Professor Merryn Hutchings is an Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Policy Studies in Education. She started her career in teaching in London primary schools and then moved into teacher training. Her PhD, Children’s Constructions of Work, was awarded the British Educational Research Association’s annual prize for the best thesis.
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For the last twenty years, Merryn has worked mainly in research, leading a wide range of projects focusing on teachers and schools, and the impact of policies designed to raise school standards.
She was involved in research about teacher supply in London in the lead-up to the 2001–02 teacher shortage and subsequently conducted research for the Department for Education (DfES), Scottish Executive and General Teaching Council (GTC) about supply teachers, and the annual GTC teacher survey.
Merryn has also worked on subsequent projects which included an evaluation of the Teach First programme for the Training and Development Agency (TDA), an evaluation of the Excellent Teacher Scheme, research into workforce remodelling in schools, and the DfE-funded evaluation of the London challenge and equivalent programmes in Greater Manchester and the Black Country (West Midlands). Her most recent work includes research into the impact of accountability measures on children and young people, which resulted in the report Exam Factories? (2015). She is the lead author of the Sutton Trust series of Chain Effects reports which investigate the impact of academy chains on disadvantaged young people.
Merryn has taught on both undergraduate and postgraduate education courses. She has also supervised six doctoral students to successful completion.
Authored selected publications
Books and book chapters
- 1990 Hutchings, M ‘Children’s thinking about work’, in A Ross (ed) Economic and Industrial Awareness in the Primary School, PNL Press.
- 1992 Hutchings, M Introduction, pp. 5-17 in M Hutchings and W Wade (eds) Developing Economic and Industrial Understanding in the Primary School, PNL Press.
- 1992 Hutchings, M Economic and industrial understanding: achieving the potential in mathematics, pp 123-133 in M Hutchings and W Wade (eds) Developing Economic and Industrial Understanding in the Primary School, PNL Press.
- 1999 Hutchings, M, Children’s constructions of work in manufacturing industry: the contribution of experiences in primary schools, pp 241-249 in A Ross (ed.) Young Citizens in Europe, London: CICE.
- 2000 Hutchings, M ‘Work is what the teacher tells you to do’: teachers’ views of children’s work at school, in A Ross (ed) Developing Identities in Europe, London: CICE.
- 2002 Hutchings, M A representative profession? Gender issues, in M Johnson and J Hallgarten (eds) From Victims of Change to Agents of Change: The Future of the Teaching Profession, London: IPPR.
- 2002 Hutchings, M, Fulop, M and Van den Dries A-M ‘Introduction: Young People’s Understanding of Economic Issues in Europe’ in M Hutchings, M Fulop and A-M Van den Dries (eds) Young People’s Understanding of Economic Issues in Europe, Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
- 2002 Hutchings, M Children’s constructions of adult work’ in, M Hutchings, M Fulop and A-M Van Den Dries (eds) Young People’s Understanding of Economic Issues in Europe, Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
- 2002 Hutchings, M ‘Towards an anti-developmental view of children’s social understanding’ in A Ross and E Nasman (eds) Children’s Understanding in the New Europe. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
- 2002 Hutchings, M, Menter, I, Ross, A and Thomson, D Teacher supply and retention in London: key findings and implications from a study carried out in six boroughs in 1998-9, pp 175-206 in I Menter, M Hutchings and A Ross (eds) The Crisis in Teacher Supply: Research and strategies for retention, Stoke-on Trent: Trentham.
- 2002 Leathwood, C, Archer, L and Hutchings, M ‘HE: A risky business’, in Access, Participation and Higher Education: Policy and Practice, A Hayton and A Paczuska (eds) Kogan Page.
- 2002 Menter, I, Hutchings, M and Ross, A (eds) The Crisis in Teacher Supply: Research and strategies for retention, Stoke-on Trent: Trentham.
- 2003 Archer, L, Hutchings, M and Ross, A Higher Education and Social Class; Issues of exclusion and inclusion, London: Falmer Routledge.
Articles in academic journals - 1996 Hutchings, M What will you do when you grow up? The social construction of children’s occupational preferences, Children’s Social and Economics Education, 1, 1, 15-30.
- 2000 Archer, L and Hutchings, M Bettering Yourself: discourses of risk, cost and benefit in ethnically diverse young working-class non-participants’ constructions of HE, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 21, 4, 555-574
- 2001 Hutchings, M and Archer, L (2001) ‘Higher than Einstein’: constructions of going to university among working-class non-participants, Research Papers in Education, 16, 1, 69-91.
- 2003 Francis, B, Hutchings, M, Archer, L and Melling, L Subject choice and occupational aspirations among pupils at girls' schools, Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 11, 3, 425-442.
- 2005 Menter, I, Hutchings, M Holligan, C and Seagraves, L The dynamics of the supply market, Education in the North, 12, 30-39.
- 2006 Holligan, C, Menter, I, Hutchings, M, and Walker, M (2006) Becoming a Headteacher: the perspective of new headteachers in twenty-first-century England, Journal of In-service Education, 32, 1, 103-122.
- 2006 Ross, A, Pergar Kuscer, M, Fülöp, M, Read, B, Pucko, C, Hutchings, M and Sándor, M ‘Teachers’ Constructions of Citizenship and Enterprise: using associative group analysis with teachers in Hungary, Slovenia and England’, The New Educational Review, 7, 3-4, 127-156.
- 2008 Hutchings, M, Carrington, B, Francis, B, Skelton, C, Read, B and Hall, I Nice and kind, smart and funny: what children like and want to emulate in their teachers, Oxford Review of Education, 34, 2, 135-157.
