Dr Samantha Wilkinson
Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies
My profile
Biography
I am a Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies. I have worked at Manchester Metropolitan University since 2016. I joined as a a Lecturer in Human Geography, before moving to the School of Childhood, Youth and Education Studies in 2018. I teach on and lead a range of units, from Foundation level to Masters level. I am one of the Doctoral College Departmental Leads for PhDs in Education, with a focus on Progression.
I am an interdisciplinary researcher, and have undertaken research on a diverse range of themes, including: higher education experiences of staff and students; young people’s alcohol consumption practices and experiences; and home care for people with dementia.
I completed an ESRC and Alcohol Research UK PhD in Human Geography at The University of Manchester (2012-2015). My doctoral research explored young people’s (aged 15-24) alcohol consumption practices and experiences. This research has made significant contributions regarding the centrality of care, intragenerational relationships, and atmospheres of music and lighting to children and young people’s drinking practices.
Following this, I undertook a Research Fellow Post at The University of Nottingham, where I worked on a project which aimed to Broaden Our Understanding of Good Home care (BOUGH) for people with dementia. During the research process I had the dual identity of a researcher and carer, as I performed personal and companionship for people with dementia, whilst conducting ethnographic research. More recently, I worked with Professor Justine Schneider, University of Nottingham, implement Winston’s World as a Training tool. Winston’s World is a cartoon book based on the earlier research I conducted into home care for people with dementia. Through this dissemination grant funded by Alzheimer’s Society, I worked with a home care provider to evaluate how Winston’s World can be used to support experienced home care workers, and prepare new ones to undertake this important job.
I also recently worked on an ERASMUS funded Reading Communities project, which aimed to improve reading habits at home and at school, with a focus on those aged 3-12 years. The project involved the development of an app, based on the concept of ludic learning to stimulate children’s creativity and imagination through interactive games that allow for the creation of original stories starting from images and/or texts from classic children’s narrative of each country, promoting intercultural awareness and affection towards reading and storytelling since early age.
I am currently undertaking research funded by Manchester Geographical Society and Manchester Metropolitan University Faculty of Health and Education Research and Innovation Fund, alongside Dr Louise Platt (MMU), and Dr Harrie Larrington-Spencer (University of Westminster), to explore the walking and wheeling access-making practices of families with disabilities in Greater Manchester, in which we are goung to ask parents to take photographs of the buggy / bag and use these to elicit discussion in an interview.
The research I conduct draws on both traditional and innovative methods, and I have published extensively on the use of novel, participatory methods with children and young people, enabling them to communicate in culturally credible ways. Methods I enjoy using include auto-ethnography; joint auto-ethnography; interviews (peer; drawing elicitation); participant observation; mobile phone methods (including mobile phone interviews and text-messaging); diaries; and textual analysis.
Current and Previous External examiner roles
- BA and MA Childhood programmes at Bangor University
- FdA Early Years/BA Early Childhood Studies, University of Chichester and in Partnership with East Surrey College.
- Level 4 - Certificate in Higher Education Children, Young People and Families Practitioner Apprenticeship, Blackburn College.
- FdA and BA (Hons) Positive Practice with Children and Young, Blackburn College
- FdA Child and Family Studies, University of Bedfordshire.
- BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies and BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies (International) (Levels 5&6), Teesside University.
Expert reviewer for external funding bodies
Editorial Board Member and Peer Reviewer for Androgyny, a British Mensa Publication (2019-2021).
Peer Reviewer of journal articles in: International Journal of Changes in Education; Emotion, Space and Society; International Journal of Social Research Methodology; Gender, Place, and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography; Health & Place; Children’s Geographies; Journal of Youth Studies; Social and Cultural Geography; Social Inclusion; Drugs and Alcohol Today; Fennia: International Journal of Geography; and Geographica Helvetica.
Mentor Peer Reviewer (December 2021-2022): For theChildren & Society journal Early Career Reviewer Scheme, where I mentor an early career academic to peer review academic articles submitted for publication.
Prizes and awards
- 7 nominations for ‘Teacher of the Year’ in the 2023/2024 Student Union Teaching awards.
- Nominated for The International Geographical Union Early Career Award in Geography (December 2021) presented at the 2022 Centenary International Geographical Congress in Paris, France.
- Nominated for Mildred Baxter New Writer’s Prize for article in Sociology of Health and Illness. Winner to be decided September 2021.
• Shortlisted in the top five out of over 800 nominations, for the ‘most prestigious award’ of ‘Teacher of the Year’ in the MMU student union teaching awards (2019).
• Nominated for ‘tutor of the year’ (2019).
• Nominated for ‘best postgraduate supervisor’ (2019).
• Awarded ‘highly commended’: What Research Means to Me photography competition, National Institute of Health Research, Manchester (2018).
