About the speaker

Tom Parsons is the Programmes Manager and a Senior Lecturer at Norland College. He is passionate about the importance of outdoor play and exploration; this also underpins his interest in sustainability and supporting children to understand how to look after the environment. He is interested in sociological and family theory, particularly the ways in which divorce and separation impacts on the functionality of a family and relationships with practitioners, especially in home-based care and education.

His current particular focus in teaching is ethics in research. He has recently become a father and is now learning about the practicalities of childcare that the theories cannot teach… and he loves it!

Prior to Norland Tom trained to a foundation level in Early Years Learning and Development before completing a BA in Education and a PGCE incorporating the Diploma in Education and Training at Plymouth University. More recently he completed a MA in Education through the University of Bath, for which he conducted research investigating the perceived coping efficacy of nannies working with families of divorce and separation.