Chris Husbands
Professor Sir Chris Husbands is a British academic, educationist, university leader and public servant. He was the vice-chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University between 2016 and 2023.
Education
He was educated at King Edward VI College, Nuneaton, Emmanuel College, Cambridge and the Institute of Education, London University. He was reader in education, professor of education and director of the Institute of Education at the University of Warwick, professor of research in education and head of the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia, and professor of education policy and director of the Institute of Education, University of London, which he led into merger with University College London in 2014, becoming vice provost for academic development at UCL. The Institute of Education was rated first in the world for education in the QS university rankings in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education in 2015.Career
He began his working life as a teacher in urban comprehensive high schools before his career in higher education. His academic expertise lies in education policy and improvement, and particularly in policy in relation to teachers and teaching in schools. His academic work has been disseminated in fifteen books and over four hundred conference presentations and papers. He chaired the independent Skills Taskforce on UK vocational education and training policy between 2012 and 2014 and was a member of the Academies Commission examining the future of schools policy in England.He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2011, was visiting professor in global education policy at East China Normal University and is an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, of University College London and of the City and Guilds of London Institute.
His public service includes board memberships at the Training and Development Agency for Schools, Edexcel, the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, Universities UK, Sheffield College and the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Board. He became the vice-chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University in January 2016.
In July 2016, he was appointed by the UK government to chair the Teaching Excellence Framework for UK higher education, and was appointed to a second term in 2018. In 2017 he became chair of the UK . He was chair of between 2017 and 2020and was appointed by the secretary of state for education to chair the Doncaster Opportunity Area Board in 2017. In 2019 he joined the Hong Kong University Grants Committee's Quality Assurance Board. He was knighted for services to higher education in the 2018 Birthday Honours.
In 2022, Husbands had taken some pride in Professor Laura Murphy's critical research about human rights in China, while acknowledging that this might reduce the number of Chinese students at the university. After seven years as vice-chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University he stood down in 2023.
Major publications
2020 'Leading, learning and lockdown: first thoughts on leadership and COVID-19'2020 'Making Universities Matter: how higher education can help to heal a divided Britain'
2016 Policy Learning and Educational Change
2016 Voices in the air: making sense of policy and practice in education
2016 ‘Transforming urban schooling: lessons from London’, in Paul Chua, ed., Innovations in Educational Change
2016 ‘Leadership to transform outcomes in one deprived urban Local Authority’ in Toby Greany and Peter Earley, eds, School Leadership and Education System Reform
2016 ‘The individual and the social: making education matter for all’, in Sally Greengross, ed, Remaking the welfare state
2016 ‘The tragedy of the commons and teacher education’, in Jonathan Simons, ed., T
2015 Didáctica de la historia en Secundaria Obligatoria y Bachillerato
2015 ‘The skills deficits’, in Anthony Mann and Prue Huddleston, eds, How should our schools respond to the demands of the twenty first century labour market? Eight perspectives,
2015 ‘Lessons from London: what can London Challenge tell us about urban school reform’, in D Woods and T Brighouse, eds., The Story of London Challenge
2013 ' London Borough of Tower Hamlets
2013 , Pearson/RSA
2012 '
2012 Teaching and learning in the twenty-first century: what is an Institute of Education for? Inaugural directorial lecture, Institute of Education
2012 ‘Teaching and the tail’, in Marshall, P., ed., The tail: radical solutions for transforming education, London, Centre Forum
2012 ‘Using assessment data to support pupil achievement’ in V. Brooks et al., ed Preparing to Teach in Secondary Schools: a student teacher’s guide to professional issues in secondary education
2012 ‘Models of the curriculum’ in V. Brooks et al., eds, Preparing to Teach in Secondary Schools: a student teacher’s guide to professional issues in secondary education
2011 Learning History, Teaching History: curriculum, pedagogy and inclusion 11-18
2003 Understanding History Teaching
2001 The Performing School: Managing, Teaching and Learning in a Performance Culture
2000 What is History Teaching? Language, Ideas and Meaning in Learning about the Past
1998 Professional Learning: History Teachers in the Making
1996 What Is History Teaching? Language, Ideas and Meaning in Learning about the Past
1996 ''Consorting and collaborating in the educational market place: developing new relationships in schools and higher education''