Paula Connaughton

Paula is the Academic Co-ordinator for Standards and Enhancement and the Learner Experience in the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing. She is also a Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Well-Being and teaches on the BA (Hons) Community Development and Youth Work/Studies programmes. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is currently in the process of completing a PhD which focuses on the history of the club and youth centres.

She has contributed nationally to a number of professional organisations, which includes the National Youth Agency as a member of the advisory panel, the Professional Association for Youth and Community Work as a member of the Secretariat, and as a member of the Apprenticeship Youth Work Trailblazer Group. She is also currently a member of the Youth and Policy Journal Editorial Board and a member of the Board of Trustees for a local domestic abuse charity.

Her teaching and research interests include the history of youth work, policy and practice, informal education and learning, ethics, and all aspects of community development, policy and practice.