Victoria Kinsella
Senior Research Fellow in Creativities
School of Education and Social Work
- Email:
- Victoria.Kinsella@bcu.ac.uk
Dr. Victoria Kinsella has researched widely in the fields of the arts education and creativity, in particular music and visual arts. She has worked on a number of creative arts research projects in various contexts including schools, prisons, galleries, arts centres and with educational agencies. Victoria is recognised for her work on creativity and has presented her work internationally. She is currently BERA creativities co-convenor, a strategic board member for arts connect and a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Victoria is a Birmingham City University STEAM Fellow and working with STEAMHouse on exploring STEAM education across education phases.
Victoria studied Fine Art Sculpture (BA, MA) and her PGCE in Art and Design Secondary Education before obtaining her PhD in Education from Birmingham City University. Her thesis addressed the loss of creativity in Secondary Key Stage Three Art and Design Education in England.
Current Activity
Victoria has acted as lead and co-investigator on a number of research projects.
Current on-going projects include:
- MEHEM UpRising! funded by MEHEM and Youth Music – Principle Investigator
- Birmingham City University STEAM Fellowship - Principle Investigator
- Inspiring Sounds funded by Services for Education – Co-Investigator
- Listen Imagine Compose Primary funded by Paul Hamlyn – C- Investigator
- Assessment in music education. Exploring teachers approaches to music assessment in the UK and Singapore
External completed projects include:
- Youth Music: Exchanging Notes. 4-year longitudinal research
- The One Handed Musical Instrument Trust: research into teaching and learning in Birmingham and Surrey
- BCMG Music Maze: Research into programme on composing with Primary aged children at Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
- Go Compose with Sound and Music
- Birmingham Music Service: Assessment in WCET in B’ham schools and Musical Inclusion
- Croydon Music Hub: The implications of WCET transferred to secondary schools in Croydon
- Trinity College London: Sounds of Intent Accreditation
- Wider Opportunities Research. Funded by Music Mark (Co-investigator)
- UCET scholarship. Developing educational resilience in Youth from Underserved Communities through engagement in community based Arts education. Collaboration with Tufts University, Boston. (Principle Investigator)
- Koestler Arts Gateway Mentoring Evaluation. Funded by the Koestler trust (Co-investigator)
- Stringcredibles. Funded by the Arts Council (Co-investigator)
- Musicmaze. Funded by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (Co-investigator)
- Imagine Compose. Funded by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (Co-investigator)
- Listen Imagine Compose. Funded by Esmée Fairburn (Co-investigator)
- Saatchi Gallery Art Prize for Schools Evaluation. Funded by Deutsche bank (Principle investigator)
- Resolution. Funded by The Wellcome Trust (Co-investigator)
Areas of Expertise
- Creativity
- Arts Education
- Socio-cultural activity theory
- Post-qualitative methodologies
- STEAM Education
Qualifications
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
- PhD Birmingham City University 2014
- PGCE Secondary Art and Design Education. Birmingham City University 2009
- MA Fine Art Sculpture. Central St Martins School of Art 2008
- BA (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture (1st Class). Loughborough University 2006
Memberships
- Member of the British Education Research Association (BERA) and Creativities SIG Co-convener
- European association for music in schools (EAS)
Teaching
Victoria currently teaches on a number of postgraduate programs including:
- Doctorate in Education
- Masters in Teaching and Learning
Research
- Creativity
- Arts Education
- Socio-cultural activity theory
- Post-qualitative methodologies
- STEAM Education
Postgraduate Supervision
Victoria has seen 5 students through to completion (3 PhD’s and 2 EdD’s) and has acted as external examiner for one PhD candidate in 2020.
Victoria currently supervises 9 doctoral students in the areas of art and design education, music education, creative writing, assessment in music education, composing in music education, drama education, teacher identity, ethics and posthuman methodologies.
Publications
Articles
Kinsella, V. and Thorpe, V. (2020) Re-thinking accountability measures for secondary school arts in England: lessons we could learn from New Zealand. Arts Education Policy Review.
Thorpe, V. and Kinsella, V. (2020) Flying under the radar: Secondary school arts teachers’ experiences of practice autonomy in England and New Zealand. Journal of Curriculum Studies.
Fautley, M., Kinsella, V. and Whittaker, A. (2019) Models of teaching and learning identified in Whole Class Ensemble Tuition. British Journal of Music Education 36,3.
Kinsella, V. (2017) The use of Activity Theory as a methodology for developing creativity within the art and design classroom. International Journal of Art and Design Education.
Books
Kinsella, V., and Fautley, M. (2017) Creativity get it right in a week! Chester: Learning Matters.
Other Publications
Kinsella, V., Fautley, M., and Gray, S. (2018) Musical Inclusion. Birmingham, Services for Education & Birmingham City University.
