Joanne Mimnagh
Senior Lecturer
My profile
Biography
I am a committed education practitioner who has gained a considerable amount of varied experience during my career. I have a firm belief in providing good, research based approaches to education and the education of the whole child. My managerial and pedagogical experience has provided me with a good basis upon which to now build. Through my research, I will develop theories of reflective practice within my teaching and am seeking opportunities to establish myself within the realms of academic writing and publication. Having worked in mainly a secondary setting with responsibility for German and then as a Faculty Co-ordinator in MFL, I became interested in primary languages. I worked for eighteen months as an Advisory Teacher for primary German in Liverpool with children from Foundation stage to the end of Key Stage Two. I was a CILT approved trainer and have presented at the Primary Languages Show. I have worked at MMU since 2005.
My roles since working at Manchester Metropolitan University are diverse. I have mainly worked as the German tutor on the Secondary PGCE in MFL and the Primary PGCE in MFL. I have been the lead for admissions, have led units in primary MFL, have been a cohort leader for the BA Primary degree and was an Associate Teaching and Learning Fellow. I have worked across both primary and seconary programmes on various units and have assessed on the NASENCO programme
My research, academic enterprise interests include widening participation and teacher and student agency when learning German. Since 2008 I have undertaken research as part of the Education Doctorate, which I needed to suspend for personal reasons and am currently enrolling to complete my thesis. My thesis examines the work in classrooms in both the USA (specifically Colorado) and the UK.
External examiner roles
External examiner for Edge Hill University - KS2/3 degree (MFL) (2011-2015) and Secondary MFL PGCE course (2012-)
External examiner for the University of Chester- Secondary MFL PGCE course (2015-)
Teaching
Why do I teach?
Until my year abroad as part of my undergraduate degree, I had no desire to teach. It was not until I spent a great deal of time in classrooms in Germany that I realised that teaching was my chosen career. Following this experience, I gained further insights into teaching and learning in England, which led to my participation with a PGCE programme.
I don’t believe that my fundamental beliefs of education have changed significantly during the past twenty years, indeed working within the faculty of education, my subject and educatio beliefs have only become stronger. I don’t believe that educational success is simply measured by a set of data. I believe that schools should educate the whole child for their future and as teachers, we play a fundamental role in the development of our pupils. I also believe in equality for all within education.
Teaching is my vocation. No day is ever the same and I soon realised that as a teacher, you never cease learning. I have gained a great deal from working with my oustanding colleagues and students over the past decade and I really enjoy the engagement with our students. I have really enjoyed analysing the pedagogy of my subject area but I have equally enjoyed engaging in units which promote the development of the teacher persona, such as professional studies on both the secondary and primary units.
How I’ll teach you
As a linguist, I find that communication is one of my strengths and I ensure that I consistently communicate with the teams in which I work. I am a firm believer in forward planning and punctuality and would like to think that this ensures trust, credibility and reliability in everything that I do. I am a personal pastoral tutor to some sixty students each academic year and I have been a whole year cohort leader. A greater aspect of this work is the monitoring of the personal well being of the individual students. I have been CEOPS trained and have a good understanding of pupil and student safeguarding and provide the professional practice seminar and lecture each year.
My approach to teaching is very simple, I see each student as an individual who brings something unique to teaching. I see my responsibilty as using my knowledge and experience to facilitate the professional and knowledge development of each individual student. My work is not just about leading students to assessments but to enhance their knowledge and understanding of pedagogy which will prepare them for the classrooms of the future. I am very proud of my supervision of undergraduate research.
Subject areas
Modern Languages and Primary Modern Languages