Dr Kieran Higgins

Overview

Dr Kieran Higgins is a Lecturer in Higher Education Practice, based within the Centre for Curriculum Enhancement & Approval. Kieran assists course teams in (re)designing curricula that align with Ulster’s Principles and Qualities for Learning, Teaching and the Student Experience, and ensuring that curricula submitted for approval adhere to agreed processes, standards and legislation.

Institutionally, Kieran is responsible for advancing the agendas of Education for Sustainable Development, inclusive education and an enhanced first-year experience via induction and transition.

Kieran is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, mentoring and assessing fellowship applications under the ENHANCE scheme. He teaches across the professional learning programmes available at Ulster University, including First Steps to Teaching, the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice (PGCHEP) and the Master of Education in Higher Education Practice. He is module co-ordinator for PHE708: Designing a Contemporary Curriculum, the first module of the 2nd year of the PGCHEP.

He was previously Lecturer (Education) in Sustainable Development at Queen's University Belfast and Programme Director of the MSc Leadership for Sustainable Development, and Lecturer in Special Needs Education at Belfast Metropolitan College.

Research Interests

Kieran in an applied psychologist working in the domain of sustainability, with particular focus on the fields of environment, food, health, and education. His research is driven by a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, questioning through critical and pragmatic lenses who is excluded from or disadvantaged by sustainability dialogues, with emphasis on queer identities, theories and pedagogies.

His early work focused on public attitudes and behaviours, particularly those of consumers, towards environmental resources. With a growing specialisation in higher education studies and practice, Kieran is an internationally recognised scholar in the field of Education for Sustainable Development, and currently carries out SoTL-orientated research into the curriculum design methods and pedagogical approaches needed to build sustainability competencies in graduates.

His work hopes to reimagine higher education systems, teaching and curricula to those that are more sustainable and inclusive, aiming to build the decarbonized and decolonised universities of the future that empower our students as champions of a better world.