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Professor Carrie Paechter

Carrie Paechter

Director of NCCYPF

School of Social Sciences

Role

Carrie Paechter is Professor of Childhood, Youth and Family Life in the School of Social Sciences.

How to say Carrie's name

Carrie’s research is focused around questions of identity and childhood. She is particularly interested in what it means to be a gendered, embodied child and how this is understood by children and young people themselves. Related research foci include: active girlhood; LGBTQI+ parented families and schools; spatiality and schooling; power/knowledge, gender and curriculum; ideas about legitimacy, especially within communities of practice; online learning in divorce and similar life events.

Carrie is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She was a member of the Education Sub-Panel for REF 2021. She is a member of the Editorial Boards of the  international journals Pedagogy, Culture and Society and Sport, Education and Society.

Career overview

Carrie began her career as a mathematics teacher and worked in various London comprehensive schools before moving to King’s College London to research interdisciplinary coursework. She subsequently taught at King’s and the Open University, before moving to Goldsmiths, University of London. At Goldsmiths her roles included being the inaugural Dean of Goldsmiths Graduate School and then Head of Educational Studies. She joined Nottingham Trent University in July 2017 as Director of the Nottingham Centre for Children, Young People and Families and is now Professor of Childhood, Youth and Family Life.

On Wednesday 27 June 2018 Carrie delivered her Inaugural Professorial Lecture at NTU: Gender Matters: power, bodies and identities in the lives of children, young people and families.

Research areas

Carrie’s research is focused around questions of identity and childhood. She is particularly interested in what it means to be a gendered, embodied child and how this is understood by children and young people themselves. Her work ranges from gender theory to the experiences of children, young people and families, and she has a particular interest in active girlhood. She leads two research projects: a Leverhulme-funded study of the lived experiences of girl skateboarders; and the evaluation of the Big Lottery funded Small Steps Big Changes project.

Other research foci include: LGBTQI+ parented families and schools; spatiality and schooling; power/knowledge, gender and curriculum; active girlhood; ideas about legitimacy, especially within communities of practice; online learning in divorce and similar life events.

You can find videos of Carrie talking about her research here:

What's it like to be a  girl skateboarder?

AIESEP Connect - Lifestyle Sports in Physical Education

Online interview with Professor Meg Maguire and  Dr Emma Towers, King's College London

Online learning in divorce

Being boys, being girls

Ladettes and booze

External activity

Carrie is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She was a member of the Education Sub-Panel for REF 2021. She is an editorial board member of the international journals Pedagogy, Culture and Society and Sport, Education and Society.

Publications

Authored books

Carlile, A. and Paechter, C. LGBTQI Parented Families and Schools: visibility, representation, and pride. New York, Routledge, 2018

Paechter, C.F. Being Boys, Being girls: learning masculinities and femininities. Open University Press, 2007. Portuguese edition 2009

Paechter, C.F. Changing School Subjects: power, gender and curriculum Open University Press.

Paechter, C. F. Educating the Other: gender, power and schooling, 137 pages , Falmer Press 1998. Winner of American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice award, 2001.

Paechter, C. F. Crossing Subject Boundaries: The Micropolitics of Curriculum Innovation, HMSO 1995.

Murray, R. with Paechter, C. F. and Black, P. Managing Learning and Assessment Across the Curriculum, HMSO 1995.

Paechter, C. F. GCSE Foundation Maths 2, Century Hutchinson 1986.

Paechter, C. F. GCSE Foundation Maths 1, Century Hutchinson 1985.

Edited books

Paechter, C., George, R. and McRobbie, A. Pedagogical Responses to the Changing Conditions of Girls and Young Women. Routledge, 2016

Jackson, C., Paechter, C. and Renold, E. Girls and Education 3-16, Open University Press, 2010.

Paechter, C.F., Edwards, R.G., Harrison, R.M. and Twining, P., Learning, Space and Identity, Sage Publications/Paul Chapman Publishing, 2001.

