Staff Profile

Jane worked as a teacher of Religious Education in secondary schools before completing a PhD in Education in 2010. Jane's research interests include the relationship between democracy and education, the role of the arts in young people's political formation and policies relating to the teaching of values in schools. Jane has taught on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Education and currently teaches on the BA Hons Education at Newcastle University.

Jane's research has explored the relationship between democracy and education, as well as the role of arts participation in young people's political formation. Jane has a particular interest in the work of Jacques Rancière, whose writing on politics and aesthetics she has applied to the re-imagining of art in the relationship between democracy and education. Jane recently published a book introducing Rancière's writing, and its uptake in education, for postgraduate students and early career researchers.

Jane has also developed a programme of research on the enactment of values education policies in England, including the re-emergence of character education and the promotion of fundamental British values (FBV). This had been realised through two funded projects with teachers working in secondary schools. The first of these focused on how teachers of Religious Education, Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education enacted new advice on the promotion of FBV in their practice. The second explored interpretations of both FBV and character education among teachers of Religious Education. Jane hopes to carry out further research exploring the faith-based interpretation of FBV across a range of schools that are differently impacted by the security agenda surrounding the policy.

Methodologically, Jane has experimented with arts-based research methods, using young people's art work as a form of elicitation in focus groups and collaborating with a freelance creative writer on teachers' articulations of their 'imagined futures' as values educators.

Jane has taught across a range of degree programmes in Education at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. She has developed content for several Education Studies programmes, including modules that explore the relationship between religion and education in contemporary societies, and has contributed to programmes leading to qualified teacher status (QTS). Jane currently teaches on the BA Hons Education at Newcastle, where she contributes to both the dissertation and a module exploring social constructions of childhood.

• Articles

  • McDonnell J. Revisiting Rancière’s 'radical democracy' for contemporary education policy analysis. Educational Philosophy and Theory 2024, ePub ahead of Print.
  • McDonnell J. RE teachers and the shifting landscape of values education in England. British Journal of Religious Education 2023, 45(3), 228-239.
  • McDonnell J. Theoretical approaches to the study of fundamental British values (FBV). PRISM: Casting New Light on Theory and Practice 2021, 3(2), 84-90.
  • Sant E, McDonnell J, Pashby K, Menendez Alvarez-Hevia D. Pedagogies of agonistic democracy and citizenship education. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice 2021, 16(7), 227-244.
  • McDonnell J. How do you promote 'British Values' when values education is your profession? Policy enactment of FBV amongst teachers of Religious Education, Citizenship Education and Personal, Social and Health Education in England. Cambridge Journal of Education 2021, 51(3), 377-394.
  • McDonnell, J. is is all about 'having an opinion'? challenging the dominance of rationality and cognition in democratic education via research in a gallery setting. International Journal of Art and Design Education 2018, 37(2), 233-243.
  • McDonnell, J. Political and Aesthetic Equality in the Work of Jacques Rancière: Applying his Writing to Debates in Education and the Arts. Journal of Philosophy of Education 2017, 51(2), 387-400.
  • McDonnell, J. Reimagining the Role of Art in the Relationship between Democracy and Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory 2014, 46(1), 46-58.
  • McDonnell, J. PFI and the Performative Politics of Dissent: Lessons for Democratic Education. Power and Education 2014, 6(3), 307-317.
  • McDonnell, J, Curtis, W. Making space for democracy through assessment and feedback in higher education: thoughts from an action research project in education studies. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 2014, 39(8), 932-948.
  • McDonnell, J. Finding a Place in the Discourse: Film, Literature and the Process of Becoming Politically Subject. Journal of Social Science Education 2014, 13(4), 78-86.
  • Curtis, W, Goodson, A, McDonnell, J, Shields, S, Wyness, R. Learning together and expanding horizons: reflections on a student—lecturer collaborative enquiry. Enhancing Learning in the Social Sciences 2012, 4(3), 1-11.
  • Lawy, R, Biesta, G, McDonnell, J, Lawy, H, Reeves, H. ‘The art of democracy’: young people’s democratic learning in gallery contexts. British Educational Research Journal 2010, 36(3), 351-365.

• Authored Book

  • McDonnell J. Reading Rancière for Education: An Introduction. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.

• Book Chapters

  • McDonnell, J. What future for young people's artistic activism?. In: Grasso, M; Bessant, J, ed. Governing Youth Politics in an Age of Surveillance. London: Routledge, 2018.
  • Sant, E, Pais, A, McDonnell, J, Menendez Alvarez-Hevia, D. Social Fantasy vs. Radical Democracy: two competing views of populism and how they challenge education. In: Akbaba, Y; Jeffrey, B, ed. The Implications of ‘New Populism’ For Education. Essex: E&E Publishing, 2017, pp.41-52.