Dr Eric Addae-Kyeremeh

Professional biography

I hold a BA (Hons) in Economics (Ghana), MA in Information Systems (Nottingham), MEd in Leadership and Management (Open) and a Doctorate in Education (Open). I am a Chartered Manager (CMgr) and Chartered IT Professional (CITP).

I joined the Open University (OU) in January 2011 after a decade working in the Further Education (FE) Sector in England firstly as a lecturer in Computing and ICT and then in a range of leadership and management positions. During my career in FE I led and managed subject areas including Science and Mathematics; Information and Communication Technology; Business, Administration and Law.

In the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport (ECYS) we are committed to the Open University’s mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We acknowledge that different people bring different knowledge, perspectives and culture to our community and collectively this difference makes us better in our teaching, research and scholarship. I am proud to be leading this school and pleased to be working for our students and stakeholders.

In addition to my head of school role I am the Faculty Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and work with a group of colleagues to drive forward our ambition for fair and equitable outcomes for all.

WELS Faculty lead- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (2022–present)                                                                                                           

Member, Digital Student Experience Programme Board (2022-present)                                                                                         

Member, OU Micro credentials Steering group (2020-present)

Member, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Committee (2020-21)

Member, STEM Faculty promotions committee (2019-22)                       

Member, OU Digital Strategy Steering Group (2018-present)

Member, Student Hub Live Steering Group (2018-21)

Member, Taught Postgraduate Strategy Group (2014–2016)

Chair, Taught Postgraduate Student Experience Project (2014–2015)

Member, PRAXIS: WELS Scholarship Centre Steering Group (2017-21).

Associate Head of School (2016-21)

Associate Programme Director, Taught Postgraduate (2014-16)

Head of Qualification (2011-13)

Elected member of FELS Curriculum and Teaching Strategy Committee (2012-14)

Module Team Chair (2011-14)

My research interests include teachers’/headteachers’ professional learning and development; professional and practitioner networks and how they contribute to organisational development; educational change; education policy. I welcome research students interested in any of these areas and other issues related to school leadership and management and leadership at the education system level. I am also interested in innovative mixed methods approaches in education research, for example the use of network ethnography to explore learning and development of practitioners.

Funded projects

Co-PI, Theorising learning in informal apprenticeship: Is there any role for dialogue? Funder: Education Futures Research Cluster- OU, (£3000) 2022–date.

Co-PI, OpenSTEM Africa: Ghana - HE ‘test and learn.’ Funder: Education Futures Research Cluster- OU (£3000), 2022–date.

Co-I, Partners in Play Project (P3), Ghana, Right to Play ($CA 500,000), 2020-2021.

Co-I and Technical Lead for middle leadership programme, OpenSTEM Africa, Ghana, Opito (£600,000), 2018-date.

Co-PI, Distance Learning in Teacher Education in Ghana, Education Futures Research Cluster- CREET small grants Grant (£4,000), 2017–2020.

Co-PI, Investigating pedagogic leadership in India, International Development and Inclusive Innovation (IDII) SRA Grant (£2,500), 2016–2018.

PI, Professional development through networking amongst basic school headteachers in Ghana, Ghana, British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) Grant (£4,000), 2014–2016.

Co-PI, 'Enhancing higher education teaching and learning in Bangladesh: Fostering the pedagogical knowledge, teaching skills and research capabilities of early career academics', Bangladesh, British Council as part of the International Strategic Partnerships in Research and Education (Inspire) Project (£36,000), 2014–2016.

Research group

Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) in the Faculty or Wellbeing, Education and language Studies.

Current doctoral candidates

Felicia Boateng – PhD student (2022-date)
Thesis title: Primary School Mathematics Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices of Classroom Communication: Emerging Dialogic Teaching Pedagogies in Ghana.

Jane Stevens – EdD Student (2021-date)
Thesis title: The role of appraisal within the independent school sector in the United Kingdom (UK) - A case study.

