Dr Carla Finesilver works mainly in the areas of mathematics education and inclusion, with a particular interest in the intersection of these two fields – inclusive mathematics education. Through both her research and teaching, she aims to make mathematics, STEM subjects, and education in general more inclusive, accessible and relevant for diverse learners. Prior to her academic career, Carla spent 10 years as a classroom teacher at various secondary schools in London, including as Head of Mathematics (and one of the founding staff) of a specialist school for students with Specific Learning Difficulties. She has contributed to national guidance on dyscalculia, and consultations on mathematics education and disability inclusion. Carla is school representative on the faculty EDI committee, and active in various Equality, Diversity & Inclusion networks, with a focus on Disability inclusion. Staff and students interested in working to create a more inclusive academic environment (at King’s and beyond) are welcome to get in touch.

Research

Carla specialises in qualitative research, often working with multimodal data, microanalytic methods, and designing bespoke methodologies for data collection and analysis.

Current research interests include:

• exploring creativity and diversity in learners' strategies for mathematical problem-solving
• supporting and creating more positive experiences for students from whom 'traditional' school mathematics is a poor fit
• improving educational inclusion for marginalised learners, including disabled, neurodiverse and other historically-disadvantaged groups of students
• training of preservice and current teachers in inclusive pedagogies - staff and student experiences of ableism and anti-ableism in education contexts.

Teaching

Carla’s teaching is spread across multiple PhD, MA, BA and PGCE modules within the School of Education, Communication & Society.

She currently teaches on the following modules:

• 4SSES005 Power, inequality and social change
• 5SSES003: Principles and methods of social research
• 7SSEM039 Social justice and education policy
• 7SSEM068 Critical perspectives on education
• 7SSES007 Leading practice in STEM education
• 7SSEQUNT Quantitative methods in the context of education research
• 7SSEM060 / 7SSEM066 Research methods, academic study skills, and dissertation PGR research training programme
• PGCE Mathematics

PhD supervision

Carla’s current students have been working on:

•  Amy O'Brien: Discourses of 'numeracy across the curriculum' and 'mathematics' in other subjects within the national curriculum in England?
• Jonathan Berliner: Understanding the experiences of neurodivergent students in secondary chemistry education with a socioecological approach.
• Liam Cini O'Dwyer: Exploring issues of exclusion and participation of queer youth (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and other non-cisgender-heterosexual identities) in secondary school science education.
• Alison Flack: Can classroom pedagogy reduce the occurrence of mathematics anxiety for students with social, emotional and mental health difficulties?
• Xinyun He: The application of augmented reality in mathematical geometry learning for students with Autism Spectrum Conditions.

Her recently completed doctoral students worked on:

• Experiences of primary school students with mathematical learning difficulties, as perceived by the students, their teachers and LSAs.
• Arts teachers' beliefs and judgements regarding their students with SEN, and how they adapt teaching practice.
• Literacy teaching for secondary school students with SEN, and its relationship to social and educational disadvantage.
• Integration of students with learning difficulties in mainstream Saudi Arabian schools.

Prospective doctoral candidates are welcome to contact her by email.

Further information

For further details please see her Research Staff Profile.