Andrew is a postdoctoral researcher on the Nuffield funded project ‘The Digital Lives of Care-experienced Children’. This project uses mixed-methods to investigate how digital skills develop in the absence of traditional family support structures, particularly care-experienced children and young people.
Prior to joining the OII, Andrew worked as a Research Officer at The Rees Centre, in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford. At the Rees Centre, Andrew worked on several projects including the Alex Timpson Attachment and Trauma Programme in Schools; DfE funded evaluations of the Virtual School Head role; the evaluation of a pilot programme to increase adoptive placements for children with disabilities; and a Hadley Trust–funded project aimed at enhancing stability for children and young people in the care system.
Andrew has a professional background as a teacher, senior leader in a special school, and teacher trainer, with a particular focus on inclusive education. He completed a PhD in Psychology at Cardiff University in 2021.
His research interests include adoption, care and the influence of young people’s adoptive identity on family life, parenting and educational experiences.
Adopted children’s educational experience and academic outcomes; Role of adoptive identity in: adolescent development, relationships with peers, parents and teachers, academic and career expectation; SEND pedagogy; Impact of early adversity on child development in education. Care-experience and education, family life and parenting.
This project investigates how digital skills develop in the absence of traditional family support structures and aims to identify any critical and overlooked gaps that emerge.
