Grace Healy is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and Director of Education at the Chartered College of Teaching.
In her role as Director of Education, she holds strategic leadership of the Education and Research directorate, spanning membership, publishing, research, Chartered Teacher status, and professional learning and accreditation.
Grace is a Trustee of Oasis Community Learning and was previously Education Director (Secondary) for a large MAT, where she held strategic oversight of the Trust’s secondary curriculum and teacher development work. She worked closely with Principals to sustain a model for evaluating impact and continuously renewing curriculum, to build capacity in senior curriculum leadership, and to ensure a culture of subject-sensitivity and disciplinary rigour permeated teacher development. Grace has held various leadership roles with a focus on curriculum and teacher development and initial teacher education (ITE), including Curriculum Director, Director of a Teaching School Hub, Secondary Phase Lead of ITE and Trust-wide Subject Leader for Geography.
Prior to becoming a geography teacher, Grace assisted with research on professional development interventions in leadership and literacy at the Woolf Fisher Research Centre (University of Auckland), which ignited her passion for education research and interest in the professional learning and development of teachers. Her research interests have since been shaped by the leadership roles she has held, and the potential she sees for examining the relationships between subject teacher development at scale, the co-construction of subject specialist curriculum knowledge, and the development of research capacity across subject education communities.
Grace holds a MEd from the University of Cambridge and completed her PhD at the IOE. She has completed her National Professional Qualification in Executive Leadership. Grace is a Fellow and a Chartered Geographer (Teacher) of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and has served a three-year term as Trustee and Honorary Secretary (Education) on the RGS’s Council. Grace is also a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.
Grace is committed to productive participation within communities of geography educators and education researchers and holds positions such as Series Editor for IGU CGE Book Series with Springer: International Perspectives on Geography Education and Chair of British Educational Research Association (BERA)’s British Curriculum Forum Steering Group. She is Associate Editor for The Curriculum Journal and has led on the development of the Curriculum in Professional Practice forum. She also serves on the editorial boards of the London Review of Education, Cambridge Journal of Education, Journal of Geography and Teaching Geography. Grace has sustained service on numerous Geographical Association phase committees and SIGs, which culminated in acting as Chair of the Teacher Education Phase Committee and Chair of the Geography Education Research SIG.
As an Honorary Research Fellow, she supervises on the MSc in Learning and Teaching and has been a member of the core project team of a NERC-funded Agile Initiative project on Net Zero Education. As an Honorary Associate Professor at IOE, Grace serves on the leadership group of the Curriculum Subject Specialism Research Group, the advisory group of the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research, and as an Associate Fellow and member of the advisory group of the UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education. She also supervises doctoral students.
Grace’s most recent co-edited books are Geography Education in the Digital World (Routledge, 2021), Mentoring Geography Teachers in the Secondary School (Routledge, 2022) and Knowledge Production, Policy and Practice in Education: Social Realist Explorations of Curriculum, Teaching and Research (Routledge, 2026).
Website: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8398-1390
Publications
EDITED SPECIAL ISSUES
Whitchurch, C. and Healy, G. (2024). Third space roles and identities in educational settings. London Review of Education. https://doi.org/10.14324/LRE.22.1.42
Taylor, B. and Healy, G. (Eds.). (forthcoming, 2023). Rising to the challenge of teacher education to prepare teachers for today’s world, London Review of Education.
