Rania Hafez

Rania Hafez BSc, PGCE, MSc

Associate Professor of Education and Society

Rania has a long-established career in academia spanning over 30 years, starting in further education in 1991, moving on to higher education in 2004, and including over 18 years in educational leadership and management in both FE and HE. Currently leading the MA Education at the University of Greenwich, Rania also co-chairs Trentham Publications and the London Learning & Skills Research Network (LLSRN), and was previously non-executive Director at the Institute for Learning, and Director of Post Compulsory Education and training at the University of East London.

Posts held previously:

  • Director of Post Compulsory Education and Training at the University of East London
  • Non-Executive Director of the Institute for Learning (IfL)
  • Past Chair, Standing Committee for the Education & Training of Teachers (SCETT)

Education studies

Responsibilities within the university
  • Programme leader for MA Education

Recognition
  • Co-chair, London Learning and Skills Research Network
  • Co-chair, Trentham Publications
  • Founder of Muslim Women in Education
  • Fellow of the Muslim Institute
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Research Fellow, University of Derby
  • Member of the corporation, Newham Sixth Form Centre (NewVIc).
  • Non-Executive Director and Fellow of the Institute for Learning
  • Member of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain
  • Chair Standing Committee for the Education and Training of Teachers (SCETT), 2012-13
  • Vice-Chair Universities' Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET), 2008-11
  • Editorial Board member: Post-16 Educator

Research / Scholarly interests

Rania’s background is in the social sciences, specifically sociology and social policy. She has researched and published on teacher professionalism, decolonising leadership in education, the school curriculum, and Islam and education. In 2008 Rania founded 'Muslim Women in Education', a professional network for educationalists and researchers.

Media activity

In addition to her academic work Rania is a regular political and cultural commentator whose media credits include the BBC, Channel 4, Levant TV, and the Islam Channel.

Recent publications
  • Hafez, R., American Universities in Beirut: a historical sociological analysis of elite universities in Lebanon and the Middle East (working title), in Kim, T, & Choi, E. (eds) Public contributions of private higher education institutions: A comparative understanding and future prospects (forthcoming), Routledge
  • Hafez, R., Dancing on the Fault-Lines: A Lebanese Childhood, in Kassem, D., Murphy, L., and Taylor, E., (forthcoming) Key Issues in Childhood and Youth Studies, Taylor and Francis
  • Hafez, R. (2021) ‘Religious Education’ in Standish, A. & Sehgal-Cuthbert, A. (eds) What Should Schools Teach? Disciplines, subjects, and the pursuit of truth, UCL IOE Press
  • Hafez, R. (2020) ‘Unlearning Prospero’s language: Decolonizing leadership in Further Education’ in Daley, M., Orr, K., and Petrie, J. (eds) Caliban's Dance: FE after The Tempest, UCL IOE Press
  • Smith, J. A. & Hafez, R. (2017) ‘Rethinking the Concept of Social Construction from a Complexity Perspective’ International Journal of Multidisciplinary Comparative Studies, Volume 4 Nos. 1-3, 2017, pp.6—22
  • Hafez, R. (2017) ‘Inside the Trojan horse: Educating teachers for leadership’ in Daley, M., Orr, K., and Petrie, J. (eds) The Principal: Power & Professionalism in FE, IOE Press
  • Hafez, R. (2017) ‘Professionalism without autonomy’ in Hayes, D. and Marshall, T. (Eds.) The Role of the Teacher Today. Worcester: SCETT
  • Hafez, R. (2016) ‘Faith in the Academy’ (2016) in Hudson, C. & Williams, J. (eds) Why Academic Freedom Matters, Civitas
  • Hafez, R. (2015) ‘Beyond the Metaphor: Time to take Over the Castle’ in Daley, M., Orr, K., and Petrie, J. (eds) Further Education and the Twelve Dancing Princesses, IOE Press
  • Hafez, R. (2014) Playing on the Boundaries: A Childhood across Cultural and Geographical Lines, in Childhood in the Past, 7(2), pp.117-132
  • Hafez, R. (2011) ‘Who will defend teacher education?’ in Hayes, D. (Ed.) In Defence of Teacher Education. Worcester: SCETT

Presentations
  • Hafez, R. (2015) ‘Time to Imagine the Unimaginable’, FE News
  • Hafez, R. (2011) ‘Islamic philosophy of education’, conference paper, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, Annual Conference, New College, University of Oxford, 1 April 2011
  • Hafez, R. (2010) ‘Islamophobia: why we have to get over our fears’, The Independent,7 November 2011
  • Hafez, R. (2010) ‘An Islamic Education for All?’  The Independent, 23 November 2010
  • Hafez, R. (2009) ‘Making teachers: the pedagogy of pedagogy’, conference paper, UCET annual conference, Hinckley, 9 November 2009
  • Hafez, R. et al. (2008) CPD for teachers in post-compulsory education. Occasional Paper 18, UCET
  • Hafez, R. and Holloway, D. (2008) ‘Reforming further education teacher training: a policy communities and policy networks analysis’, conference paper. UCET Annual Conference, Birmingham, 8 November 2008
  • Hafez, R. and Weiss, N.  (2006) ‘Personal Tutoring to Develop Professionalism in Trainee Teachers: a Case Study from the University of East London’s PGCE (PCET) course’, published in Critical Reflections and Positive Interventions: An Electronic Casebook of Good Practice in Personal Tutoring. York: HEA
  • Hafez, R. (2006) ‘Will Cinderella get to the ball? A look at the potential impact of the FE White Paper’, Post-16 Educator, issue 34 (July-August 2006)