Paechter, C.F., Preedy, M., Scott, D. and Soler, J., Knowledge, Power and Learning, Sage Publications/Paul Chap man Publishing, 2001.

McCormick, R. and Paechter, C. Learning and Knowledge, Paul Chapman Publishing 1999. Translated into Chinese in 2000.

Special issues edited

Paechter, C., Rosen, M. and Bibby, T. Walter Benjamin, Childhood and Pedagogy., Pedagogy, Culture and Society 24:4, 2016.

Paechter, C., George, R. and McRobbie, A., Pedagogical Responses to the Changing Conditions of Girls and Young Women, Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 21:1, 2013.

Paechter, C.F. Space, Identity and Education, Pedagogy, Culture and Society 12:3 2004.

Paechter, C. F. and Weiner, G. Postmodernism and Poststructuralism in Educational Research, British Educational Research Journal, 22:3.

Refereed journal articles

Paechter, C., Stoodley, L., Keenan, M. and Lawton, C. ‘What’s it like to be a girl skateboarder? Identity, participation and exclusion for young women in skateboarding spaces and communities’. Women’s Studies International Forum, January-February 2023

Paechter, C. Toft, A. and Carlile, A. Non-binary young people and schools: pedagogical insights from a small-scale interview study. Pedagogy, Culture and Society 29:5 , 695-731,2021

Paechter, C. The rights and interests of trans and intersex children: considerations, conflicts and implications in relation to the UNCRC. Journal of Gender Studies 30:7, 844-854, 2021

Paechter, C. Implications for gender and education research arising out of changing ideas about gender. Gender and Education 33:5, 610-624, 2021

Paechter C and Marguerite, A. Communities of practice of transition: an analytical framework for studying change-focussed groups. Sociological Research Online 26:2, 2021

Paechter, C. Where are the feminine boys? Interrogating the positions of feminised masculinities in research on gender and childhood. Journal of Gender Studies 28:8. 906-917, 2019

Paechter, C. Rethinking the possibilities for hegemonic femininity: exploring a Gramscian framework. Women’s Studies International Forum, 68, May/June 121-128, 2018.

Paechter, C. Young children, gender, and the heterosexual matrix., Discourse: 37:3, 457-471, 2016.

Francis, B. and Paechter, C. The problem of gender categorisation: Addressing dilemmas past and present in gender and education research. Gender and Education: 27:7, 2015, 776-790.

Paechter, C. and Clark, S. Being ‘nice’ or being ‘normal’: girls resisting discourses of ‘coolness’. Discourse: Online advance publication, 2015.

Paechter, C. ‘Concepts of fairness in marriage and divorce’. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 54:6, 2013, 458-475.

Paechter, C. ‘Girls and their bodies: approaching a more emancipatory physical education’. Pedagogy, Culture and Society 21:2, 2013, 261-278

Paechter, C. ‘Young women online: collaboratively constructing identities’., Pedagogy, Culture and Society 21:1, 2013, 111-128

Paechter, C. ‘Online learning in divorce: how the formation of a community of practice in a divorce support website enables and inhibits learning’.  E-Learning and Digital Media, 9:4, 2012, 392-405

Paechter, C. ‘Researching sensitive issues online: implications of a hybrid insider/outsider position in a retrospective ethnographic study’. Qualitative Research, 13:1, 2013, 71-86

Paechter, C. ‘Bodies, identities and performances: reconfiguring the language of gender and schooling’. Gender and Education, 24:2, 2012, 229-241.

Paechter, C. ‘Gender, visible bodies and schooling: cultural pathologies of childhood’. Sport, Education and Society, 16:3, 2011, 309-322.

Paechter, C. ‘Tomboys and girly-girls: embodied femininities in primary schools’. Discourse 31:2, 2010, 221-235.

Paechter, C. ‘Response to Mary Lou Rasmussen’s ‘Beyond Gender Identity’, Gender and Education 21:4, 2009, 449-453.

Paechter, C. and Clark, S. ‘Who are tomboys and how do we recognise them?’ Women’s Studies International Forum, 30, 2007, 342-354.