EDITED BOOKS
Healy, G., Swift, D. and Barrett, B. (Eds.). (2026). Knowledge Production, Policy and Practice in Education: Social Realist Explorations of Curriculum, Teaching and Research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003649847
Healy, G., Hammond, L., Puttick, S. and Walshe, N. (Eds.). (2022). Mentoring Geography Teachers in the Secondary School. Abingdon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003157120
Walshe, N. and Healy, G. (Eds.). (2021). Geography Education in the Digital World: Linking Theory and Practice. Abingdon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429274909
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Healy, G., Perry, J. and Walshe, N. (2026). Young people’s experiences of nature in and outside school: implications for climate change and sustainability education. London Review of Education. 24(1), 16 https://doi.org/10.14324/LRE.24.1.16
Rawlings Smith, E., Mayo-Hollaway, C., Healy, G. and Jones, R. (2026). The importance of connecting young people, school geography and future careers in secondary education. European Journal of Geography, 17(2), 114-127. https://doi.org/10.48088/ejg.e.smi.17.2.114.127
Turner, E., Bates, A., Aldridge, D., Ellison, R., Healy, G., Knowles, J., Micklewright, K., Stevens, G. and Davey, C. (2026). ‘In a small school, it’s just capacity all of the time’: Delivery and experiences of a national early career teacher development initiative across diverse school settings in England. British Educational Research Journal. http://doi.org/10.1002/berj.70258
Saddington, L., Trahan. A., Waters, R., Agnoletto, P., Hall, D., Healy, G., Howell, P., Kertman, T., Parker Allen, R. and Reilly, G. (2026). Teaching Climate Change and Geography: Towards a Climate Education Pathway. The Geographical Journal. http://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.70126
Healy, G., Walshe, N and Mitchell, D. (2025). Teachers’ perspectives and practices of climate change and sustainability education in primary and secondary school geography in England. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2025.2595415
Walshe, N., Perry, J., and Healy, G. (2025). Student perspectives on climate change and sustainability education: experiences and expectations. UCL Open: Environment. 7(1). https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444/ucloe.3341
Healy, G. and Hammond, L. (2025). Navigating personal and disciplinary frontiers: Engaging with undergraduate geography students’ reflections on their geographical education. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 49(2) 203-226. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2024.2403078
Hammond, L., Healy, G., Tani, S. and Bladh, G. (2025). Reflecting on the powers, possibilities and constraints of geography curricula in England, Finland and Sweden. Journal of Curriculum Studies. 57(4), 382–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2024.2420366
Healy, G., Mitchell, D. and Walshe, N. (2024). Climate Change, Sustainability, and Education: Conceptions of Teachers of Geography in England. Sustainability, 16(16), 7213. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16167213
Healy, G. (2024). Rethinking Knowledgeable Practice in Education: By Jim Hordern. Pp 152. Abingdon: Routledge. 2024. £135.00 (hbk), £35.99 (pbk), £32.99 (ebk). ISBN 9780367515706 (hbk), ISBN 9780367515744 (pbk), ISBN 9781003054474 (ebk). British Journal of Educational Studies, British Journal of Educational Studies, 72(5), pp.665-667. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2024.2395119
Laurie, N., Healy, G., Bell, I., Calle, O., Carmen, M., Cornejo, S, Davies, D., Mendo, T., Puescas, C. Schofield, V., Valdez, A. and White, R. (2024). Translation urgency in our climate challenged times: co-producing geographical knowledge on El Niño in Peru. Scottish Geographical Journal, 140(1–2), 248–261l. https://doi.org/10.1080/14702541.2023.2289496
Healy, G., Laurie, N. and Hope. J. (2023). Creating stories of educational change in and for geography: what can we learn from Bolivia and Peru? Geography, 108(2), 64-73. DOI:10.1080/00167487.2023.221762
Healy, G., Bell, I., Calle, O., Carmen, M., Cornejo, S, Puescas, C., Laurie, N. and Valdez, A. (forthcoming). Co-producing geographical knowledge through school curricula and communities: Lessons from Peru on the opportunities of the El Niño phenomenon in the context of climate change.
Hammond, L. and Healy, G. (2022). Engaging with undergraduate students’ perspectives on the value of geography to a person’s education. Geography, 7(3), 137-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/00167487.2022.2114164
Fotheringham, P., Harriot, T., Healy, G., Arenge, G. and Wilson, E. (2022). Pressures and influences on school leaders navigating policy development during the COVID-19 pandemic. British Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 201-227. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3760
Finn, M., Hammond, L., Healy, G., Todd, J., Marvell, A., McKendrick, J. and Yorke, L. (2022). Looking ahead to the future of GeogEd: creating spaces of exchange between communities of practice. Area, 54(1), 41-51. https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/area.12701
Healy, G., Walshe, N. and Dunphy, A. (2020). How is geography rendered visible as an object of concern in written lesson observation feedback? The Curriculum Journal, 31(1), 7-26. https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.1
Healy, G. and Walshe, N. (2020). Real-world geographers and geography students using GIS: relevance, everyday applications and the development of geographical knowledge. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 29(2), 179-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2019.1661125
BOOK CHAPTERS
Healy, G. (2026). Developing recognition for teachers’ intellectual work: Taking a view on recontextualisation that starts from teachers’ professional practice. In: G. Healy, D. Swift, & B. Barrett (Eds.) Knowledge Production, Policy and Practice in Education: Social Realist Explorations of Curriculum, Teaching and Research. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003649847
Counsell, C. and Healy, G. (2026). Challenging genericism: what is at stake for curriculum and teacher development? In: G. Healy, D. Swift, & B. Barrett (Eds.) Knowledge Production, Policy and Practice in Education: Social Realist Explorations of Curriculum, Teaching and Research. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003649847
Healy, G. (2025). Leading Curriculum. In: Chartered College of Teaching (Ed). From principle to practice: Evidence-informed leadership. London: Hachette Learning.
