About

Chris’ purpose is to co-develop psychologically healthy education systems alongside young people, families, professionals and other co-creators. He started in education as a secondary school teacher and later trained as an Educational Psychologist. Chris developed a specialism in relation to Youth Justice, school exclusion and managed moves and has practiced, mostly, in a youth offending team and in Pupil Referral Units and Secure Children Homes (child prisons) for a number of years. He also supervises doctorate research and lectures at The Institute of Education, UCL.​

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At Co-Director at Square Peg CIC, Chris supports young people and families who are excluded, struggle to attend, or are disengaged with an education system which lacks relevance. 

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In another role, as Director of Research at States of Mind CIC and in collaboration with UCL, Chris conducts participatory action research to gather young peoples’ insights and place their voices at the centre of education reform. Alongside UCL, States of Mind launched the Education Futures in Action movement which brought together innovators who are building education environments, outside of a school context, that can respond to the diverse needs of young people.

 

Chris is currently writing a number of books that will explore the history of UK education, how the deeply entrenched narratives that underpin today's system have come about and ideas for evolution.

 

Over the years, Chris has contributed journal articles to Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties and Educational Psychology in Practice, alongside opinion pieces in media such as The Independent, Byline Times, The Psychologist and other publications. He has also appeared on numerous podcasts.