Paechter, C.F. and Clark, S. ‘Learning gender in primary school playgrounds: findings from the Tomboy Identities Study’ Pedagogy, Culture and Society 15:3, 2007, 317-331.

Clark, S. and Paechter, C.F. ‘Why can’t girls play football? Gender dynamics in the playground’ Sport, Education and Society, 12:3, 2007, 261-276.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Masculine femininities/feminine masculinities: power, identities and gender’. Gender and Education 18:3, 2006, 253-263.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Reconceptualising the gendered body: learning and constructing masculinities and femininities in school’. Gender and Education 18:2, 2006, 121-135.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Power, knowledge and embodiment in communities of sex/gender practice’. Women’s Studies International Forum 29:1, 2006, 13-26.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Editorial: space, identity and education’  307-308, Pedagogy, Culture and Society 12:3 2004.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Metaphors of Space in Educational Theory and Practice’. 449-465, Pedagogy, Culture and Society 12:3, 2004.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Spatialising power relations in education’. Pedagogy, Culture and Society 12:3, 2004, 467-473.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Mens sana in corpore sano’: Cartesian dualism and the marginalization of sex education’ Discourse 25:3, 2004, 309-319.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Learning masculinities and femininities: power/knowledge and legitimate peripheral participation’  Women’s Studies International Forum 26:6, 2003, 541-552.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Power/knowledge, gender and curriculum change’  129-148, Journal of Educational Change, 4:2, 2003, 1389 2843.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Masculinities and femininities as communities of practice’   Women’s Studies International Forum vol 26:1, 2003, 69-77.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Power, bodies and identity: how different forms of physical education construct varying masculinities and femininities in schools’ Sex Education 3:1 2003 47-59.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Growing up with a lesbian mother: a theoretically based analysis of personal experience’   Sexualities,3(4), 2000, 395-408. Reprinted in Goodwin, J. (ed) Sage Biographical Research, London, Sage, 2012.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Moving with the Goalposts: carrying out curriculum research in a period of constant change’ British Educational Research Journal 26(1), 2000, 25-37.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Schooling and the ownership of knowledge’  Curriculum Studies6:2, 1998, 161-176.

Paechter, C. F. ‘Investigating power in the staffroom: issues in the study of power and gender relations in a professional group’  Cambridge Journal of Education 28:1, 1998, 97-111.

Paechter, C.F. ‘What do we mean by professional development?’ Research in Post-Compulsory Education 1:3, 1996, 345-355.

Paechter, C. F. and Weiner, G. ‘Editorial’  British Educational Research Journal, 22:3, 1996, 267-271.

Paechter, C. F. ‘Power, knowledge and the confessional in qualitative research’ Discourse, 17:1, 1996, 75-84.

Paechter, C. F. and Head, J. O. ‘Power and gender in the staffroom’  British Educational Research Journal, 22:1, 1996, 57-69.

Paechter, C. F. and Head, J. O. ‘Gender, identity, status and the body: life in a marginal subject’   Gender and Education 8:1, 1996, 21-30.

Paechter, C. F. ‘Doing the best for the students: dilemmas and decisions in carrying out statutory assessment tasks’  Assessment in Education, 2:1, 1995, 39-52.

Paechter, C. F. ‘Subcultural Retreat: negotiating the Design and Technology Curriculum’ British Educational Research Journal, 21:1, 1995, 75-87.

Paechter, C. F. ‘What happens when a school subject undergoes a sudden change of status?’ Curriculum Studies, 1:3, 1993, 349-363.

Research Reports

Brady, G; Toft, A; Alldred, P; Roesch, C.; Gair, H.; Raymond, E.; Brown, G.; Paechter, C., 2022, Report: Transitioning from child to adult: safeguarding practice for young people who have experienced child sexual exploitation: systematic review. Nottingham Trent University

Ridgway, M.; Paechter, C.; King, D., 2020, Analysis Of Responses Gender Recognition Act. UK Government.

