setting of a faith school may affect this.

Esther has presented separate research at the TEAN conference where she has considered the impact of the Professional Experience 1 module on the identity of the aspirant teacher and the teacher educator.  

Blog Articles

• Answering the call to provide high quality education for all children and young people
• The right response?
• Partnering with students and primary schools to raise future aspirations
• Graduate in two years - accelerated degrees