Dr Anne Chappell
Head of Department / Reader - Education

Research area(s)

Anne's research interests are in auto/biography, education, policy, and the experiences of professionals, children and young people, including those from military families. Anne is the co-editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Auto/Biography with Dr Julie Parsons, University of Plymouth. She has undertaken funded research with university students from widening participation backgrounds and commuting students. She has also undertaken research with teachers at different career stages. She was Brunel's coordinator for the EU funded “Universities Supporting Victims of Sexual Violence: Training for Sustainable Student Services (USVSV)” project. 

Anne's recent and current research, with colleagues, focusses on the experiences of 'Grown Up Children' from military families, including university students: (‘Grown Up’ Children from Military Families: reflections on experiences of childhood and education and University Students from Military Families).

Anne co-convenes the BSA's Auto/Biography Study Group: Auto/Biography Study Group (britsoc.co.uk) with Dr Carly Stewart, Bournemouth University.

Research Interests

• Auto/Biography;
• Education, policy and practices;
• University students and their experiences;
• 'Grown Up Children' from military families;
• Professions, professional formation, professional learning and continuing professional development.

   

Research Groups

Education, Identities and Society

Global Lives

Research Projects

'Service Children's Champion' role in supporting children from armed forces families (PI: £4594.24 funded by the Research and Development Office (Innovation Voucher), 2024-2025). This project is evaluating the role of the Service Children's Champion in North Yorkshire Council.

‘Grown up’ children from military families: reflections on experiences of childhood and education (PI: £1900 funded by the Global Lives Interdisciplinary Research Centre, 2020-2023). This project is exploring the experiences of 'grown up' children from military families who are 'missing' from the current profile of research about the military community: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Centres/Global-Lives/Research-projects 

The experiences of undergraduate students from military families (Co-I: £3480 funded by the Access and Participation Fund, 2019-2020) explored the experiences of undergraduate students from military families to add to our understanding about this under-researched group within the university community.

An exploration of the experiences of undergraduate commuter students (PI: £11,389 funded by the Access and Participation Fund, 2019-2020). This project explored the experiences of undergraduate students who commute to university:  https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/21689/1/FullText.pdf

Childhood, parenting and the commodification of education: the growth and role of tuition centres in the UK (Co-I: £4984 funded by the Research Development Fund, 2018-2019). The project explored the growth, role, and use of private tuition centres for children of primary school age (4 to 11) to provide new research on how such centres are shaping contemporary educational practices and the role of parents in their children’s education. 

Universities supporting victims of sexual violence: training for sustainable student services (USVSV) (Co-I: £148,236 co-funded by the European Commission’s DG Justice, Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (DAPHNE), 2016-2018, JUST/2014/RDAP/AG/VICT/7401). This is an evaluation of a programme  developed as part of the project to support Brunel University London staff to offer an effective ‘first response’ to disclosures of sexual violence. The project is taking place across 7 European countries (http://usvreact.eu/; #USVReact): https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/20895/2/FullText.pdf

Successful students: exploring the factors that encourage and enable widening participation students to stay the course (PI: £14,717 funded by the Access and Student Success Fund, 2016-2018). This project focused on what encourages and enables students from widening participation backgrounds to stay at university and complete their studies to provide a fuller and more judicious understanding of the student experience. Focusing on the everyday experiences of level 3 students at Brunel, this project uses a creative and interactive methodology with students as stakeholders: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/student-success/documents/pdf/Widening-Participation-Successful-Students-Final-Report-2018.pdf

Professional learning: teachers’ experiences (PI: unfunded, 2015-2019). This project is exploring the way in which teachers at different career stages experience their professional roles, the meaning they attribute to the experiences, their responses to policy, and the impact on their lives and work.

Professional learning: teachers’ narratives of experience (PhD awarded 2014). Doctoral research focussed on the ways in which teachers narrate and make meaning of their professional experiences, with consideration of the dilemmas associated with the research process including data collection, analysis and representation.