Harding, R; Paechter, C., 2020, Report: Effects of Covid-19 on families with children under five in Nottingham. Report prepared for Small Steps, Big Changes. Nottingham Centre for Children, Young People and Families, Nottingham Trent University.

Paechter, C. Online Learning in Divorce: the development and operation of an online learning community through a divorce support website. Report of the Wikivorce Research Study, 2012, Goldsmiths, University of London and Wikivorce. Read online.

Paechter, C., McRobbie, A., George, R. and Adkins, L. Young Women in Movement: sexualities, vulnerabilities, needs and norms. Final report of ESRC award number RES-451-26-0715, 2011, Goldsmiths, University of London.

Paechter, C., Jackson, C. and Renold, E.Girls and Education 3-16: continuing concerns, new agendas. Final Report of ESRC award number RES-452-25-4117, 2007, Goldsmiths, University of London, University of Lancaster and University of Cardiff.

Paechter, C.F. Tomboy Identities: the construction and maintenance of active girlhood: Final report of ESRC award number RES-000-22-1032, 2006, Goldsmiths, University of London

Head, J.O. and Paechter, C.F. Power, Gender and the Negotiation of the Design and Technology Curriculum: Final report of ESRC award number R000233548, 1994, King’s College London.

Paechter, C. F.  Power, Knowledge and the Design and Technology Curriculum, 1993. Unpublished Ph.D thesis, King’s College, London.

Paechter, C. F. Cross-curricular Assessment Through Coursework for GCSE Final Report, 1992, Centre for Educational Studies, King’s College London.

Millwood, R. and Paechter, C.F. Hypermaths Evaluation Project: Final Report 1992, Anglia Polytechnic and King’s College London

Paechter, C. F. and Fordham, J. Project Report 1: Assessment Schemes and Cross-curricular Coursework, 1990, Centre for Educational Studies, King’s College London.

Chapters in books

Paechter, C., 2019, ‘Beyond binary discourses: making LGBTQI+ identities visible in the curriculum’. In: Taylor, C.A., Amade-Escot, C. and Abbas, A.  eds., Gender in learning and teaching: feminist dialogues across international boundaries. Abingdon: Routledge.

Paechter, C. ‘Hegemonic Femininities in the Classroom, in Langer, A., Mahs, C., and Rendtorff, B., edts.  Weiblichkeit - Ansätze zur Theoretisierung. Jahrbuch Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung in der Erziehungswissenschaft, Band 14, 2018, Opladen: Verlag Barbara Budrich, 85-102.

Paechter, C. ‘Gender and the Philosophy of Education’. In Smeyers, P. et al, eds. International Handbook of Philosophy of Education 2018, Springer.

Paechter, C. Young women online: collaboratively constructing identities’. In Paechter, C., George, R., McRobbie, A., eds. Pedagogical Responses to the Changing Conditions of Girls and Young Women. 2016, Routledge, 111-128

Paechter, C. ‘Polyphonie? Ausblicke auf einen anderen Geschlechterdiskurs in der Pädagogik’ In Forster, E., Rendtorff, B., Mahs, C. eds. Back to the Boys? Jungenpädagogik im Widerstreit. 2011, Stuttgart, Kohlhammer 147-164

Paechter, C. and Clark, S. ‘Schoolgirls and power/knowledge economies: using knowledge to mobilise social power’. In Jackson, C., Paechter, C. and Renold, E., Girls and Education 3-16, 2010, Open University Press, 117-128.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Gender Equality and Curriculum Change in England and Wales’. In Barret-Ducrocq, F. (ed) Effets de l'action féministe sur l'enseignement en France et en Grande-Bretagne. 2008, l'Harmattan.

Paechter, C.F., ‘Discourses of masculinity and femininity: implications for equality and difference’. In M. Reiss, E. Atkinson and R. de Palma (eds) Marginality and Difference In Education and Beyond. Stoke-on Trent, Trentham Books, 2007, 73-85.