Taylor, L. and Healy, G. (2023, forthcoming). Case Study Methodology. In N. Clifford, M. Cope, T. Gillespie & S. French. (Eds.). Key Methods in Geography. 4th Edition. London: SAGE.
Hammond, L and Healy, G. (2023, forthcoming). Student voice, democratic education, and geography: Reflecting on the findings of a survey of undergraduate geography students. In L. Hammond, M. Biddulph, S. Catling & J.H. McKendrick (Eds.). Children, Education and Geography: Rethinking Intersections. Abingdon: Routledge.
Healy, G. (2022). Geography and geography education scholarship as a mechanism for developing and sustaining mentors’ and beginning teachers’ subject knowledge and curriculum thinking. In G. Healy, L. Hammond, S. Puttick & N. Walshe. (Eds.). Mentoring Geography Teachers in the Secondary School. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.187-207.
Healy, G. and Walshe, N. (2022). Navigating the policy landscape: conceptualising subject-specialist mentoring within and beyond policy. In G. Healy, L. Hammond, S. Puttick & N. Walshe. (Eds.). Mentoring Geography Teachers in the Secondary School. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.13-30.
Hammond, L., Puttick, S., Walshe, N. and Healy, G. (2022). Mentoring matters: contributing to a more just tomorrow in geography education. In G. Healy, L. Hammond, S. Puttick & N. Walshe. (Eds.). Mentoring Geography Teachers in the Secondary School. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 243-251.
Walshe, N., Healy, G., Puttick, S. and Hammond, L. (2022). Introduction: Mentoring matters in and for geography education. In G. Healy, L. Hammond, S. Puttick & N. Walshe. (Eds.). Mentoring Geography Teachers in the Secondary School. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.1-10.
Healy, G. (2021). A call to view disciplinary knowledge through the lens of geography teachers’ professional practice. In M. Fargher, D. Mitchell & E. Till. (Eds.). Recontextualising Geography in Education. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp.71-88.
Healy, G. and Walshe, N. (2021). From the digital world to the post-digital world: the future generation of geographers. In N. Walshe & G. Healy. (Eds.). Geography Education in the Digital World: Linking Theory and Practice. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.181-185.
Fargher, M. and Healy, G. (2021). Empowering geography teachers and students with geographical knowledge: epistemic access through GIS. In N. Walshe & G. Healy. (Eds.). Geography Education in the Digital World: Linking Theory and Practice. Abingdon Routledge, pp.102-116.
Healy, G. (2021). Insights from professional discourse on GIS: a case for recognising geography teachers’ repertoire of experience. In N. Walshe & G. Healy. (Eds.). Geography Education in the Digital World: Linking Theory and Practice. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.89-101.
Walshe, N. and Healy, G. (2021). Introduction: Navigating the digital world as geographers and geography educators. In N. Walshe & G. Healy. (Eds.). Geography Education in the Digital World: Linking Theory and Practice. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.1-4.
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS
Healy, G., Walshe, N. and Edwards, R.C. (2025). Students’ Perspectives on Climate Change and Sustainability Education: Implications for Green Careers Provision. Environmental Education. 137(3), 17-18.
Healy, G., Sittner, T., Hesslewood, A., and Anderson, E. (2025). 50 years of Teaching Geography: editors’ picks from the archive, Teaching Geography, 50 (3), 95-96,
Healy, G., Whittall, D. and Winter, C. (2022). Geography Education Research Working Group (GERWG) becomes a Special Interest Group. GA Magazine. 51(3).
Healy, G. (2020). Placing the geography curriculum at the heart of assessment practice. Teaching Geography, 45(1), 30-33.
Healy, G. (2020). What does effective professional learning – for teachers and school leaders – look like in the 21st century? Education Exchange.
Healy, G. (2019). Subject scholarship as a mechanism for developing trainees’ reflective practice and teachers’ curricular thinking. Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, 6, 52-54.
Healy, G. and Walshe, N. (2019). School students’ perceptions of the nature and value of GIS: implications for curriculum development and pedagogical practice. Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching. January 2019, 74-77.
Healy, G. and Walshe, N. (2019). Leveraging real-world geographers and GIS: relevance, inspiration and developing geographical knowledge. Teaching Geography, 44 (2), 52-55.
Healy, G. (2019). Should we access general or subject-specific curriculum theory? Times Education Supplement (Curriculum Special), 5352, 32.
Healy, G. (2018). Using local organisations and geographical scholarship to support A- level place studies. Teaching Geography, 43(1), 13–15