Dr Charmaine Brown EdD, QTLS, MSc, CeLTT, Cert.Ed., BA Hons

Dr Charmaine Brown joined the University in 2002 as a Lecturer in the School of Education on the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), distance learning, part-time and full-time programmes. She is an ESOL/Literacy subject specialist.

In 2007, she became Senior Lecturer in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and delivers Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes across three academic framework pathways: The Professional Certificate in Education (PCE, Level 5), The Professional Graduate (ProfGCE, Level 6) and Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE, Level 7). She obtained her Literacy subject specialist teaching qualification in 2007 and the Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status conferring Fellowship status of the Institute for Learning (IfL) in 2011, as part of the Professionalisation Agenda policies sweeping Further Education and the context for her Professional Doctorate in Education. Since March 2021, as part of her external role for the Society for Education and Training (SET) she has been appointed QTLS reviewer.

Charmaine is committed to widening participation initiatives in Further and Higher Education. Her teaching career started in the 1980s and has developed in a variety of strategic roles in Initial Teacher Education, Education Management and Consultancy and participation in national UCU educational campaigns for FE. Charmaine has teaching and professional qualifications linked to each of her subject specialisms: French, Spanish, Politics, Economics, English, digital literacy, Adult Literacy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).  Her teaching career in Further Education spans over 30 years, a substantial part spent in Adult Community Learning (ACL).

Gentrification and Heritage is the topic of her keynote speech for the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) in Autumn 2023. Since 2014, she has facilitated lectures on ‘Gentrification of Peckham and Black Urban removal’, for Black History Walks, Wellcome Collection, Peckham Heritage Society, University Arts London, and community organisations. Charmaine’s expertise in this area has gained her local, national, and international recognition on this contested topic.  She has contributed articles for community publication CB-SE15 (2019) and Southwark News (2022); participated in BBC Radio 4 ‘Thinking Allowed’ podcast (2022) and contributed to the Peckham Heritage Society publication (2023). Her external research showcases her commitment to community activism and empowerment of marginalised communities, providing frameworks for them to challenge themselves and develop their own innovative practices to enhance their communities.

Her transferable managerial and pedagogical skills are further applied in the legal field. Since 2002, she has been a Judicial Office Holder (JOH) appointed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), England and Wales as a panellist to Employment Tribunal (TUC) and from 2017 to the First Tier Social Security Tribunal (DQPM).  In 2020, she was further appointed to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (DQPM).  She also serves as an Equality Assessor to the County Courts and engages in mandatory CPD annually for all legal jurisdictions related to her JOH roles.

Posts held previously

• 2020 ITE, Senior Lecturer in PGCE/PCE & FE&SS  and  ESOL/Literacy subject specialist diploma
• 2019 ITE, Senior Lecturer in PGCE/PCE & FE&SS
• 2015 - 2019 Programme Leader BA Mathematics Education/BA Language & Literacy Education 2yr accelerated degrees
• 2009 - 2015 Link tutor for network colleges