Role
Dr Alison Murphy is a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at Nottingham Trent University and leads the third year of the BA (Hons) Primary Education programme. She teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, leads curriculum and assessment developments, and supervises Master's and doctoral students.
Alison has worked in teacher education at NTU since 2008 and is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE. Her work focuses on supporting the development of students, teachers, colleagues and researchers through collaborative, inclusive and evidence-informed educational practice.
Career overview
Prior to joining NTU, Alison taught in primary schools in Nottingham and Kent, where she held leadership roles including Science Subject Leader and Assessment Coordinator. She was recognised through an Ofsted judgement for Outstanding teaching and worked as a Primary National Strategies Leading Teacher, supporting curriculum development and professional learning across schools.
Since joining NTU, Alison has undertaken a range of leadership, teaching and mentoring responsibilities across Initial Teacher Education. She has played a key role in curriculum innovation, assessment redesign, student success initiatives and employability developments.
Alison completed her Doctorate in Education at Nottingham Trent University in 2023. Her doctoral research explored how outdoor learning can support children's scientific thinking and progression in primary science, leading to the development of the Thinking Scientifically framework. This work continues to inform her teaching and scholarship.
Research areas
Alison's scholarship explores how learning can be made visible, meaningful and inclusive across educational contexts. Her work brings together primary science education, teacher learning, higher education and doctoral education, with a particular interest in reflection, dialogue and authentic learning experiences.
Her research interests include:
- Primary science education, scientific thinking and outdoor learning
- Teacher education, professional learning and curriculum innovation
- Making learning visible through mental models, assessment and reflective practice
- Student voice, neurodiversity, inclusion and belonging
- Relational approaches to learning and researcher development, including doctoral supervision, emotional intelligence and slow scholarship
She has presented her work at national conferences, including the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and the Association for Science Education (ASE). Her scholarship has been recognised through conference awards, funded research projects and collaborative work with trainee teachers and teacher educators. She publishes across academic, professional and practitioner audiences, including work on outdoor learning, wellbeing and teacher development, with chapters co-authored with international colleagues.
External activity
Alison works closely with schools, professional organisations and higher education institutions to support the development of primary science, teacher education and researcher development. She is an active member of the Association for Science Education (ASE) and regularly contributes to national conversations on primary science, outdoor learning and teacher education through conference presentations, workshops and professional learning activities.
She is a national tutor and moderator for the Primary Science Enhancement Award (PSEA), supporting trainee teachers and teacher educators across multiple universities. She has also served as an External Examiner and contributes to programme review, curriculum enhancement and quality assurance activities across the sector.
Publications
Murphy, A., 2026. Growing Little Learners: Identifying Progression in Primary Science Through Outdoor Learning. Nottingham Institute of Education, Childhood and Youth Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online blog], 8 October. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2026/10/08/growing-little-learners-identifying-progression-in-primary-science-through-outdoor-learning/
Murphy, A., et al., 2026. Using personalised approaches to promote student outcomes with a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. Nottingham Institute of Education, Childhood and Youth. Working Papers Series ‘Meeting New Challenges in Education’, Issue 4. Available at: Working-Paper-Series-Meeting-New-Challenges-in-Educaton-Issue-4.pdf (4), p22-31.
Murphy, A. and Rowcroft. L., 2025. From Student to Teacher: Strengthening Employability through Innovation and Partnership. Nottingham Institute of Education, Childhood and Youth Blog: Research informed opinions on the world of teaching and education [online]. Available at: https://nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/from-student-to-teacher-strengthening-employability-through-innovation-and-partnership/
MURPHY, A., 2023. Growing little learners: enabling trainee teachers to support children's learning in primary science using the outdoors. EdD, Nottingham Trent University.
Murphy, A., McEwan, V. and Gripton, C., (2021). ‘Questioning’. In Serret, N. and Gripton, C. (eds) Purposeful Planning for Learning. Shaping Learning and teaching in the Primary School. Oxon: Routledge.
Murphy, A., (2021). ‘Why use the outdoors?’. Primary Science, March/April (167), p24-27.
Conferences
Murphy, A. (2026, July 1). Growing knowledge together: Co-design and trial of an outdoor science assessment matrix. [Poster presentation]. IKEP conference 2026, Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Murphy, A. (2026, June 22-23). Enabling change through the assessment of thinking scientifically. SSS Summer Showcase conference 2026, Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Murphy, A. (2026, June 22-23). Using personalised approaches to promote student outcomes with a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the Primary Education course at NIoE. SSS Summer Showcase conference 2026, Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Murphy, A. & Serret, N. (2025, Jan 9-11). Enabling change through the assessment of thinking scientifically [Conference presentation]. ASE Annual conference 2025, University of Nottingham, UK.
Murphy, A. (2024). The thinking scientifically matrix: a tool for exemplifying progress in outdoor science learning. ASE Annual conference 2024, University of Northampton, UK
Murphy, A. (2023). The thinking scientifically matrix: a tool for exemplifying progress in outdoor science learning. BERA national conference, University of Birmingham, UK.
Murphy, A. (2022). Little learners, growing in the outdoors: identifying ways to effectively support children to develop scientific questioning in primary science. BERA Liverpool, UK. Best in SIG and Best ECR award: https://www.bera.ac.uk/person/alison-murphy
Murphy, A. (2021). Promoting student engagement in online learning using kitchen science: sharing practice. NIE teaching and learning conference 2026, Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Murphy, A. (2020). Ethical decision making… in order to collect data on science learning using the outdoors. NTU Doctoral Students’ Research Festival 2020. Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Murphy, A. (2019). Public engagement: working with schools to support progression in primary science using the outdoors. East Midlands doctoral conference, 2019. University of Derby, UK.
Murphy, A. (2019, March 29). How can teachers most effectively support progression in primary science through the outdoors? NTU Doctoral Students’ Research Festival 2019. Nottingham Trent University, UK. (Best doctoral research poster).
Hindmarsh, S., Hunt, S., Murphy, A., Serret, N. & Waring-Thomas, P. (2017 Jan 4-7). How can we promote a deeper engagement in outdoor learning of primary trainee teachers? [Conference presentation]. ASE Annual Conference 2017, University of Reading, UK
Kerr-Gilbert, N.J., & Murphy, A. (2017). Creating learning communities through a SCALE-Up approach. TILT conference 2017, Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Hindmarsh, S., Hunt, S., Murphy, A., Serret, N. & Waring-Thomas, P. (2016, June). ‘Striving for a deeper, immersive trainee experience of outdoor education’. Primary Science Teaching Trust Conference, Belfast.
Invited speaker:
Pending: Cop31: A screening of the National Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis, followed by a discussion led by NTU staff. Monday 16 November 2026, 17.30–19.15 - Clifton Global Lounge, Clifton Campus.
Pending: Guest speaker across three UG Education courses: Education Studies, SENDI, and Education & Psychology. Wednesday 4th November 2026.
Funding:
KE Seed funding (2026) KE Seed Funding