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Dr Tyrrell Golding

Profile summary

Professional biography

I am Associate Dean (Curriculum and Assessment) for the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies having been Deputy Associate Dean (Curriculum) for three years and Associate Head of School - Curriculum & Quality, for the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport (ECYS) for five years. Prior to that I was Head of Qualifications (Undergraduate) Childhood and Youth, which included the BA (Hons) in Youth Work with JNC and BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies. I have been a full-time academic at the Open University since March 2011. Prior to this I was a Senior Lecturer in Youth and Community Work at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

I came into higher education after a career in Community Education, Community Development and Youth Work and became a lecturer to support those wishing to enter this field of work and those already working in the field. I have worked 'with' people throughout my career and through every life stage, though I am particularly passionate about work with young and older people. I am passionate about volunteering, lifelong learning and improving teaching quality and student experience.

Research interests

I research adult motivations for volunteering, particularly in work with young people from intersectional and lifelong learning perspectives. I am also interested in the ethics of volunteering, voluntarism and charitable activity.

My other research and scholarly interests focus on adult learners, learning in informal and non formal spaces and exploring the cultures and structures in HE institutions that can support, and indeed create barriers, to adult learning.

Teaching interests

I am currently Academic Director [WELS] for the XR Studios supporting colleagues across the faculty to embed extended and augmented reality learning activities into their pedagogy.

I have been involved in the production of many modules in the Working with Young People qualifications as follows:

E108 - Working with Young People: An Introduction

  • Author: Study Topic 4 - Understanding Young People and their communities
  • Co-Author: LGBT Youth Scotland audio-visual materials
  • Co-Author: Reader Chapter - Curran, S and Golding, T (2013) 'Crossing the boundaries? Working informally in formal setting' in Curran, S., Harrison, R. and Mackinnon, D. eds. (2013)  Working with Young People, 2nd. ed., London, Sage

E118 - Introduction to Working with Young People in practice

  • 2011 - present: Module Chair in presentation
  • 2013 - 2015: Module Chair in production
  • Co-Author: Study Guide 1 - Introduction to Working with young people in practice
  • Co-Author: Study Guide 2 - Working with young people in context
  • Co-Author: Study Guide 5 - Reflecting on working with young people in practice
  • Co-Author: Open Learn Unit Professional relationships with young people

E318 - Youth: Policy in Practice

  • Author: Unit 15: The voluntary–statutory relationship: integration, partnership and commissioning
  • Author: Block 5 - Preparing for Your Further Professional Development

Impact and engagement

Throughout 2015-2016 worked as an Academic Advisor on the most recent Child of our Time programme which was aired in April 2017.  There is an OpenLearn microsite for more information about the Child of our Time series.

I was an Academic Advisor on the BBC2 Co-Production The Great NHS Experiment  broadcast during September 2019.

Research groups

NameTypeParent Unit
CREET: Educational Studies Research ClusterClusterFaculty of Education and Language Studies

Publications

What has The Big Hospital Experiment taught us? (2019-10-14)
Golding, Tyrrell
Nursing Times


The Short Guide to working with Children and Young People (2013-02-20)
Conradie, Liesl and Golding, Tyrrell
Short Guide Series
ISBN : 978-1-44730-023-6 | Publisher : Policy Press | Published : Bristol


Crossing the boundaries? Working informally in formal settings (2013)
Curran, Sheila and Golding, Tyrrell
In: Curran, Sheila; Harrison, Roger and Mackinnon, Donald eds. Working with Young People (2nd ed) (pp. 125-136)
ISBN : 978-1-4462-7328-9 | Publisher : Sage | Published : London


Making Microcredentials Count (2022)
Golding, Tyrrell and Rossade, Klaus-Dieter
In : Innovating Higher Education Conference 2022 (19-21 Oct 2022, Athens)


Recognising Prior Experiential Learning: Challenges and Opportunities for Advancing Employability and Accrediting Lifelong Learning (2020)
Golding, Tyrrell and Dunn, Clare
In : Employability Conference 2020: expanding the narrative for a rapidly changing world (11 Mar 2020, The Open University, Milton Keynes)


Adult volunteering in work with young people: hidden learning, hidden outcomes (2019-07)
Golding, Tyrrell
In : Critical Pedagogy and Professional Practice in Youth and Community Work Education (3-5 Jul 2019, Bishop Grosseteste University)


Female volunteers and youth work: education, emancipation or society? (2014-06)
Golding, Tyrrell
In : Fourth Youth and Policy Thinking Seriously Conference: Thinking Afresh: Feminism and Youth Work (10-11 Jun 2014, Leeds, UK)


Real lives, imagined futures: stories of participation and progression through the Open University professional qualification in youth work (2012-10-31)
Golding, Tyrrell; Harrison, Roger and Harrison, Stephen
In : Developing Internships and Work Based Learning Opportunities for Mature Students: Creating Opportunities and Raising Aspirations (31 Oct 2012, Milton Keynes, UK)


Real lives, imagined futures: stories of participation and progression through the Open University professional qualification in Youth Work (2012-08-30)
Curran, Sheila and Golding, Tyrrell
In : International Conference on Youth Work and Youth Studies (28-30 Aug 2012, Glasgow, UK)


Moving from the periphery to the centre: promoting conversation and developing communities of practice in online environments’ (2012-07)
Curran, Sheila and Golding, Tyrrell
In : Renewing the tradition: sustaining and sustainable communities through informal education (9-11 Jul 2012, Brathay Hall, Cumbria)


Is signing an online petition really volunteering? (2016-06-02)
Golding, Tyrrell
The Conversation