• Awarded the Ray Hodgson award for best paper at Alcohol Research UK Postgraduate and Early Career Symposium. Paper title: ‘“It ruins your night though…if one of your mates gets too drunk, cos then you have to look after them”: Careful and Careless Drinking Geographies’ (2016).
Membership of professional associations
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (July, 2018)
Impact
• Implementing Winston’s World as a Training Tool (2020-2022). Engaged with the manager and care workers of Heritage Health Care, Trafford, UK, to evaluate the use of Winston’s World (a book for learning about home care) as a training manual for home care staff.
• Brews and Brows: Shaping Stories from Eyebrows to Scousebrows. Disseminated research findings at a public event at Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) Liverpool, April 2018 and Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, November 2018.
• Broadening Our Understanding of Good Home care. Ethnographic research conducted on the BOUGH project fed into the design of ‘Winston’s World’ – a book / resource for learning about home care, specifically for people with dementia. Further, ethnographic research fed into the design of Silver Lining’s Care Plan, a performance by Elspeth Penny at Nottingham Contemporary. The performance shines a light on the experiences of paid carers for persons with dementia.
• Young People, Alcohol and Urban Life: During doctoral research, contributed to CASE partner’s, Our Life’s, public engagement activities by attending, and presenting at, their citizen inquiry community workshops. Community members used the findings presented at the Halton Alcohol Inquiry to suggest recommendations to educational figures; alcohol licensing bodies; the police; and public health bodies, at a launch event. This led to the signing of a pledge between these bodies regarding how they would work ‘with’ community members to see their recommendations come to fruition. Findings also fed into Our Life’s report, which outlines recommendations for how Halton can have a healthier relationship with alcohol. Participated in a workshop in order to critically evaluate Our Life’s ‘Under the Influence? Alcohol Discussion Kit’, consequently suggesting improvements for a more effective product.
Teaching
How I’ll teach you
I am a research-led teacher. When I teach, I draw on the research I have conducted into Higher Education experiences of staff and students, along with my extensive experience of researching with children and young people to provide cutting-edge knowledge. As an interdisciplinary researcher, I am keen to draw on a variety of disciplinary perspectives in my teaching (including geography; sociology; health), to provide a holistic understanding of issues.
PhD Supervision
I welcome contact from prospective doctoral students who have an interest in the following areas:
- Children and young people’s identities
- Children and young people’s relationships with spaces and places
- Alcohol consumption practices and experiences
- Innovative qualitative methods
Supervision
I am currently supervising the following doctoral research projects:
- EdDoc, first supervisor, Manchester Metropolitan University. Project title: Changing Gaze
- PhD co-supervisor, University of Manchester. Project title: DENtofacial TOxicity: Facilitating Advancement in paediatric Cancer Toxicity reporting And Liaison in Proton Beam Therapy (DENTOFACIAL-PBT). NIHR Doctoral Fellowship.
- EdDoc, second supervisor, Manchester Metropolitan University. Project title: How do Psychology lecturers and students in higher education experience the assessment process?
- PhD, second supervisor, Manchester Metropolitan University. Project title: From Language Learners to Language Users – how using online video calling can support spoken language in MFL classroom - a longitudinal study (due
Research outputs
- Young people’s im/mobilities.
- Young people and alcohol
- Higher Education research
- Home care for people with dementia.
- Innovative qualitative methods.
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Books (authored/edited/special issues)
Benzon, N.V., Holton, M., Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2021) Creative Methods for Human Geographers. SAGE.
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Chapters in books
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2023) 'Imposter syndrome and the non-pracademics: A joint autoethnographic account.' Professional Development for Practitioners in Academia Pracademia. Springer,
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2023) 'A joint autoethnographic account of two young women in academia: On overcoming imposter syndrome.' Academic Women Voicing Narratives of Gendered Experiences. Bloomsbury Publishing,
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2023) 'YOUNG PEOPLE’S CONCEPTUALISATIONS OF COMMUNITY AT A UK COMMUNITY RADIO STATION.' Encountering Ideas of Place in Education: Scholarship and Practice in Place-based Learning. pp. 131-143.
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2023) 'Researching atmos- spheres of alcohol consumption.' Consuming Atmospheres: Designing, Experiencing, and Researching Atmospheres in Consumption Spaces. pp. 174-186.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2022) 'Sounds (un)familiar: Introducing young people to the intersecting landscapes and soundscapes of a community radio station.' Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. Palgrave Macmillan,
Fenton, L., Markham, C., Wilkinson, S. (2022) 'Bright Lights, No City: Investigating Young People’s Suburban and Rural Drinkscapes.' Youth Beyond the City: Thinking from the Margins. Bristol University Press,
Von Benzon, N., Holton, M., Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2022) 'Introducing creative methods.' Creative Methods for Human Geographers. Sage,
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2022) 'Diversity and Cultural Differences.' Psychology of Education: Theory, Research and Evidence-Based Practice. Sage,
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2022) 'Sounds (Un)familiar: Young people’s Navigations of the Intersecting Landscape and Soundscape of a Community Radio Station.' Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. pp. 463-486.