Paechter, C.F. ‘National Curricula’, In B.J. Bank, S. Delamont, and C. Marshall, C., (eds) Gender and Education: an encyclopaedia, New York, Greenwood Press, 2007.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Power, bodies and identity: how different forms of physical education construct varying masculinities and femininities in secondary schools’. In M. Arnot and M. Mac an Ghaill (eds) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Gender and Education, London, Routledge, 2006, 194-205.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Constructing femininity/constructing femininities’. In C. Skelton, B. Francis and L. Smulyan (eds) The Sage Handbook of Gender and Education, London, Sage, 2006 365-377.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Gender, power and curriculum: an inevitable interconnection’. In A. Moore (ed) Schooling, Society and Curriculum, Taylor and Francis. 2006, 75-86.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Tomboy’ in J.T. Sears (ed) Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, Greenwood Publishing Group. 2005, 859-862.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Physical Education, teaching of’ in J.T. Sears (ed) Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, Greenwood Publishing Group. 2005, 617-621.

Paechter, C.F. ‘The gendered curriculum’. In H. Claire, Gender and Learning in the School Years 3-19. Association of Teachers and Lecturers, 2004..

Paechter, C.F. ‘Territoriality, interdisciplinarity and school space’ in R. Edwards and R. Usher (eds) Spatiality, Curriculum and Learning, Information Age Publishing, 2003, 29-43.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Masculinities, femininities and physical education: bodily practices as reified markers of community membership, in C. Vincent (Ed) Social Justice, Education and Identity. Routledge/Falmer, 2003, 137-152.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Dissemination and identity: tales from the school gates’ in C. Hughes (ed) Disseminating Qualitative Research in Educational Settings, Open University Press, 2003, 43-54.

Paechter, C.F. ‘On goodness and utility in educational research’ in ed. P. Sikes, J. Nixon and W. Carr, Educational Research: reconstructing the debate, Open University Press, 2003, 105-117.

Paechter, C.F, ‘Using poststructuralist ideas in gender theory and research’ in B. Francis and C. Skelton (eds) Investigating Gender: contemporary perspectives in education, Open University Press, 2002, 41-51

Paechter, C.F. ‘Gender, reason and emotion in secondary mathematics classrooms’ in P. Gates (ed) Issues in the Teaching of Mathematics, RoutledgeFalmer, 2001, 51-63.

Paechter, C.F. ‘School knowledge/owned knowledge’ in Paechter, C.F., Preedy, M., Scott, D. and Soler, J., (eds), Knowledge, Power and Learning, Paul Chapman Publishing, 2001, 167-180.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Power, gender and curriculum’ in Paechter, C.F., Preedy, M., Scott, D. and Soler, J., (eds), Knowledge, Power and Learning, Paul Chapman Publishing, 2001, 1-17.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Some voices are more equal than others: subject and Other in the school curriculum’, Learning and Knowledge, R. McCormick and C. Paechter (Eds), Sage, 1999, 221-233.

Paechter, C. F. ‘Managing cross-curricular work: focusing on structures or on persons?’ In Managing Educational Institutions: Reviewing Development and Learning, H. Busher and M. Smith (Eds), Centre for Education Management and Administration, Sheffield Hallam University, 1993, 171-178.

Paechter, C. F. ‘Subject subcultures and the negotiation of open work: conflict and co-operation in cross-curricular coursework’, Teaching and Learning Technology, R. McCormick, P. Murphy and M. E. Harrison (Eds), Addison Wesley, 1992, 279-288.

Harris, M. and Paechter, C. F. ‘Work reclaimed: status mathematics in non-elitist contexts’, Schools, Mathematics and Work, M. Harris (ed), Falmer Press, 1990, 277-283.

Paechter, C. F. (1989) ‘Some Cautionary Notes’, Textiles in Mathematics Teaching, M. Harris (ed), Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computing, London Institute of Education, 1989, 32.

Paechter, C. F. ‘Patchwork as a Medium for Tessellation’, Textiles in Mathematics Teaching, M. Harris (ed), Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computing, London Institute of Education, 1989, 14-15.