Book Chapters:
Kinsella, V. and Fautley, M. (2020) Giving Value to Musical Creativity. In Finney, J. Philpott, C. and Spruce, G. (2020) Creative and Critical Projects in Classroom Music Fifty Years of Sound and Silence: Routledge.
Kinsella, V. and Fautley, M. (2019) Partnership work in music education for children with disabilities – an English case study. European Perspectives on Music Education. EAS publications, Heilbling, Innsbruck, Austria
Kinsella, V. (2019) Transforming creative classroom contradictions through activity theory analysis. In Davis, S., DeBruin, L. Burnard, P., Snepvangers, K. and Thomson, P. (2018) Creativities in Education: Local and Global Visions.
Kinsella, V., Fautley, M. and Evans, N. (2018). Musician-Teacher collaborations in composing contemporary music in secondary schools. In Christophersen and Kenny (2018) Musician-Teacher collaborations in Educational Contexts.
Kinsella, V., and Fautley, M. (2016). The use of Activity Theory as an analytical tool for the music learning processes. In Bugos, J (Ed) Contemporary Research in Music Learning Across the Lifespan. New York: Routledge
Kinsella, V., and Fautley, M. (2016). The use of Activity Theory as an analytical tool for the music learning processes. In Bugos, J (Ed) Contemporary Research in Music Learning Across the Lifespan. New York: Routledge
Fautley, M. & Kinsella, V. (2015) Bloom’s Taxonomy and higher order thinking. IN Natassa Economidou Stavrou & Mary Stakelum (Eds) Every Learner Counts: Democracy and Inclusion in Music Education. Volume 4 of European Perspectives on Music Education. EAS publications, Heilbling, Innsbruck, Austria
Addison, N., Burgess, L., Kinsella. V. and Kenning, D. (2014) 'Learning in art and design education' in Addison, N. and Burgess, L. (Eds.) Learning to teach art and design in the secondary school (3rd Edition) London: Routledge/Falmer.
Evaluation Reports
Go Compose (2020) Professor Martin Fautley, Dr Anthony Anderson, Dr Victoria Kinsella, Dr Kirsty Devaney and Dr Adam Whittaker. For Sound and Music.
Exchanging Notes (2019) Dr Victoria Kinsella, Professor Martin Fautley and Dr Adam Whittaker. For Youth Music.
A-Level Music Report (2019) Professor Martin Fautley Dr Adam Whittaker and Dr Victoria Kinsella. For Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music.
OHMI Music-makers report (2018). Dr Victoria Kinsella and Professor Martin Fautley. For OHMI Trust and Arts Council England.
Birmingham Music Hub: Secondary School Music Teachers Survey (2018) Professor Martin Fautley, Dr Victoria Kinsella and Dr Adam Whittaker For Services for Education.
Birmingham Music Hub: Primary School Music Teachers Survey (2018) Professor Martin Fautley, Dr Victoria Kinsella and Dr Adam Whittaker For Services for Education.
OHMI Music-makers report (2018). Dr Victoria Kinsella and Professor Martin Fautley. For OHMI Trust and Arts Council England.
WCET (2017). Professor Martin Faultey, Dr Victoria Kinsella and Dr Adam Whittaker. For MusicMark.
Exchanging Notes Interim Report (2017). Dr Victoria Kinsella, Professor Martin Fautley and Dr Adam Whittaker. For Youth Music.
OHMI Teaching Pilot (2017). For OHMI Trust and Arts Council England.
Exchanging Notes (2015, 2016). Dr Victoria Kinsella and Professor Martin Fautley. For Youth Music.
Koestler Arts Gateway Mentoring Scheme (2016). Dr Elizabeth Yardley, Dr David Wilson, Dr Victoria Kinsella and Shona Robinson-Edwards. For the Koestler Trust.
Saatchi Report (2016). Dr Victoria Kinsella. Saatchi Gallery and Deutsche Bank Art Prize for schools External Project Evaluation. For Deutsche Bank and the Saatchi Gallery.
Stringcredibles Report (2015). Victoria Kinsella and Martin Fautley. For The Arts Council.
Imagine Compose Evaluation Report (2015). Martin Fautley, Kirsty Devaney and Victoria Kinsella. For Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Sound and Music.
Listen, Imagine, Compose Research Report (2014). Professor Martin Fautley with contributions from Pauline Adams, Robert Bunting, Pam Burnard, John Finney, Victoria Kinsella, and Jonathan Savage. For Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Sound and Music and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
Resolution Report (2014). Professor Martin Fautley and Victoria Kinsella. For Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and The Wellcome Trust.
Work With Industry
Strategic Board Member - Arts Connect
Links and Social Media
Twitter - @DrToriKinsella