Robert Klassen

Professor of Education | Harris Manchester College

About me

Robert (Rob) Klassen is Professor of Education at the University of Oxford. He leads the research hub ReNEW: Research Network for the Education Workforce. He is an educational psychologist (Chartered Psychologist with the BPS) with research interests in the development of motivation beliefs and career decision-making. His current work aims to develop and test theory-informed digital interventions related to teacher recruitment, selection, and development.

Before coming to Oxford, Rob was at the University of York, where he worked from 2012 as Professor and Chair of the Psychology in Education Research Centre. Originally from Canada, Rob was Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta (2004-2012) and worked as a school psychologist and high school teacher in his hometown of Vancouver.

Rob has published over 125 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters, as well as two books. Recent projects have been funded by the ESRC, the ERC, Spencer Foundation, GIZ, and the World Bank, with work in the UK, Australia, Africa (Morocco, Kenya, South Africa), and Europe. He has served as advisor to education ministries in England, Africa, Australia, Europe, and South America. In 2023 he founded the university spinout company TSP which develops technological solutions to educational recruitment and selection.

He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the American Psychological Association and has served on a wide range of journal editorial boards. Rob is currently Coordinator of Earli’s largest special interest group, SIG 11, Teaching and Teacher Education.

 

Representative research includes:
Klassen, R. M., Wang, H., Cutting, J., Thompson-Lee, S., Snell, R., See, B. H., & Saiger, M. J. (2025). Digital innovations in teacher recruitment: An experimental study. PsyArXiv. osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/z9bm3_v1

Rushby, J. V., Klassen, R. M., Durksen, T. L., Pfaffel, A., & Bardach, L. (2025). Longitudinal effects of a scenario-based learning intervention on preservice teacher self-efficacy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 154, 104859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104859

Klassen, R. M., Rushby, J. V., & Wang, H. (2023). Can an online scenario-based learning activity influence preservice teachers’ self-efficacy, person-vocation fit, and career intentions? Computers and Education, 207, 104935.

 

 

Research

Books

Book chapters

Conference papers

Journal articles

Subjects Taught

  • Motivation and Emotions in Education

Doctoral Applications

Rob welcomes doctoral applications from students interested in the following research areas:

  • Education workforce, especially related to teacher and school leader recruitment, selection, and retention
  • Development and testing of new technologies associated with teacher and school leader recruitment and selection, including classroom simulations, gamification, and artificial intelligence
  • Motivation of teachers and school leaders, especially from a social cognitive perspective  

Funded Research Projects

AI-generated feedback for teacher recruitment and development.
Project Lead. Collaborative Data Project, UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council, Hartree Centre North East Hub: Amount: £30,460.
2023-2024
Understanding the roots of teacher turnover: A transactional model.
Collaborator. Hong Kong Research Grants Council. PI: Hui Wang, Education University of Hong Kong. Amount: HK$: 750,638.
2023-2026
Student selection and competence development in the continuum of preservice and inservice teacher education (SITE).
International Collaborator. Academy of Finland. Principal Investigator: Dr Riitta-Leena Metsäpelto, University of Jyväskylä. Amount: €559, 315.
2021-2024
Developing a model of teacher competence.
Co-Investigator. EARLI Centre for Excellence grant. PI Mareike Kunter Amount: €10,000.
2021-2025