Key details
Professor Stephen Corbett
Deputy Dean and Professor of Professional Development and Learning
Professor Corbett joined the Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences as Deputy Dean in 2025.
Prior to joining Greenwich, Stephen was Interim Executive Dean for Humanities & Social Sciences at the University of Portsmouth (2023-2025) and before this Head of School for Education, Languages and Linguistics (2017-2023) during which time he also established the institution's Centre for Continuing Professional Development.
His career in education began in the further education sector, where he supported students with special educational needs and disabilities. He then trained as a Teacher in Accounting and Business and later progressed into leadership roles. After over a decade in the further education sector he transitioned from his college leadership role to leading a university collaborative network of further education initial teacher education providers over six campuses. This provision he later developed into an externally funded national programme which retrained military personnel to become qualified further education teachers. In recognition of his work across both Further and Higher Education sectors, Stephen was awarded an Advance HE National Teaching Fellowship in 2020.
Stephen’s influence extends beyond his university role. He drafted the Professional Standards for Further Education Leaders in England as well as being national lead for multiple national training programmes for the further education and skills sector funded by bodies such as the Education and Training Foundation. These include initiatives on wellbeing, digital pedagogy, and leadership development, impacting thousands of educators across England.
Internationally, Stephen serves as Special Advisor to the Minister for Education in Uzbekistan, supporting national curriculum reform and professional standards development. He has led bespoke teacher development programmes in Uzbekistan, China, and Panama, and held an Honorary Associate Professorship at the University of Hong Kong, where he designed a mentor development programme for faculty leaders.
Responsibilities within the university
As Deputy Dean, Stephen works with the Pro-Vice Chancellor to provide leadership to the Faculty of Education, Health and Humanities. He plays a lead role in the delivery of the faculty and university strategic priorities.
Stephen has wide ranging responsibilities which include:
- Leading the Heads of School to enable the school to form and implement their strategic plans.
- Lead the faculty’s partnership and international strategic priorities
- Lead the development of continuing professional development programmes offered by the Faculty
- The development of the faculty’s culture and support the development of high-performance teams
- Fostering a collegiate and inclusive working environment for staff and students.
Awards
- Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Authority
- National Teaching Fellow
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority
- Fellow of the Higher Education Authority
Recognition
- NHS Trust Board Member
- Special Advisor to Minster for Pre-School and School Education, Uzbekistan
- Member of Duolingo English Test UK Advisory Group
- Honorary Associate Professor, The University of Hong Kong
- Chair of Governors for Primary Multi-Academy Trust
- Governor for Further Education College
Research / Scholarly interests
Stephen's early research focused on the development of leaders in education, culminating in him authoring England's first set of Professional Standards for Further Education Leaders in England, published by the Education and Training Foundation.
His research has expanded to focus on enhancing education through better opportunities for the entire education workforce. He has led a range of multidisciplinary and international projects aimed to enable high-quality education environments, with particular reference to training, development and well-being. His research and the projects led have been funded by multiple public and private sector bodies.
Key funded projects
Externally Funded Projects
- Inclusive Leadership Training Programme
- Developing Senior Leader Programme
- New to Senior Leadership Programme
- International Teacher Development Programme
- Developing Professional Standards for Leaders in Further Education, England
- Further Forces Programme, England
- Study Programmes Teacher Development.
Media activity
- Corbett, S. Interviewed by. Engaging the Public in Academic Research. Voice of Islam Radio Breakfast Show (12 July 2024)
- Corbett, S. Interviewed by. Challenges for Teachers in the United Kingdom. Voice of Islam Radio Breakfast Show (20 May 2024)
- Corbett, S. Interviewed by Sam Fraser. Have Dinner on Us: Free meals for University Students. BBC Radio Solent (5 June 2023)
- Corbett, S. Interviewed by Hemrajani, S. The Art of Learning Podcast. The challenges of delivering high-quality education in a fluid world. (19 February 2021)
- Corbett, S. Interviewed by Miðskarð, J. Research in Leadership in Schools, Early Childhood Settings and Social Care Settings. (27 August 2018)
- Corbett, S. Interviewed by Goddard, R. ABC Radio Hobart Breakfast Show. (29 June 2018).
Recent publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Bezuidenhout, A., Johnston, K., & Corbett, S. (2025). Sustainable management of stress, work–life balance and well-being in the vocational education and training sector. Public Money and Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2025.2490711
- Johnston, K., Corbett, S., Bezuidenhout, A., Van Zyl, D., & Pasamar, S. (2023). Gender differences in work-life conflict during Covid? A research agenda for work-life conflict post-pandemic. Research in Post-Compulsory Education: Special Issue. 28(2), 207-225
- Corbett, S., Johnston, K. & Bezuidenhout, A. (2023). FE workforce wellbeing: Did Covid actually change anything? Educational Management Administration & Leadership. doi.org/10.1177/17411432231153290
- Corbett, S., & Johnston, K., (2023) Neo-androgynous management: managerial competencies to navigate further education neoliberalism? Journal of Education and Work. doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2023.2213172
- Corbett, S. (2022). The Ladder of Competencies for Education Middle Managers. International Journal of Training and Development. 27(1), 177-134
- Corbett, S. (2021). Developing contextualised literature-Informed competency frameworks for middle managers in education. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. doi.org/10.1177/17411432211043873
- Corbett, S. (2020). Establishing professional expectations in further education middle management: the human resource manager’s perspective. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. 50(6), 911-927
- Brown, C., Zhang, D., Xu, N., Corbett, S. (2018). Exploring the impact of social relationships on teachers’ use of research: A regression analysis of 389 teachers in England. International Journal of Educational Research. 89, 36-46.