Professional publications

Paechter, C. and Carlile, A. ‘What LGBTQI+ Parented Families Want From Their Children’s Schools’. The Conversation 13th September 2018, https://theconversation.com/what-lgbtqi-parents-want-from-their-childrens-schools-96971

Paechter, C. ‘Beware the Nursery Gender Police: why church guidance on homophobic and transphobic bullying falls short’. The Conversation 23rd November 2017, https://theconversation.com/beware-the-nursery-gender-police-why-church-guidance-on-homophobic-and-transphobic-bullying-falls-short-87464

Paechter, C. ‘Por que meninos e meninas escholhem brinquedos differentes’. Pátio 36, July-September  2013, 12-15.

Paechter, C. ‘Como mininos e meninas aprendem gênero’. Pátio July-October 2009, 28-31.

Paechter, C. ‘Opening up the staffroom as a site for professional learning’. Curriculum Briefing 7:1, 2008, 40-43.

Paechter, C.F. ‘Power relations and staffroom spaces’, 33-35, Forum for promoting 3-19 comprehensive education 46:1, 2004.

Paechter, C. F. and Eastop, P. ‘Teaching brass teaching’, 19, Royal Academy of Music Newsletter, 14, 1997

Paechter, C. F. ‘A matter of interpretation’, 15-16, Modus, 12:1, 1994.

Paechter, C. F. ‘Holistic Tasks in Mathematics: working with Design and Technology’, 38-39, Mathematics Teaching, 134, 1991

Paechter, C. F. ‘Writing and Investigating’, 43.Mathematics in Schools, 17:2, 1988

Paechter, C. F. ‘Modulo Chinese Triangle’.3, Investigator 7, 1986.

Other media

Parenting Science Gang: Being Boys, Being Girls – A Q&A with Prof Carrie Paechter on understanding gender. 24th January 2018, http://parentingsciencegang.org.uk/web-chats/being-boys-being-girls/

BBC Radio Guernsey, 3rd January 2018. Interview about gender issues.

Education Television Channel, Fujian Province, China, 31st October 2016. How do babies become boys and girls?

BBC London News, 3rd February 2014, New proposals for discipline in schools.

Being Boys, Being Girls Faculty Media, uploaded 15th June 2013. Watch online.

Online Learning in Divorce Faculty Media, uploaded 15th June 2013. Watch online.

News Talk, Ireland 21st November 2012, Teenage Girls

BBC Radio Lancashire 21st November 2012, Teenage Girls

BBC Northern Ireland 19th November 2012, Teenage Girls

BBC World Service, 16th November 2012, Teenage Girls

Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 14th August 2012. Feminism and the Family.

Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 14th August 2012. Feminism and the Family.

Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 5th May 2011. Femininity and Character.

Truetube: Ladettes and booze 24th November 2008. Watch online.

Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 27th June 2008. Discussion of boys and education.

Paechter, C. (2007) Researching how children learn gender. London: TLRP. Research training materials available online.

You and Yours Radio 4, September 2007. History of home economics teaching and implications for introduction of cookery as compulsory in secondary schools.

Teachers’ TV News January 2006. Discussion of Tomboys Project and primary school playgrounds.

Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 6th May 2005. Discussion of gender issues around dolls and doll play.

Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 20th January 2004. Discussion of boy-girl pairing in secondary schools.

See all of Carrie Paechter's publications...

Press expertise

  • Gender
  • Children
  • Youth
  • Identity
  • Bodies
  • Tomboys
  • Active girlhood
  • Skateboarding
  • Divorce
  • Online support sites
  • Families
  • Masculinity
  • Femininity
  • Sexual orientation and young people
  • LGBTQI + families
  • Intersex
  • Trans issues
  • Non-binary identities
  • Education

My work is related to the following Sustainable Development Goals

I am strongly committed to gender equality and how it relates to the other three goals listed here - my work on gender equality is one way in which I address those goals, and vice versa.

5 - Gender Equality Badge 4 - Quality Education Badge 3 - Good Health and Well-Being Badge 10 - Reduced Inequalities Badge