A public health pedagogy: working towards educational leadership

Achieving educational leadership can be challenging for an early career academic [ECA]. Leadership is also subjective, relating to the educational philosophy of the lecturer, and the needs of students. Leithwood (2005) states that “the core of most definitions of leadership are two functions generally considered indispensable to its meaning: setting directions and exercising influence”. Both attributes are highly related to the ECA role.Educational leadership involves “demonstrating commitment to a core set of values” and “overcoming complex challenges” (School of Education, 2023). As a civic university, Hull’s civic values, embedded in the 2030 strategy of “People” and “Place”, has led me to consider my own teaching philosophy. Hull is a city affected by multiple deprivations, with the university aiming to tackle inequality, and meet regional health needs through education. This is a particularly important focus, given that inequality of wealth is on the rise (Kerr and Vaughan, 2024). In this blog, I reflect on how this influenced my curriculum development and developed my own educational leadership.