Professor David Hyatt

BA, Cert Ed, MEd (TEFL), PhD

School of Education

Director for Postgraduate Research Students

Faculty Deputy Director of Teaching Excellence

Professor of Higher Education Pedagogy

Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE)

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

David Hyatt
Profile picture of David Hyatt
d.hyatt@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 8126

Full contact details

Professor David Hyatt
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
Research interests

My interests have a focus on pedagogy, particularly in a higher education context. As a result, my research currently centres around three major interlinked research areas of interest:

  • Doctoral Pedagogies
  • Higher Education Policy and Pedagogies
  • The Impact of Language on Educational Processes.

1. Doctoral Pedagogies

My current scholarship in this work focuses on decentred approaches to doctoral pedagogy, seeking to reconfigure the relationships between supervisors and doctoral candidates. It advocates supervisory practices which support students in becoming members of the academic discourse community, through a process of critical inclusion, through mirroring the authentic activities, repertoires and attributes of practicing academics. This work has been widely disseminated nationally and internationally and has contributed to the development of the field through several conference presentations (from 2015-2019) and publications (Hyatt 2017a, 2017b, 2020 [forthcoming]). This scholarship has impacted significantly on my directorship and teaching of the EdD programme, encompasses a pedagogical initiative, concerned with decentring power relations in doctoral teaching.

2. Higher Education Policy and Pedagogies

My research interests in this area have developed from a focus largely around International English Language education to a wider and ongoing focus on policy and pedagogy, particularly in a higher education context. This has also involved a critical engagement with theoretical aspects of discourse analysis. My work has contributed to the advancement of analytical frameworks in the field as evidenced in my publications Hyatt (2005c, 2013b 2013c,2019).

My current research writing, also linking with my directorship and teaching on the EdD, encompasses a pedagogical initiative, concerned with decentring power relations in doctoral teaching and methodologically involving the analysis of educational policy documents. My contribution to this field, therefore, lies in the synthesis of a well-established theoretical methodology with practical pedagogical & research contexts e.g. Hyatt, D. (2013b). This builds on my previous published works in the analysis of discourse (Hyatt, 2006, Hyatt, 2005b, Hyatt 2005c), drawing on previous work on policy analysis (Hyatt 2007) and offered an innovative framework for the field, including my own publications (Hyatt 2013b, Hyatt 2015).

As an active and researcher and teacher in higher education, with a central interest in teaching, learning and assessment my interests encompass approaches and issues in academic literacies, particularly in terms of feedback at postgraduate level (Hyatt 2005a, Hyatt 2004a), research disseminated through both publication and professional development seminars. Other work on self-assessment produced DVD-based teaching resources. Earlier work included a funded IELTS project (Hyatt 2008, Hyatt, D. 2013a) looking at stakeholders perceptions of appropriate entry levels for HE, and a bid for research into the experiences of doctoral students in relation to entry-level English language proficiency. This scholarship work has also being operationalized in my current work mentoring staff on teaching specialist contracts to support the development of their learning and teaching scholarship.

3. The Impact of Language on Educational Processes

My major research activity in this area is nested in the on-going applied and collaborative work begun through the Arts and Humanities Research Council Connected Communities funded ‘Language as Talisman’ project, where project team worked in schools and youth centres to co-produce materials with young people about language and its power. My aspect of this project involved working with two Rotherham primary schools with children on accent/dialect and achievement.

My work in academic literacies has had an impact on School and departmental assessment and feedback procedures. This work has been disseminated through professional development seminars and publication (Hyatt, 2013a). Historically this drew on my engagement with pedagogical issues around learning at a distance (including my development of innovative DL teaching materials and processes), and through my work on two funded research sponsored by learndirect (Ufi Ltd) which sought to consider the learning of English by adult speakers of other languages under the Government initiatives on Skills for Life and ICT. This work has also had an institutional impact through my chairing of a faculty task and finish group on English language support in 2019.

Funded Research Projects

  • Language as Talisman - Funded by the AHRC’s Connected Communities programme and ran from February – November 2012
  • Investigating stakeholders perceptions of IELTS as an entry requirement for higher education in the UK; funded by British Council/Cambridge ESOL/IDP:IELTS Australia. March 2007- March 2008.
  • Evaluation of Auralog E-learning English Language Package for learndirect (with Sue Webb, Toni Ibarz and Phil Logan); funded by UfI / learndirect. February 2003-March 2004.
  • Evaluation of ELLIS E-learning English Language Package for learndirect (with Sue Webb, Toni Ibarz, Pam Cole and Anita Franklin); funded by UfI / learndirect. March 2001 – December 2001.
Publications

Edited books

  • Hyatt D, Nutbrown C & Clough P (Eds.) () Informing Educational Change: Research Voices from Malta. Sheffield:. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download

