Role
Dr Towers has been a lecturer for many years and has taught across all levels of the BA Health and Social Care Degree. Dr Towers has also taught other student groups including the Master’s Degree in Public Health, sociology, politics and criminology students. He has a passion for teaching and this helped him to be awarded the Vice-Chancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2018. His specialist subject areas are social policy and also issues of social gerontology. He uses role play in the classroom with colleagues and students and worked to co-produce videos with others. He is innovative and seeks to use materials, old and new. ‘New’ technology is used where it aids the learning but he is open to all knowledge type and materials He is however led by the subject and whether the tools concerned aid the learning and support the students. He works collaboratively in the classroom and has ‘employed’ workers from the voluntary sector and the business school and other universities. He has taught in Germany , and worked with international students. He uses poetry and audio-visual materials to make the learning interactive.
His work also involves administration, research and writing for journals – including areas such as writing on pedagogical issues as well as social policy. He has worked as an external examiner at various universities.
Career overview
Dr Towers has worked in education before as a Careers Officer. He is social work qualified and has worked with people with disabilities and in elderly care. In addition, Dr Towers has conducted research for a housing association.
Research areas
He has a Doctorate in Social Work, considering the role of others in older people’s transitions to residential care. He is social work qualified and various other qualifications.
Dr Towers' current research interests are in elderly care. His research and publications are as below:
- Chapter on Social Policy in Barnard, A (2010) Key themes in Health and Social Care. London. Routledge
- Chapter on ‘Issues of social policies for the emerging professional’ in Barnard. A (2017) Developing practice in health and social care
- Towers, C and Gee, R (2012) Acting on the Knife Edge. Incorporating Role Play within the curriculum. Educational Developments. SEDA. Issue 13.4. December 2012, pages 8-11.
- Gee, R and Towers, C (2017) the place of group work within the lecture theatre. Promoting self-directed learning, student reflection and orbital communication via the entwined endeavours of teaching, role play and facilitation. Group work, Volume 26 Issue 2.
- Towers, C, Howarth, R ( 2020) Food shopping in later life in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire 2014-2016 ( Data Collection), Colchester, Essex. Unspecified 2020
- Towers, C and Howarth, R ( 2020) Food for thought. SDG challenges, corporate social responsibility and food shopping in later life ( Version 1, peer review 1, approved with reservations. Emerald Open Res. 2020 2: 69