Koops, T., Wilkinson, C., Perry, G., Wilkinson, S., Silverio, S. (2021) 'Making the cut: Mass media and the growing desire for genital cosmetic surgery by young women and girls.' Shame 4.0 Investigating an Emotion in Digital Worlds and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Silverio, S., Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2021) 'Academic ventriloquism: Tensions between inclusion, representation, and anonymity in qualitative research.' Handbook of Social Inclusion, Research and Practices in Health and Social Care.
Halliwell, J., Wilkinson, S. (2021) 'Mobile phones, text messaging and social media.' Creative Methods for Human Geographers. Sage,
Wilkinson, S. (2020) 'Mobile Methods for Exploring Young People's Everynight Mobilities.' Mundane Methods. Manchester University Press.,
Wilkinson, S. (2020) 'Introduction: Power, Identity and place.' Routledge Handbook on Place. Routledge,
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2020) 'Place, age and identity.' The Routledge Handbook of Place. pp. 225-234.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2019) 'All about that place: Tuning in to community radio-listener diary accounts.' Sounding Places: More-Than-Representational Geographies of Sound and Music. pp. 231-241.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2019) 'Childhood disability and clothing: (Un)dressing debates.' Intersectionality and Difference in Childhood and Youth: Global Perspectives. pp. 15-29.
Wilkinson, S. (2018) 'Young People, Alcohol and Suburban Nightscapes.' In Mateo, J., Eldridge, A. (ed.) Exploring Nightlife: Space, Society and Governance. Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 114-128.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2018) 'Principles of Participatory Research.' In Coyne, I., Carter, B. (ed.) Being Participatory: Researching with Children and Young People: Co-Constructing Knowledge Using Creative Techniques. Springer,
Wilkinson, S. (2018) 'Being Camilla: The Everyday Leisure Life of a Captive Chameleon.' In Carr, N., Young, J. (ed.) Wild Animals and Leisure: Rights and Wellbeing. Routledge,
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2018) 'Principles of participatory research.' Being Participatory: Researching with Children and Young People: Co-constructing Knowledge Using Creative Techniques. pp. 15-35.
Wilkinson, S. (2017) 'Young Women's Careful and Careless Drinking Geographies.' Children, Young People and Care. Routledge Spaces of Childhood and Youth Series,
Wilkinson, S. (2016) 'Young People's Drinking Geographies.' Geographies of Children and Young People.
Wilkinson, S. (2015) 'Young People’s Alcohol-Related Urban Im/Mobilities.' Drinking Dilemmas Space, Culture and Identity. Routledge,
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Journal articles
Wilkinson, S. (2024) 'Relational drinking geographies: towards vital flows and ‘open’ methods.' Dialogues in Human Geography, 14(1) pp. 117-120.
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2023) 'Pain, no gain? A joint-autoethnography of our working lives as academics with chronic illnesses.' International Journal of Changes in Education,
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2023) 'The role of positionality in research ‘gone wrong’: critical reflections on research involving young people.' Children's Geographies,
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2022) 'Not a hair out of place? Embracing messy positionality when researching the geographies of hair in Greater Manchester.' North West Geography, 22(1) pp. 11-16.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2022) 'Using Persona Dolls in research with children to combat the insider/outsider researcher status dilemma.' Children's Geographies, 20(3) pp. 375-380.
Pollock, K., Wilkinson, S., Perry-Young, L., Turner, N., Schneider, J. (2021) 'What do family care-givers want from domiciliary care for relatives living with dementia? A qualitative study.' Ageing and Society, 41(9) pp. 2060-2073.
Wilkinson, S., Badwan, K. (2021) 'Walk this way: the rhythmic mobilities of university students in Greater Manchester, UK.' Mobilities, 16(3) pp. 373-387.
Silverio, S.A., Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2021) 'The Male Gaze or Male Gays? From Romance to Bromance through Performances of Gender and Sexuality by two of Love Island's Favourite Characters.' Sexuality and Culture, 25(6) pp. 1990-2009.
Silverio, S.A., Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2020) 'The Powerful Student Consumer and the Commodified Academic: A Depiction of the Marketised UK Higher Education System through a Textual Analysis of the ITV Drama Cheat.' Sociological Research Online, 26(1) pp. 147-165.
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2020) 'Performing care: emotion work and ‘dignity work’ – a joint autoethnography of caring for our mum at the end of life.' Sociology of Health and Illness, 42(8) pp. 1888-1901.