Journal articles

Chapters

  • Kay L, Marsh J, Hyatt D, Chesworth L, Nisha B, Nutbrown B & Olney B (2019) Assessment of learning in STEAM-focused makerspaces, Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity (pp. 132-147). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hyatt D & Meraud J (2018) Teacher education in France under the Hollande government: reconstructing and reinforcing the republic, The Journal of Education for Teaching at 40 (pp. 243-259). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hyatt D (2017) Developing critical repertoires in doctoral students: a decentred approach In Hutchinson S & Guccione K (Ed.), 53 Ways to Enhance Researcher Development RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hyatt D, Escott H & Pahl K (2017) Culture Clashes – response to how teachers should respond to non-standard English In Bibby T, Lupton R & Raffo C (Ed.), Responding to Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools A Reader for Teachers Palgrave Macmillan RIS download Bibtex download
  • Davies F, Forey G & Hyatt D (2014) Exploring aspects of context: Selected findings from the Effective Writing for Management project, Writing Business: Genres, Media and Discourses (pp. 293-312). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hyatt D (2013) The Critical Higher Education Policy Discourse Analysis Framework In Huisman J & Tight M (Ed.), Theory and Method in Higher Education Research RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hyatt DF (2007) Applying a Critical Systemic-Functional Literacy Frame in a UK Secondary Education Context, Advances in Language and Education (pp. 125-141). RIS download Bibtex download

Conference proceedings papers

  • Hyatt D & Santos J (2022) An Input-Output Model to Determine the Operability and Economic Impacts of IT on Interdependent Industries. 2022 Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium (SIEDS), 28 April 2022 - 29 April 2022. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hyatt D (2010) TENSIONS BETWEEN SETTING-STANDARDS AND THE NEED TO RECRUIT: AN INVESTIGATION INTO STAKEHOLDERS' PERCEPTIONS OF A MAJOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE-TESTING SYSTEM AS AN ENTRY REQUIREMENT FOR UK HIGHER EDUCATION. 3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (ICERI2010) (pp 3327-3327) RIS download Bibtex download

Datasets

Research group

#supervisionaries - stories of brilliant doctoral supervision

David was my master's supervisor and now my EDd tutor. He is knowledgeable in the domain of my research interest and even if what I was researching is not his interest, he would always provide critical feedback on my work that prompts me to move in the right direction of my research. David gives candid feedback but puts it most professionally. He was patient and supportive when I expressed my insecurities regarding the completion of my studies but will always remain firm to correct me whenever he needs to. To me that makes him a great supervisor!

Teaching activities

David is the Director of Learning and Teaching for the School of Education. He also sits on the School’s Executive Committee and has led the school’s response to both the Teaching Excellence Framework, the implementation of the Programme Level Approach, and the school’s employability strategy.

As Faculty Deputy Director, he mentors staff on teaching specialist contracts to support the development of their learning and teaching scholarship, and chaired a faculty task and finish group on English language support in 2019.

David directs, Part 2 (Thesis Stage) of the EdD programme (from Feb 2015). He is also the Director of the Malta distance-learning programme and of the EdD Language Learning and Teaching. He was the School Ethical Review Board from 2016 – 2019 and has directed the He was previously Director of the MA in Education Policy and Practice and the Director of the MEd English Language Teaching.

He also makes a teaching contribution to the full-time MA and the BA programmes. He currently supervises 11 doctoral students and has supervised 23 doctoral students to successful completion. He has also acted as internal or external examiner for 39 doctoral theses. David has contributed substantially in senior roles to the areas of learning, teaching and assessment at the School of Education, and for six years, was Deputy Director of Learning and Teaching, leading on the area of teaching quality.

David was involved in the establishment of the Elevate academic mentoring programme for learning and teaching, and has acted as a mentor on that programme since 2017.

Professional activities and memberships
  • Deputy Editor for the Journal of Education for Teaching, a member of the Editorial Review Board for 3 journals, Academic Reviewer for 14 peer reviewed journals and one book series.
  • Awarded the Senate Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (Sustained Excellence category) in June 2010.
  • Exceptional Contribution Award, University of Sheffield (Jan 2007) for innovative development of teaching materials using new technologies.
  • External Examiner: MA Education International; MA Teach First Leadership; MA Education General and Urban; School of Education, University of Manchester.
  • External Examiner MEd Educational Studies, School of Education, University of Glasgow
  • David was a Consultant to the Applied Educational Research Centre at the University of Strathclyde for development of MSc Applied Educational Research and a Consultant to University of Buckingham, English Language Studies for Course Development;
  • David is a member of the Editorial Review Board for 3 journals, Academic Reviewer for 14 peer-reviewed journals and one book series
  • He has presented 43 papers at international conferences and published 6 book chapters, 10 refereed journal articles, 3 refereed conference papers, 3 research reports and 4 end-user related publications.