Lynne Stabler – EdD Student (2020-date)
Thesis title: Trust in leadership and how that can help strengthen and sustain school improvement.

Fellowship and Membership of learned and professional societies

Chartered Fellow - The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) 
Chartered Fellow - BCS-The Chartered Institute for IT 
Senior Fellow - Advance He (previously Higher Education Academy) 
Member - British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) 
Member - Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM)

My teaching primarily focuses on leadership and management in education. Since 2011, I have co-authored four masters modules: E855 Leading professional practice in education, E856 Educational leadership: context, strategy and collaboration, EE812 Educational leadership: exploring strategy and EE813 MA Ed dissertation: leadership and management. I am also co-author of the popular badged open course (BOC), Succeeding in postgraduate study, a free course designed to offer essential preparation for pursuing masters level study.

I have led the co-design, co-creation and authoring of open educational resources to support large-scale headteacher and teacher professional development in India (TESS India Project) and Ghana (OpenSTEM Africa Project).

I am often invited to panel discussions and as guest speaker on a range of issues that relate to education policy, educational leadership and teacher professional development. Examples of my recent contributions:

Guest speaker at SAGE Campus international online seminar, 7 September 2022. Topic: Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of Misinformation.

Keynote speaker at the Partnership Conference: Exploring Practice, Scholarship and Research, 15 October 2021. Nottingham Trent University. Topic: Living your values through leadership.

Guest Speaker at Pan-India online seminar organised by Adhyayan. Topic: Understanding levers of systems reform in education at scale? 15 December 2020.

Panellist on an online seminar organised by ‘on the Couch with Fola Komolafe (Charity). Topic: The Education Experience- is it a fair playing field for this generation? A webinar event, July 2020.

Plenary presenter- 17 Ways to change the world. Pan Commonwealth Forum (PCF9). Edinburgh, September 2019.

Panellist at Open Impact conference in Kampala- Uganda. Topic: A journey across Africa - Experiences with extending access to higher education, December 2019.

My expertise in educational leadership and policy has contributed to shaping two BBC – OU co-productions. On Don’t Exclude Me, I introduced a focus on how school leaders have dealt with the ‘wicked-problems’ associated with staff development and student exclusion (finalist at the Learning Onscreen Awards 2022). Read my blogpost.
On Project 17, my expertise in educational policy helped shape the dialogue between 17-year-old project-participants and policy-makers (the series reached over millions of listeners worldwide; now available as podcasts on BBC World Service). Read my blogpost.

I have external collaborations with universities and publishers through my external examining, consultancy and editorial duties.

External examining

Nov 2022, University of Sussex, PhD Examiner

Jun 2022, Brunel University, London. PhD Examiner

2021 - Date, Nottingham Trent University (NTU)
MA Education (full and part time); MA Special and Inclusive Education; MA Education Leadership and Management

2013 - 2018, University of Strathclyde- Glasgow
PG Diploma Education; MSc in School Leadership and Management (SQH)

2012 - 2017, UCL Institute of Education
MA Applied Educational Leadership and Management

Editorial duties

Editorial Advisory Board Member, Open University Press

Subject Matter Expert, SAGE Campus

Reviewer, Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning

Reviewer, Management in Education (MIE)

Specialist reviewer, Routledge Education Publications

Reviewer, European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning (EURODL)

I am a signatory to the joint statement on education reform published in the Sunday Times on 10th January 2021 calling for radical reforms and the creation of an education system that nurtures talent and creates opportunity for all. 

I have established international links and collaborations through my research and international development work. Most notably, I worked with the Arab OU Education Faculty (2011-2015) as Academic Reviewer with responsibility for the quality assurance and support for their MEd Instructional Technology, MEd Leadership and Management and BEd programmes.

Other international links

University of Ghana (UG), Ghana. 
Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast (IOE-UCC), Ghana 
Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), University of Cape Coast, Ghana 
Ministry of Education (MOE), Ghana 
Centre for Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS), Ghana 
Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE), Gambia 
Adhyayan, India​​​