I have a first degree in Language and Linguistic Science. Following graduation I completed a PGCE and entered into the primary teaching profession. During my career in mainstream primary schools in the North-East of England I specialised in early years teaching, with a particular interest in forest school and outdoor learning. I completed a Masters in Education in 2011 and, following that, began teaching on the North Tyneside School Centered Initial Teacher Training programme. I joined ֲýƵ as a Senior Lecturer in 2016, I have led the BA (Hons) Primary Education programme, and currently lead PGCE School Direct. I was awarded a PhD in the field of education in 2024, which explored the ethos and practice of forest school from a posthuman perspective.
My overarching research interests are forest school, outdoor education, PSHE education and child language development in the context of early years education. My doctorate researched the impact of regular outdoor sessions (specifically, forest school) upon young children.
A book based on my doctoral research entitled 'Theorising the Quiet Power of Forest School' was published by Routledge, Jan 2026.
- Meeting in the Forest: Education in a Posthuman Era, Hume, J. 17 Dec 2022, In: Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry
- Hearing Children’s Voices in the Forest, Hume, J. 9 Jun 2023, Establishing Child Centred Practice in a Changing World, Bingley, Emerald Publishing
- Generating new meanings within a known landscape: Subjective map-making in an urban forest school, Hume, J. 1 Aug 2024
- The ‘more-than-digital’ scrapmap: exploring the generative possibilities of digital data (from nature entanglement via digital abstraction to material artefact), Hume, J. 18 May 2023, 6th European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry Qualitative Inquiry in the Anthropocene: Affirmative and generative possibilities for (Post)Anthropocentric futures , Portsmouth, University of Portsmouth
- Theorising the Quiet Power of Forest School: A Posthuman Framing of Regular, Repeated, Unstructured Practice in Nature, Hume, J. 22 Jan 2026
- Invited talk: Post Humanism in the Woods: With Dr Jo Hume 2025
- Invited talk: Humanist and Post-Humanist Perspectives within Forest School Education. 2025
- Invited talk: What’s so special about Forest School? Exploring practice within a new materialist/posthuman paradigm 2025
- Oral presentation: The secret diary of laptops: tethers that bind us to the precariousness of academia or ubiquitous epistemic objects in a posthuman story of hope and playfulness? 2025
- PhD May 23 2024
- Education MEd May 30 2011
- Linguistics BA (Hons) July 31 1991
- Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2017
- Qualified Teacher General Teaching Council (GTC) 1992
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