Role
Sarah is the assistant course leader for the Post Graduate Certificate (PGCE) in Secondary Education. Sarah is also a senior lecturer and she contributes to a range of modules within both the PGCE and Masters in Education courses.
Career overview
Sarah joined NTU in 2007 as the strand leader for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education course for Secondary Design and Technology Education.
Between 2020 - 2023, she led the Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education with international partners.
Before moving into Higher Education, Sarah was an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) for Nottinghamshire local authority, which included work across a number of schools, supporting new and experienced teachers with professional development and training issues.
Sarah has worked in three secondary schools as a design and technology (D&T) teacher.
Prior to working in secondary schools, Sarah was a knitwear designer
Research areas
Sarah’s primary research focuses on design and technology teacher agency, and how teachers manage curriculum change. She has recently completed her professional doctorate with the University of Nottingham.
She completed her professional doctorate at the University of Nottingham (2022).
- Thesis Title: English secondary school teachers’ day-to-day experience of teaching design and technology during a time of curriculum change.
Current projects
Design and Technology Association, Evaluation Inspired by Industry (2024 - 2026)
All Saints Education Trust, Educational Project Grant (2025 - 2026)
NTU Archer Exchange: Shaping D&T Education
Current Doctoral Students
Hannah Barnet, Exploration of Joint Participatory Art Practice (JPAP) to facilitate collaborative learning in diverse FE classrooms (Co-Supervisor)
Claire Vickery, Exploring Teacher Perceptions about the Decline of D&T in Secondary School Contexts (Co-Supervisor)
External activity
External examining
Goldsmiths University of London (2019 - 2023)
Birmingham City University (2013 - 2017)
Editorial board
Design and Technology Education: An International Journal - Associate Editor (2025 - present)
PATT40 Conference - Editor in chief (2022 - 2023)
DTTEG - Design and Technology Teacher Education Group - Founding member (2021)
Reviewer
International Journal of Technology and Design Education (2022 - present)
Consultancy
Textile Skills Centre
OCR
Harper Collins
Bloomsbury Publishing
The Design and Technology Association
Kitronic
Noel-Baker School
Sponsors and collaborators
Collaborators
Dr Matt McLain
Marion Rutland
Publications
Braithwaite, N. and Davies, S. (2026) ‘Designing a zero-waste wardrobe’, D&T Practice, 1, pp. 18–19.
Davies, S., Omeni, D.C., Baker, P., Pickering, N., Willshire, K., Hardy, A., Blazewicz‑Bell, R. and Walters, A. (2024) Developing scholarship and research skills: interrogating the literature on subject specialist trainee teachers’ desirable features. Nottingham: Nottingham Trent University. Available at: https://library.camtree.org/entities/publication/ccee2b3f-7f51-4a5f-94c2-e9f8087075b0
DAVIES, S., 2020. Planning lessons in design and technology. In: A. HARDY, ed., Learning to teach design and technology in the secondary school: a companion to school experience. Learning to teach subjects in secondary school. London: Routledge, pp. 191-207. ISBN 9780429321191
Press expertise
- Teacher education
- Student teacher observation
- Teacher professional development tools
- Design and technology secondary education
- Curriculum development in Design education