Lauren Hammond is Departmental Lecturer in Geography Education. She teaches on the PGCE Geography and MSc Teaching and Learning and supervises DPhil students.
Lauren began her career as a teacher of geography, working primarily in London and Singapore. She holds a BA (hons) Geography from Kings College London, PGCE Secondary Geography from the University of Bristol, MA Geography Education from the Institute of Education (University of London), and a PhD from University College London. Lauren is recognised as Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) for her work in connecting research and teaching across the disciplines of geography and education, and her work in mentoring and partnership in teacher education. She is Associate Fellow of the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research (CTTR) at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society.
Prior to working in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, Lauren was Lecturer in Geography Education at IOE (2014-2022) and Lecturer in Teacher Education at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh (2022-2024). At IOE, Lauren worked in teacher education (including leading the PGCE Secondary Geography) and supervised students at Masters and Doctoral level. She established and convened an undergraduate module in UCL’s Geography department ‘Geography Education’, which critically examined the complex relationships between geography, education and young people’s lives. Lauren job shared a Partnership Co-ordinator role, leading on mentoring across ITE and convening an ITE wide mentor development group. She also co-chaired IOE’s Early Career Network, which was a cross-departmental role working with a range of colleagues to explore how best to empower colleagues in the first stages of their academic careers and co-create more just academic spaces.
At Moray House School of Education and Sport, Lauren taught on the Primary PGCE, MA Gaelic Education and MSc Transformative Learning and Teaching, as well as supervising students on the MEd Leadership and Learning programme. Collaborating with a range of colleagues, Lauren played roles in establishing a Geography (Teacher) Education Network in Scotland and the ScotGEESE (Scottish Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Educators) group. Lauren retains research interests in Scottish education, particularly Geography and Social Studies Education across education phases and spaces, and the relationships between education, rights and citizenship in Scotland.
Lauren’s research is interdisciplinary and examines the relationships between children, geography and education. She is particularly interested in children’s geographies and children’s citizenship, and in considering how education can empower young people in their lives and futures. Lauren is also interested in geographies of education and education spaces and examining how in/justices are (re)produced in, and through, education, and the relationships between education, space and place.
Lauren’s scholarship mainly lies in the field of Geography Education, and she is interested in how geography is constructed, taught, experienced and imagined from early years through to postgraduate, and in a range of spaces. She is committed to developing geography education research(ers) and serves as Secretary for the Geography Education Research Collective (GEReCo). Lauren is an active member of the Geographical Association (GA) and a member of the Geography Education Research Special Interest Group (GERSIG). She is Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS) and has served as Deputy Secretary for the Geography and Education Research Group (GeogEd), and Membership Officer and Acting Secretary for the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group (GCYFRG).