Alan is a part-time DPhil candidate in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, where his research explores how artificial intelligence can support parents in helping their children with homework. His work builds on sociocultural theory, particularly the writings of Vygotsky, Bourdieu, and Bernstein, as foundational theories to examine how AI can mediate learning relationships between teachers, parents, and pupils in ways that promote equity and metacognitive growth.
Alan’s doctoral project has led to the development of www.homework.guide, a closed-loop AI platform designed to empower parents as “more knowledgeable others” within their child’s learning process. It operationalises his original theoretical models—the Quadratic Zone of Proximal Development (QZPD) and metacognition as a spectrum—which together extend Vygotsky’s ZPD by integrating sociocultural, cognitive, and technological dimensions of learning to address the challenges of home–school collaboration in the age of AI.
His wider research interests include the role of cultural capital in shaping pupil motivation and educational outcomes. He is particularly focused on the design and ethical use of human-in-the-loop AI systems to reduce socioeconomic attainment gaps through equitable parental engagement. Alan also writes for www.teachers.guide, contributing to its evidence-informed practice modules and AI-supported guides for teachers.
Before embarking on his doctorate, Alan completed an MSc at Oxford and spent over twenty-seven years in education as a secondary teacher and senior leader in the UK and overseas. He now works for a national charity, leading the training and development of new teachers, and for Newcastle University, where he examines educational leadership programmes. He is the founder of Be Their Guide, https://betheirguide.org/ a charity emerging from his doctoral research, which supports families and schools through research-based educational technology.
A Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Alan is committed to research-informed pedagogy as a means of improving the life chances of socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils through high-quality education and responsible AI innovation.
Supervisors