- Corbett, S. (2017). From teacher to manager: expectations and challenge in the further education sector. A relationship model. Research in Post-Compulsory Education. 22(2), 208-220.
Books
- Corbett, S. (2024). Education Workforce Wellbeing: Policy, Change and Leadership. Emerald Publishing
Articles in Practitioner Publications
- Corbett, S. (2024, Apr). Policy Makers need to focus strategies on teacher well-being not recruitment Public Sector Focus
- Corbett, S. (Apr, 2024). Creating a culture of positive wellbeing in the Further Education sector ETF Blog
- Corbett, S. (2024, Mar). Teacher apprenticeships may encourage more people into the profession – but greater change is needed to get them to stay. The Conversation
- Corbett, S. (2023, Mar). From Level 2 Apprentice to Senior Leader: Mo’s Story ETF Blog
- Corbett, S. (2023, Feb). Why Don't People Want to Teach Anymore? Public Sector Focus
- Corbett, S. (2022, Dec). How to prepare for senior leadership: Read books or do the job? FE News
- Corbett, S. (2022, Dec). Teacher recruitment target missed in England – why people don’t want to enter or stay in the profession. The Conversation
- Corbett, S. (2022, Oct). Is middle management for me? ETF Blog
- Corbett, S. (2022, Aug). Too often, Further Education is setting its future leaders up to fail. FE Week
- Corbett, S., Johnston, K., & Bezuidenhout, A. (2022, March). Addressing FE Workforce Wellbeing. Technical Community of Practice
- Corbett, S. (2022, Feb). Is the TEF Useful or Just Another Quality Audits for FE? FE Week
- Corbett, S. (2021, Dec). Strategies for recruiting world class technical teachers. Intuition
- Corbett, S. (2021, Feb). Research into FE staff wellbeing is now more important than ever. FE Week
- Corbett, S. (2018, June). No, mobile phones should not be banned in UK schools. The Conversation
- Corbett, S. (2017, Oct). Managing in FE: Helping the Further Education Middle Manager. The Chartered Management Institute (print only)
- Corbett, S. (2017, Sept). Reaching the squeezed middle. FE Week (print only).
Presentations
- Corbett, S, (2025, May) English Language Testing. DET Annual Conference
- Corbett, S, (2024, Sept) Building a Culture of Mentoring. University College Dublin (Keynote speaker)
- Corbett, S, (2024, Aug) Building TNE Partnerships in Uzbekistan. Quality Assurance Agency (Invited speaker)
- Corbett, S, (2023, Nov) VET Teacher Well-Being. Vocational Education & Training Development Centre, Australia (Keynote Speaker).
- Corbett, S, (2023, April) Workforce wellbeing in Education. The University of Hong Kong (Keynote Speaker)
- Corbett, S. (2022, July) Research-informed FE leadership: A call to action. Association for Research in Post Compulsory Education. University of Oxford. (Conference)
- Corbett, S., Johnston, K & Bezuidenhout, A. (2022, July). FE Workforce Wellbeing. Association for Research in Post Compulsory Education. University of Oxford. (Conference)
- Corbett, S. (2022, July) Professional Standards in Educational Leadership. Jersey Department for Education (Invited Speaker)
- Corbett, S. (2022, June) Pedagogy, Practice, and Professionalism. Education & Training Foundation (Conference Chair)
- Corbett, S. (2022, March) Technology, Teaching and T-Shaped Learning. Online (Conference Chair)
- Corbett, S. (2022, March) Professional standards in further education leadership: developing expectations and providing support. BELMAS Post 16 Research Interest Group. Online (Invited Speaker)
- Corbett, S. (2021, April) Becoming reflective in teaching. University of Salzburg (Invited Speaker)
- Corbett, S. (2021, Feb) National technical teacher recruitment conference. Online (Conference Chair)
- Corbett, S. (2021, July) Gender and management in education: an augmentation to critical mass theory. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society. Online. (Conference)
- Corbett, S., Mather, D., Park, J. (2020, July) Transitioning into further education teaching. Association for Research in Post Compulsory Education. University of Oxford (Conference cancelled)
- Corbett, S. (2020, July) Further education middle management: is it time for a little professionalism? Association for Research in Post Compulsory Education. University of Oxford (Conference cancelled)
- Corbett, S. (2020, Feb) A blended learning approach to initial teacher training. Education & Training Foundation Further Forces Conference. London (Conference)
- Corbett, S. (2019, Sept) Successful middle management: a competency framework for further education middle managers. British Education Research Association. University of Manchester (Conference)
- Corbett, S. (2019, June) Successful further education middle management: a contextualised competency framework. University Forum for Human Resource Development. Nottingham Trent University (Conference)
- Corbett, S. (2018, July) A literature informed competency framework for curriculum middle managers in post compulsory education. Association for Research in Post Compulsory Education. University of Oxford (Conference)
- Corbett, S. (2016, Nov) A New Initial Assessment Tool for Further Education. University Council for the Education of Teachers. Birmingham (Conference).