- 2008 Francis, B, Skelton, C, Carrington, B, Hutchings, M, Read, B and Hall, I A perfect match? Pupils’ and teachers’ views of the impact of matching educators and learners by gender, Research Papers in Education, 23, 1, 23-36.
- 2008 Skelton, C, Carrington, B, Francis, B, Hall, I, Hutchings, M and Read, B Gender ‘Matters’ in the Primary Classroom: Pupils’ and Teachers’ Perspectives, British Educational Research Journal, 35, 2, 187 – 204.
- 2008 Carrington, B Francis,, B, Hutchings, M, Skelton, C, Read, B and Hall, I Does the gender of the teacher really matter? Seven- to eight-year-olds’ accounts of their interactions with their teachers, Educational Studies, 33, 4, 397-413.
- 2009 Smart, S, Hutchings, M Maylor, U, Mendick, H and Menter, I Processes of middle-class reproduction in a graduate employment scheme, Journal of Education and Work, 22, 1 35-53.
- 2017 Hutchings, M Accountability Measures: the factory farm version of education, The Psychology of Education Review, 41, 1, 3-15.
Reports
- 1989 Ross, A Hutchings, M, Craft, A and Mattocks, B The Primary Enterprise Pack, PNL Press.
- 1989 Hutchings, M Children’s Ideas about the World of Work (in the Primary Enterprise Pack), PNL Press
- 2000 Hutchings, M, Menter, I, Ross, A and Thomson D Teacher Supply and Retention in London: a study of six London boroughs 1998-9, London: Teacher Training Agency.
- 2000 Hutchings, M The role of agencies in teacher supply in London: Teacher Supply and Retention Supplementary Report.
- 2001 McCreith, S, Ross, A and Hutchings, M Teacher Supply and Retention 2000-2001: A study of twenty-two Local Education Authorities, a report for the Teacher Training Agency, IPSE.
- 2002 Francis, B and Hutchings, M The learning preferences and perceptions of education among pupils at girls’ schools, a report for the Association of Maintained Girls’ Schools.
- 2002 Ross, A, Archer, L Hutchings, M, Gilchrist, A, and Thomson, D Potential Mature Student Recruitment to HE, Research Report 385, Nottingham. DfES
- 2003 Dalgety, J, Hutchings, M and Ross, A Teacher Retention in Seven Local Education Authorities, London: IPSE.
- 2003 Ross, A and Hutchings, M (2003) UK Country Background Report: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers, OECD
- 2004 Francis, B, Hutchings, M and Read, B Science in girls’ schools: factors that contribute to girls’ engagement and attainment, report on research commissioned by the Association of Maintained Girls’ Schools.
- 2004 Menter, I, Holligan, C, Hutchings, M, Seagraves, L and Dalgety, J Holding it all together: the management of supply cover in the teaching profession, Scottish Executive.
- 2004-7 Menter, I, Hutchings, M, Holligan, C and Walker, M Evaluation and Impact Study of the Headteacher Induction Programme (six reports) for the National College of School Leadership.
- 2006 Hutchings, M, James, K, Maylor, U, Menter I and Smart, S The Recruitment, Deployment and Management of Supply Teachers in England, Research Report 738, DfES.
- 2006 Hutchings, M, Maylor, U, Mendick, H, Menter, I and Smart, S An evaluation of innovative approaches to teacher training on the Teach First programme: Final report to the Training and Development Agency for Schools.
- 2006 Hutchings, M, James, K, Smart, S and Williams, K General Teaching Council Annual Survey of Teachers 2006, GTC.
- 2008 Peters, M, Hutchings, M, Edwards, G, Minty, S, Seeds, K, and Smart, S (2008) The Behavioural Impact of Changes in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, Research Report 024, Nottingham: DCSF.
- 2009 Hutchings, M, Mansaray, A, Minty, S, Moreau, M and Smart, S Excellent Teacher Scheme Review, Research Report 137, Nottingham: DCSF.
- 2009 Hutchings, M Seeds, K, Coleman, N, Harding, C, Mansaray, A, Maylor, U, Minty, S and Pickering, E Aspects of workforce remodelling, strategies and impact, Research Report 153, Nottingham: DCSF.
- 2010 Hutchings, M and Glass, K Evaluation of the impact on schools in England of school leaders undertaking international placements through VSO, a report for VSO, the National College, NAHT and ASCL.
- 2011 Hutchings, M What impact does the wider economic situation have on teachers’ career decisions? A literature review, Research Report 136, DfE.
- 2012 Hutchings, M, Greenwood, C, Hollingworth, S, Mansaray, A and Rose, A with Minty, S and Glass, K Evaluation of the City Challenge programme, Research Report 215, DfE.
- 2012 Hutchings, M and Mansaray, A A review of the impact of the London Challenge (2003-8) and City Challenge (2008-11), Ofsted Access and Achievement Background Papers 2013 Francis, B and Hutchings, M Parent Power: Using money and information to boost children’s chances of educational success, Sutton Trust.
- 2014 Hutchings, M, Francis, B and De Vries R Chain Effects: The impact of academy chains on low-income students, Sutton Trust.
- 2015 Exam Factories? The impact of accountability measures on children and young people, NUT.
- 2015-18 Hutchings, M and Francis B Chain Effects (4 annual reports), SuttonTrust.
Merryn's research has received extensive media coverage. She has been interviewed on the BBC Today programme, File on Four and regional radio programmes.
Professor Merryn Hutchings
Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Policy Studies in Education
E: m.hutchings@londonmet.ac.uk