Staff Profile
Dr Brian Rock
Senior Lecturer in Initial Teacher Education
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I graduated from the University College Dublin with a BA (Hons) in English and History in 2001, followed by a MA (Hons) in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama in 2022. I completed a PhD in English Literature at University of Stirling in 2010 and gained a PGDE in Secondary English at University of Edinburgh in 2012.
I have taught in a range of education contexts. I was a TESOL teacher between 2003 and 2006 in Krakow, Dublin and Edinburgh and taught English for Academic Purposes at the Universities of Stirling, Edinburgh and Heriot Watt between 2008 and 2011. I was a Teaching Fellow at University of Stirling, teaching on undergraduate and postgraduate literature modules, between 2006 and 2010. I have 10 years of teaching experience in four secondary schools in Scotland and England, and have led and developed Secondary School Direct PGCE and early career teacher provision for an academy trust in the North Yorkshire region. I joined York St John University in 2022 as Senior Lecturer in I.T.E.
- School – School of Education, Language and Psychology
- Email – b.rock@yorksj.ac.uk
- Phone – 01904 876 941
Teaching
I teach on 3rd year undergraduate Primary Education BA, focussing on professional studies and supporting students' research projects. I also teach on the postgraduate PGCE Secondary programme, focussing on professional studies and subject studies in English and History. I lead on postgraduate research assignment and act as secondary link tutor for school placements. I also support doctoral supervision on our EdD Programme.
I am currently working towards achieving my Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) status.
Primary Education BA and Secondary School Direct PGCE course modules:
- PGC7007M Learning and Teaching in Subject Studies (Secondary) SD
- PGC7008M The Developing Professional (Secondary) SD
- QTS60001M Professional Studies 3: The Emerging Professional
- QTS6004M The Research Informed Professional
Research
The main focus of my research to date has been within literary studies. My PhD situates Irish author Brian O’Nolan’s fiction, journalism and pseudonymous identities in relation to minor literary discourse, as developed by Deleuze and Guattari, to explore O'Nolan’s socio-historic position within postcolonial Ireland.
My current research interests lie around English and History, teacher education and development, mentoring and coaching, postcolonial studies and critical theory, social justice and LGBTQ+ inclusive practices.
Professional activities
I am a member of the Centre for Language and Social Justice Research at York St John University. I am also a member of NATE and the Chartered College of Teaching.
Publications and conferences
Publications:
Birk Lauren, O., Rock, B. & Stadler, F. (eds) (2016). Networking the Globe: New Technologies and the Postcolonial. London: Routledge
Rock, B. (2003). ‘The practice and effects of literary censorship in the Irish Free State, 1929-46’, PaGeS (University College Dublin Press), 8.1, 76-85
PhD thesis:
Rock, B. (2010) ‘Irish nationalism and postcolonial modernity: the ‘minor’ literature and authorial selves of Brian O’Nolan’. University of Stirling. Available: https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/handle/1893/2495#.Y0lDr3bMKUk
Conference papers:
‘Anonymous and Pseudonymous Column Writing from the Irish Times: Myles na gCopaleen’s ‘Cruiskeen Lawn’.’ Paper presented to the Department of English Studies, University of Stirling, April 2010.
‘Fantasy landscapes for the English traveller: Patrick McGinley’s textual indebtedness to Flann O’Brien in The Trick of the Ga Bolga.’ Paper presented to Fantasy Ireland Conference, North-East Irish Studies Network, University of Sunderland, November 2009.
‘Flann O’Brien’s minor modernism: deconstructing Anglo-Irish heritage in At Swim-Two-Birds’. Paper presented to World Literatures Conference, IASIL: International Association for the Study of Irish Literature, University of Glasgow, July 2009.
‘Linguistic postcolonial concerns within the Irish Free State: Brian O’Nolan’s minor literature.’ Paper presented to Re-imagining Identity: New Directions in Postcolonial Studies Conference, PSA: Postcolonial Studies Association, Waterford Institute of Technology, May 2009.
