Karen Bloyce is the BA(Hons) Children and Young People’s Learning and Development Programme Leader at Edge Hill University. In addition to that role, Karen leads the Office for Students Young Edge Hill Scholars Primary Project for the University focussed on Kirkby and Bootle.

Karen’s work at the University reaches beyond the classroom into leadership and management, employability, project management and bid writing, external engagement and focussed work in the department around student’s mental health. External engagement for the last 3 years has focussed on targeted projects working with primary schools in Kirkby and Bootle raising attainment of children in year 5.

Karen has worked in Education for 20 years as both a Further Education classroom practitioner and a Senior Lecturer in Education in Higher Education.

Karen's main research interests centre around university / school partnerships in raising attainment, motivation, aspiration and attainment in children, university students as peer mentors in university and schools, and undergraduate student mental health.

Karen leads the employability and work based learning strand of the programme. Her teaching, at all levels, revolves around the practice based element of the programme and preparing students for placement, developing professional skills and a professional identity. External engagement underpins the teaching, employability strand of the programme and wider student experiences that the programme is able to offer.

Karen works with a number of agencies, including Kirkby Collaborative, Bootle cluster of Primary Schools, Ormskirk Primary cluster as well as local Museums and Galleries.

Karen is delivering the school dimension of the Historic England (2020) funded “Once Upon a Town” focussed on the history of Ormskirk over the last 100 years and looking 100 years into the future. Working across 4 Primary Schools in Ormskirk.  

As part of her role at Edge Hill University, Karen works with a variety of schools supporting raising attainment and delivers CPD focussed on motivation, aspiration and attainment in children and bid writing and partner engagement.