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Sara Black

Dr Sara Black

Lecturer in Education and Society

Contact details

Biography

Sara is a critical education leadership and policy sociologist, with particular interest in the temporality and spatiality of everyday life and how this (re)produces social inequality. She particularly writes about discursive and structural underpinnings of technology as it applies to learning systems and activities.

Before coming to King's in January 2022, Sara worked at the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation at the University of Johannesburg. She has experience across myriad contexts in the public education system in South Africa.

A former high school maths teacher and (prior to that) programmer, Sara entered the world of academia through teacher development back in 2014 when she began working with pre-service teachers at the University of Cape Town. Through teacher development, her interest in pedagogy and in structures and systems grew, resulting in doctoral research focused on the temporal and spatial constraints on teachers' practices in schools and the policy origins of these. Her former background in coding has also converged with these interests to critically engage with technological modalities and their relation to time-space in education practices.

When not thinking about education issues, she enjoys playing music, outdoor endurance sport and sewing.

Teaching 

Sara is currently teaching on the following modules: 

  • Theories of Change in Schools (formerly School Effectiveness and School Improvement)
  • Education Leadership and Change

She previously taught on: Education policy; Ethics for pre-service teachers; and Advanced Research Design.

Research interests 

  • Critical education policy sociology.
  • Education and temporality/spatiality; sociology of time and space as they play out in schools.
  • Critical sociology of education technology; datafication and technicisation of pedagogy.
  • Philosophy of social science.

PhD supervision

Sara is currently supervising dissertations on:

  • Emerging education governance structures and public/private contestations in South Africa during the transition to democracy: a critical discourse analysis.

Sara is interested in supervising dissertations on:

  • Critical sociology of education and time/space, including of EdTech practices.
  • Critical policy sociology studies.
  • Research on public/private partnerships in education.

    Research

    women at wokr
    Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR)

    The Centre for Public Policy Research is an interdisciplinary research centre research developing critical analyses of social change and social in/justice in education and other policy arenas, sectors and contexts to inform national and international policy debate, social activism, and personal, professional and organisational learning.

    News

    What does it mean to do critical research and engage with 21st century challenges? King's researchers give answers in new podcast

    ‘It’s Just Research - Critically questioning the world we live in’ is a new podcast made by researchers, with researchers, for researchers, and anyone keen to...

    Its just research podcast 780x440

    Events

    20Juneducation innovation fund

    Timespace and rhythms in higher education-a reflexive group discussion

    In this interactive session, we will explore some of the prevailing literature on time-space in education in general as well as specifically in the HE sector....

    Please note: this event has passed.

    Features

    It's Just Research, Ep. 5: Power of Perspectives: Dr Maren Elfert on Education's Global Stage

    In the fifth episode of "It's Just Research," we're treated to a candid chat with Dr. Maren Elfert, an expert in the field of international education

    Its just research podcast 1903x558 v1

    It's Just Research, Ep. 4: 'Introducing... the team"

    In this special episode of It's Just Research, we turn the microphone towards our own team, inviting you into the world behind the scenes at King's College...

    Its just research podcast 1903x558 v1

    It's Just Research, Ep.2: 'Teaching English as a form of political activism, with Mel Cooke'

    For the second episode of ‘It’s Just Research: Critically questioning the world we live in’, we talked to Dr Mel Cooke, Senior Lecturer in ESOL & Applied...

    ECS podcast ep2 ESOL classroom

    It's Just Research, Ep. 1: 'Bringing politics into the science classroom, with Arthur Galamba'

    In the first episode of ‘It’s Just Research: Critically questioning the world we live in’, we talked to Dr Arthur Galamba, Senior Lecturer in Science...

    ECS podcast ep1 fascism

    Higher education & knowledge: where is the public good?

    At the Annual Lecture of King’s School of Education, Communication & Society, held on 4 July 2022, Professor Simon Marginson delivered a fascinating talk in...

    Annual Lecture audience-1903x558

    Must-reads in education, communication and social sciences

    The School of Education, Communication & Society at King’s College London houses research from a range of different fields – from linguistics to education...

    Books side by side-tom-hermans-1903x558

    Meet Dr Sara Black, King's new Lecturer in Education Management and Leadership

    Dr Sara Black who joined the School of Education, Communication and Society in January 2022, talks about how leaving a job in IT to become a teacher was the...

    Networking_Nathan Clarke

      Research

      women at wokr
      Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR)

      The Centre for Public Policy Research is an interdisciplinary research centre research developing critical analyses of social change and social in/justice in education and other policy arenas, sectors and contexts to inform national and international policy debate, social activism, and personal, professional and organisational learning.

      News

      What does it mean to do critical research and engage with 21st century challenges? King's researchers give answers in new podcast

      ‘It’s Just Research - Critically questioning the world we live in’ is a new podcast made by researchers, with researchers, for researchers, and anyone keen to...

      Its just research podcast 780x440

      Events

      20Juneducation innovation fund

      Timespace and rhythms in higher education-a reflexive group discussion

      In this interactive session, we will explore some of the prevailing literature on time-space in education in general as well as specifically in the HE sector....

      Please note: this event has passed.

      Features

      It's Just Research, Ep. 5: Power of Perspectives: Dr Maren Elfert on Education's Global Stage

      In the fifth episode of "It's Just Research," we're treated to a candid chat with Dr. Maren Elfert, an expert in the field of international education

      Its just research podcast 1903x558 v1

      It's Just Research, Ep. 4: 'Introducing... the team"

      In this special episode of It's Just Research, we turn the microphone towards our own team, inviting you into the world behind the scenes at King's College...

      Its just research podcast 1903x558 v1

      It's Just Research, Ep.2: 'Teaching English as a form of political activism, with Mel Cooke'

      For the second episode of ‘It’s Just Research: Critically questioning the world we live in’, we talked to Dr Mel Cooke, Senior Lecturer in ESOL & Applied...

      ECS podcast ep2 ESOL classroom

      It's Just Research, Ep. 1: 'Bringing politics into the science classroom, with Arthur Galamba'

      In the first episode of ‘It’s Just Research: Critically questioning the world we live in’, we talked to Dr Arthur Galamba, Senior Lecturer in Science...

      ECS podcast ep1 fascism

      Higher education & knowledge: where is the public good?

      At the Annual Lecture of King’s School of Education, Communication & Society, held on 4 July 2022, Professor Simon Marginson delivered a fascinating talk in...

      Annual Lecture audience-1903x558

      Must-reads in education, communication and social sciences

      The School of Education, Communication & Society at King’s College London houses research from a range of different fields – from linguistics to education...

      Books side by side-tom-hermans-1903x558

      Meet Dr Sara Black, King's new Lecturer in Education Management and Leadership

      Dr Sara Black who joined the School of Education, Communication and Society in January 2022, talks about how leaving a job in IT to become a teacher was the...

      Networking_Nathan Clarke