Dr Nathan Fretwell joined Middlesex University in June 2016. Prior to that he taught at London Metropolitan University and the University of Essex. He has substantial experience of undertaking funded research and has previously worked as an educational researcher for the Institute for Policy Studies in Education. Nathan has a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Essex and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Nathan's research primarily focuses on the relationships between families, schools and wider education services. His current research explores the affective, moral, and political dimensions of parental activism in education.
Nathan has expertise in the following areas:
BA (Hons) Philosophy, London Metropolitan University
PGCLTHE, London Metropolitan University
MA Philosophy, University of Essex
PhD Philosophy, University of Essex
English
Nathan teaches on the BA Education Studies, BA Early Childhood Studies, and MA Childhood and Education in Diverse Societies programmes.
He currently leads the following modules:
Nathan would be interested to hear from any prospective research students wishing to undertake research in the following areas:
Current Research Students
Fretwell, N. (2020) The New Educational Pastorate: Link Workers, Pastoral Power and the Pedagogicalisation of Parenting. Special Issue: "Reimagining ‘Childhood, Motherhood, Family and Community’", Genealogy 4(2), 37 https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4020037
Fretwell, N. (2019) Anarchist Education and the Paradox of Pedagogical Authority. Educational Philosophy and Theory. DOI:10.1080/00131857.2019.1594196
Fretwell, N., Osgood, J., O’Toole, G. & Tsouroufli, M. (2018) Governing through trust: Community-based link workers and parental engagement in education. British Educational Research Journal, 44(6), pp. 1047-1063. DOI:10.1002/berj.3478
Fretwell, N. (2021) ‘Between Home and School: Mobilising ‘Hard to Reach’ parents to engage with their children’s education’ in A. Ross (ed.) Educational Research for Social Justice - Evidence and Practice from the UK. Berlin: Springer. 10.1007/978-3-030-62572-6
Fretwell, Nathan and Barker, John (2022) From active to activist parenting: educational struggle and the injuries of institutionalised misrecognition. In: Reinventing 'the family' in uncertain times: education, policy and social justice. Moreau, Marie-Pierre and Lee, Catherine and Okpokiri, Cynthia , eds. Bloomsbury, London. (Accepted/In press)
Fretwell, Nathan (2021) Between home and school: mobilising ‘hard to reach’ parents to engage with their children’s education. In: Educational Research for Social Justice: Evidence and Practice from the UK. Ross, Alistair , ed. Education Science, Evidence, and the Public Good, 1 . Springer International Publishing, pp. 97-116. ISBN 9783030625719
Fretwell, Nathan (2020) The new educational pastorate: link workers, pastoral power and the pedagogicalisation of parenting. Genealogy , 4 (2). ISSN 2313-5778
Fretwell, Nathan (2020) Anarchist education and the paradox of pedagogical authority. Educational Philosophy and Theory , 52 (1). pp. 55-65. ISSN 0013-1857
Fretwell, Nathan and Osgood, Jayne and O'Toole, Gill and Tsouroufli, Maria (2018) Governing through trust: community-based link workers and parental engagement in education. British Educational Research Journal , 44 (6). pp. 1047-1063. ISSN 0141-1926
Nathan has undertaken research for a variety of different funding bodies, including local government departments, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and the European Commission.