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C., Silverio, S. (2020) 'Further uses for Grounded Theory: A methodology for psychological studies of the visual arts and written media.' Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin, 29
Wilkinson, C., Silverio, S.A., Wilkinson, S. (2020) 'The neoliberal university and the neurotic academic: A textual analysis of ITV drama Cheat.' Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45(2) pp. 257-269.
Badwan, K., Wilkinson, S. (2020) '‘Most of the people my age tend to move out’: Young men talking about place, community and belonging in Manchester.' Boyhood Studies, 12(2) pp. 29-50.
Travers, C., Schneider, J., Perry-Young, L., Wilkinson, S., Scales, K., Pollock, K. (2019) 'Using a Reflective Diary Method to Investigate the Experiences of Paid Home Care Workers Caring for People With Dementia.' Home Health Care Management and Practice, 32(1)
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2019) 'Young men's alcohol consumption experiences and performances of masculinity.' International Journal of Drug Policy, 81pp. 102550-102550.
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2019) 'Young people’s safety practices when drink walking in the suburbs of Manchester, UK.' The Scientific Papers of UNWE, 2019(1) pp. 199-217.
Wilkinson, S. (2019) '‘She was Like “Don’t Try This” and “Don’t Drink This” and “Don’t Mix These”’: Older Siblings and the Transmission of Embodied Knowledge Surrounding Alcohol Consumption.' Young, 28(3) pp. 242-258.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S., Saron, H. (2019) '"Wearing Me Place on Me Face": Scousebrows, Placemaking and Everyday Creativity.' Fashion Theory - Journal of Dress Body and Culture, 25(3) pp. 395-418.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2019) 'Towards a research emphasis on (un)hairiness and health.' Andrognyny, 3(2) pp. 27-31.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2019) 'The only way is ethics? Applying for National Health Service ethical approval and governance for research with children.' Children's Geographies, 17(4) pp. 480-486.
Schneider, J., Pollock, K., Wilkinson, S., Perry-Young, L., Travers, C., Turner, N. (2019) 'The subjective world of home care workers in dementia: an “order of worth” analysis.' Home Health Care Services Quarterly, 38(2) pp. 96-109.
Turner, N., Schneider, J., Pollock, K., Travers, C., Perry-Young, L., Wilkinson, S. (2018) ''Going the extra mile' for older people with dementia: exploring the voluntary labour of homecare workers.' Dementia, 19(7) pp. 2220-2233.
Wilkinson, S. (2018) 'The story of Samantha: the teaching performances and inauthenticities of an early career human geography lecturer.' Higher Education Research and Development,
Wilkinson, S. (2018) 'Young People, Alcohol, and Urban Life.' Oxford Bibliographies,
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2018) ''Working From Home': Academics and Airbnb, An Autoethnographic Account.' North West Geography, 18(1) pp. 11-17.
Wilkinson, S., Wilkinson, C. (2018) 'Night-Life and Young People’s Atmospheric Mobilities.' Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal, 3(2017) pp. 77-96.
Wilkinson, S. (2018) 'Researching Drinking ‘with’ Young People: A Palette of Methods.' Drugs and Alcohol Today, 18(1) pp. 6-16.
Wilkinson, S. (2017) 'Young people’s drinking spaces and Im/Mobilities: a case of ‘hyper’-diversity.' Journal of Youth Studies, 21(6) pp. 799-815.
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. (2017) 'Doing It Write: Representation and Responsibility in Writing Up Participatory Research Involving Young People.' Social Inclusion, 5(3) pp. 219-227.
Wilkinson, S. (2016) 'Drinking in the dark: shedding light on young people’s alcohol consumption experiences.' Social and Cultural Geography, 18(6) pp. 739-757.
Wilkinson, S. (2016) 'Atmospheres: Aesthetics of Emotional Spaces.' Emotion, Space and Society, 20pp. 25-26.
Wilkinson, S. (2016) 'Hold the phone! Culturally credible research ‘with’ young people.' Children's Geographies, 14(2) pp. 232-238.
Wilkinson, S. (2015) 'Book review: Imagining Globalization: Language, Identities, and Boundaries.' Progress in Human Geography, 39(2) pp. 236-237.
Wilkinson, S. (2015) 'Alcohol, young people and urban life.' Geography Compass, 9(3) pp. 115-126.
Press and media
Media appearances or involvement
Wilkinson, S. and Dye-Stonebridge, L. (2022). Why we need to talk about fertility in Higher Education. WONKE. [Online], available: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/why-we-need-to-talk-about-fertility-in-higher-… [5/04/2022]
Wilkinson, C., Wilkinson, S. and Silverio, S.A. (2019). Love Island 2019 needs bromance as much as romance to win hearts of viewers. Available at: http://theconversation.com/love-island-2019-needs-bromance-as-much-as-r…. Over 12245 reads, predominantly in UK, Australia, US, and India.