Staff Profile
Robert Avery
Senior Lecturer
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I entered the field of vision impairment in 1983 and worked in various roles over the following seven years. Alongside this, I taught sailing skills to people with a range of physical and/or vision impairments. In 1990 I became one of the first specialist Rehabilitation Workers for people with a vision impairment trained in Scotland and spent a further six years in the field working directly with blind and partially sighted people. During this time, I established a creative arts group at a disability work centre in East Kilbride and supported swimming lessons and coached badminton at the Disabled and Able-bodied Sports Club. In 1996 I became a lecturer when Guide Dogs opened a Rehabilitation Worker Training School in Glasgow. I progressed to manage the whole UK Rehab Education service until the organisation decided to withdraw from this activity in 2007.
Recognising the need to ensure that the needs of people with impaired vision are identified by health professionals, I took the opportunity to move to York St John and now have input into the Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy programmes. I also deliver training to existing professionals in the Health and Social Care sector. As an advocate of digital learning, I am involved in developing online resources for students within the School of Science, Technology and Health.
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
In my spare time, I play cricket and referee Goalball both domestically and internationally, joining the ranks of the elite international referees' group in 2018.
- School – School of Science, Technology and Health
- Email – r.avery@yorksj.ac.uk
- Phone – 01904 876 968
Further information
Teaching
I am the mandatory training co-ordinator for the health programmes and deliver manual handing and basic life support training at all levels of the programmes and have developed online activities for students to enable them to work through the theoretical elements of the mandatory training at their own pace.
In addition to inputs on vision impairment on the Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy programmes, I teach on a number of modules on the Physiotherapy programmes including Personal and Professional Skills, Foundations of Anatomy and Pathophysiology 1, and Employability and Service Development on the BSc programme and Professional Development and Leadership, Service Development & Employability on the MSc programme.
I also deliver the Support for Learning in Practice module to clinical educators in health and social care, which helps to ensure the quality of placement provision for students.
Research
My research interests are primarily linked to the impact of disability and the design of the physical and digital spaces to enhance the lived experience of people with disability, with a primary focus on people with sight impairments. These include:
- Environmental Access
- Digital Education
- Inclusive Design
- Inclusive Sport
My current research activity is focussed around my involvement with Goalball and in helping to set the research agenda for this sport, and how this might impact the general health and wellbeing of individuals with sight impairments.
Publications and conferences
Publications
'Scratching the Surface'; reflections from an inclusive and interdisciplinary practice led community project', Design for All, Vol 4, No. 11, November 2009.
'The Future Training of Specialist Staff in Rehabilitation Services in the UK', The Educator, Vol XIX, Issue 1, July 2006.
'Problem Solving', Rehab Today, 1998.
Conference presentations
Paper delivered to the Open University H818 online conference
Blended Learning for CPD: A case study on the development & implementation of a blended learning model to enhance study day learning opportunities, 2015.
Paper delivered to York St John Faculty of Arts Learning & Teaching Conference.
'Scratching the Surface' – diversification of the 'roots' & harnessing the branches', 2009.
Paper delivered to the Australasian Orientation & Mobility and the AER Orientation & Mobility Division Conferences.
'Accessibility & the Built Environment', 2003.
Professional activities
My professional activities aim to support the development of colleagues both within the York St John University and Goalball communities. As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy I act as a mentor and assessor for colleagues seeking to achieve Fellowship accreditation. I also mentor new academics who join the university in the Health Departments.
In the Goalball community I am on the Sports Committee for the international governing body (IBSA), currently serving as the Rankings, Rules and Regulations Co-ordinator. In this role I am responsible for editing and maintaining the rules documents and supporting the development of training materials for international referees.
I have previously served on the following groups and committees:
- Member of the YSJU Learning Spaces Project Group
- Member of the Yorkshire Universities Spaces Working Group
- Member of YSJU Staff Joint Consultative Committee
- Faculty Quality Enhancement Committee
- Faculty Health and Safety Working Group
- Faculty Mitigating Circumstances Committee
- York St John University Quality Network
- York St John University Teaching Fellows Network
- Board of Directors, Goalball UK
- External Examiner for Foundation Degree Rehabilitation (Visual Impairment) at The University of South Wales, Newport
- External Examiner for Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care at Canterbury Christ Church University October 2005 – September 2009.
