Staff profile

Catherine Reading is the Director of the Centre for Continuing Professional Development and Outreach in the School of Education. Her work centres on the strategic leadership of teacher education, professional learning and partnership-based educational provision, connecting research-informed practice with regional, national and international engagement.

She established and leads the Centre for CPD and Outreach as a platform for sustainable professional learning, educational innovation and external partnership. Her recent work includes leading the British Council SCOUT initiative with Tamil Nadu, a hybrid international programme focused on data science and the practical applications of artificial intelligence, and developing a range of professional learning offers.

Professor Reading contributes to Faculty internationalisation through educational initiatives that support global engagement and outward-facing provision. This includes involvement in the UG100 project and the development and launch of the Global Futures Summer School (GFSS), bringing together international recruitment, student experience and academic engagement.

Previously Director of Professional Programmes in the School of Education, she led teacher education provision across undergraduate, postgraduate and international routes. Her wider contribution to Initial Teacher Education includes curriculum and assessment development, partnership governance and quality enhancement, including external examining roles beyond Durham.

Professor Reading studied Medicinal Chemistry at University College London and subsequently undertook research in neuropharmacology, designing and synthesising serotonin receptor partial agonists. After completing a PGCE in Science at Durham University, she taught science and held school leadership roles in London and the North East before joining the School of Education. Her scholarship brings together science education, professional learning, digital pedagogies, evaluative judgement and communities of practice, and she has published on science education, peer review, classroom readiness in Initial Teacher Education and professional development.

• Professional Learning and Development
• Digital Pedagogies and the algorithmic classroom
• International and Comparative Education
• Science Education
• Peer Review

• Editorial Roles:
  The Bridge Journal of Educational Research and Theory (2024-2026) Editorial Panel
• Conference Talks:
  Vital Summit and Conference, Jersey, April 2026.  Keynote - The role of Artificial Intelligence in Professional Contexts; lessons from education and health.

  NUFFIC International Conference, Utrecht, March 2026.  Artificial Intelligence in the classroom

  Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN): Online Conference, May 2021. Developing the trainee in a teacher learning community: A transformative experience

  International Assessment in Higher Education Conference, Manchester, June 2018.  Developing as a peer reviewer: enhancing student graduate attributes.

  Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN), May 2018. Peer Review and the impact on graduate attributes

  International Assessment in Higher Education Conference, Manchester, June 2018. Developing as a peer reviewer: enhancing student graduate attributes.

  Durham Teaching and Learning Conference, September 2017. Transitions in a professional programme: scaffolding the development of an essential profesional attribute through peer review.

  TEAN conference, Aston University, May 2017. Using Peer Review to develop evaluative judgements.

• Professional Development Offer - International:
  Developing Pedagogic Knowledge through School Immersion CONACYT

  Developing Pedagogic Knowledge and English Language through School Immersion NUFFIC

  An Immersion in the British School Context

  The Autonomous Teacher (online)

  SCOUT Data Science and AI Project with British Council and Tamil Nadu Skills Development Corporation

  AI in dual-language classrooms NUFFIC

  The implementation of AI into the classroom Middle East, India, Switzerland

• Internal Seminars and Workshops:
  Joint Symposium with IISER Pune, April 2026.  Facilitation: Storytelling in the Teaching of Science

  Teaching and Learning Conference, Sept 2021. Peer Review in Professional Contexts

  Earth Sciences Department, Feb 2018. Observations in Earth Sciences; developing evaluative judgements.

  Learning and Teaching Network, April 2017.  Using Peer Review to develop evaluative judgements.

  Learning and Teaching Network, March 2017.  Gaining an Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award.

  Learning and Teaching Network, Sept 2016.  Gaining an Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award.

• Prizes and Awards:
  Outstanding Contribution Award, 2024

  Outstanding Contribution Award, 2020

  Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, SFHEA, 2017

  Leading Transformation in Learning and Teaching, HEA Award, LFHE, 2017

  Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award, Durham University, 2016

  Enhancing the Student Learning Experience Award, 2016

  Chartered Science Teacher, CSci Teach, 2015

• Professional Memberships:
  Senior Fellow of the HEA (2017-2026)

  Member UCET Management Forum (2015-2022)

  Member Russell Group ITE (2015-2022)

  Member of RSc (MRSC) (2013-2026)

  Member of ASE Futures (2013-2026)

  Vice-Chair ASE North (2018-2019)

  Member of IOP (2013-2020)

• External Examiner Roles:
  University of York (2021-2025) Chief External Examiner for PGCE

  Newcastle University (2017-2022) Chief External Examiner for PGCE

  Northumbria University (2018-2019) External Reviewer for Revalidation

Chapter in book

• Making the most of professional networks and your next steps
  
  Reading, C. (2024). Making the most of professional networks and your next steps. In M. Stephenson & A. Gill (Eds.), Training to be a Primary School Teacher: ITT and Beyond. Sage.
• Reporting in science at a deeper level
  
  Reading, C. (2020). Reporting in science at a deeper level. In A. Bushnell, A. Gill, & D. Waugh (Eds.), Mastering Writing in Greater Depth (pp. 207-223). Sage Publications Ltd.

Journal Article

• Reflecting on ’classroom readiness’ in initial teacher education in a time of global pandemic from the perspectives of eight university providers from across England, UK
  
  Rushton, E. A., Murtagh, L., Ball-Smith, C., Black, B., Dunlop, L., Gibbons, S., Ireland, K., Morse, R., Reading, C., & Scott, C. (2023). Reflecting on ’classroom readiness’ in initial teacher education in a time of global pandemic from the perspectives of eight university providers from across England, UK. Journal of Education for Teaching, 49(4), 551-568. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2022.2150840
• Developing as a peer reviewer: enhancing students' graduate attributes.
  
  Simpson, R., & Reading, C. (2019). Developing as a peer reviewer: enhancing students’ graduate attributes. AHE Journal of Practitioner Research, 12(1), 38-49.
• The practical work challenge: incorporating the explicit teaching of evidence in subject content
  
  Roberts, R., & Reading, C. (2015). The practical work challenge: incorporating the explicit teaching of evidence in subject content. School Science Review, 357, 31-39.

Report

• An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativity
  
  Atkinson, A., Ayadurai, C., Berryman, S., Birks, D., Bond, C., Bramley, R., Broadfoot, H., Brown, K., Bryant, E., Capstick, N., Chapman, A. D., Clegg, J., Coghill, L., Costa, C. I., Crawford, A., Croucher, K., Daly-Smith, A., Day, P., Denny, S., … Wilson, A. (2025). An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativity. Child of the North.