An exploration of black and minority ethnic students’ experiences of physical education teacher education (Co-I: £2000 funded by a Recruitment and Retention Challenge Grant from the Training and Development Agency (TDA), 2008 to 2009). Led by Prof Anne Flintoff, Leeds Beckett University: https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/4693/1/Fulltext.pdf 

Conference Presentations:

• Chappell, A., McHugh, E. and Ince, C. (2024) ‘Grown-Up’ Children from Armed Forces Families: The Impact of their Childhood Experiences, presentation at the Forces in Mind Trust Research Conference ‘Research with impact for ex-service personnel and their families’, at King’s College London, 13th May 2024.
• Chappell, A., McHugh, E. and Ince, C. (2023) Conversations about support for children from military families: exciting possibilities, presentation at the SCiP Alliance Annual Conference ‘Identity Matters’, at The Studio, Birmingham, 29th November 2023.
• Chappell, A., McHugh, E. and Ince, C. (2023) Saying Goodbye: ‘Grown up’ children from military families, presentation at the British Sociological Association Auto/Biography Study Group Conference, Wolfson College, 12th-14th July 2023.
• Chappell, A., McHugh, E. and Ince, C. (2023) Auto/Biographical experiences of ‘grown up children’ from military families, seminar presentation at the ‘Life as a Service Child: Experience of Mental Health and Education’ organised by Brunel University London and King’s College London, 28th September, 2022.
• Chappell, A., Ince, C. and McHugh, E. (2022) Nostalgia and affinity: Auto/Biographical accounts of place in the experiences of ‘grown up children’ from military families, presentation at the British Sociological Association Auto/Biography Study Group Conference, Wolfson College, 13th-15th July 2022.
• Chappell, A., Ince, C. and McHugh, E. (2021) Auto/Biographical experiences of university students from military families: the same but different? presentation at the British Sociological Association Annual Conference, Online, 14th April 2021.
• Ince, C., McHugh, E. and Chappell, A. (2020) The same but different: Auto/Biographical accounts of university students from military families, presentation at the British Sociological Association Auto/Biography Study Group Conference, Online, 4th December 2020.
• Chappell, A. (2018) Three Teachers ‘doing’ their Family Lives, presentation at the British Sociological Association Auto/Biography Study Group Conference, Wolfson College, 19th-21st July 2018.
• McHugh, E., Chappell, A. and Wainwright, E. (2018) ‘Successful Students’ and the Geographies of Belonging, presentation at British Sociological Association Annual Conference, Northumbria University, Newcastle, 10th-12th April 2018.
• Jones, C. and Chappell, A. (2018) Belief, Recognition and Support: Improving Responses to Sexual Violence in Higher Education, presentation at British Sociological Association Annual Conference, Northumbria University, Newcastle, 10th-12th April 2018.
• Chappell, A. and Jones, C. (2018) Experiences of the USVreact programme at Brunel, presentation at Tackling Sexual Violence and Harassment on Campus: Policy and Practice, Brunel University London, 7th February 2018.
• Chappell, A. and Jones, C. (2017) Sharing experiences from the UK, presentation at Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence in Universities: learning from pan-European practice (USVreact findings conference), Rich Mix, London, 9th November 2017.
• Chappell, A. and Jones, C. (2017) Responses to Sexual Violence: Effecting Change in Higher Education, presentation at European Conference on Educational Research, Copenhagen, 22nd-25th August 2017.
• Chappell, A. and Jones, C. (2017) Staff culture in Higher Education: Challenging preconceptions about sexual violence, presentation at Gender and Education Association Conference, Middlesex University, London, 21st-23rd June 2017.
• Chappell, A. and Jones, C. (2017) Universities Supporting Victims/Survivors of Sexual Violence: Training for Sustainable Services (USVSV) #USVreact, presentation at British Sociological Association Annual Conference, Manchester University, Manchester, 4th-6th April 2017.
• Jones, C. and Chappell, A. (2017) Universities Supporting Victims/Survivors of Sexual Violence: Thinking Critically about a ‘Response’ Approach, presentation at National Conference on Tackling Gender Based Violence in Universities, Newcastle University, Newcastle, 14th March 2017.
• Alldred, P. and Chappell, A. (2016) Students, Societies, Sexual Violence and Support, presentation at the New Mediations of Feminist Sociology of Education Event, Institute of Education University College London, London, 7th November 2016.
• Chappell, A., and Ludhra, G. (2016) ‘Messy’ and entangled research, presentation at the British Sociological Association Auto/Biography Study Group Conference, Friends House, London, 16th December 2016.
• Chappell, A. (2016) Thinking differently about continuing professional development: teachers’ narratives of professional learning, presentation at the European Conference on Educational Research, University College Dublin, Ireland, 23rd-26th August 2016.
• Chappell, A. (2016) Insider research: it’s all about me? presentation at the British Sociological Association Auto/Biography Study Group Conference, Wolfson College, Oxford, 15th-17th July 2016.

Grants