Vernee Samuel
holywellpercy.co.uk
Vernee Samuel
Education Research and Diversity Training
My guiding philosophy is that better relationships lead to better outcomes - for students, for educators, for everyone. My research builds on the evidence that improving rapport among and between educators and students, increases well-being, belonging and attainment, particularly for disadvantaged students. I now run bespoke research projects; deliver race and equality training that focuses on people and relationships, rather than heroes and villains; and provide consultancy for schools, universities and businesses looking for practical strategies to improve rapport in the classroom or workplace.
Lauren Cracknell, Associate Director, King's Academy,
Kings College London
At King’s we have a strong focus on the belonging and wellbeing of our students. We are also committed to addressing attainment gaps and the complex reasons this can occur. We began our collaboration with Vernee in early 2021 following recommendation of her research thesis and began developing the Common Ground project to examine student/staff rapport. As the project initially launched we immediately identified this was an area of importance for our staff through the huge interest in and willingness to take part. Through 21/22 Vernee has worked closely with King’s Academy, Faculty staff and, students exploring the project and the methods we can use to build that connection in our learning environments. We highly commend the way she has worked with our King’s community on sometimes sensitive and personally challenging experiences, always seeking to examine constructive ways we can build rapport. We are confident the learning we have gained from this research will continue to be embedded and applied at King’s.
Laura Ellener, Head Teacher Chiswick School
Vernee delivered an inspiring and incredibly useful keynote speech at inset day which allowed staff to consider the idea of rapport and the research around how this can impact students academic progress at school. The session allowed staff to consider how their interactions and the research around this could support our learners, particularly those who face socio economic challenges. Vernee facilitated questions and debate and the session was incredibly well received with staff enjoying relating research to their own practice.
Prof. Carol Vincent & Dr Sara Bragg, UCL Institute of Education
Vernee is an excellent and inspiring writer and researcher. Her interests focus on ways in which the education system can be made more socially just, and within this she has a particular interest in how class and race shape student experiences of schooling. She communicates clearly and vividly in both written and spoken forms, and is skilled at communicating complex theoretical ideas in ways that are accessible, practical and immediate. This enables her to effectively translate research findings into policy recommendations. Due to the strength of her dissertation, we invited her to be a keynote speaker at our MA student dissertation conference. She provided a wonderful recorded presentation in advance and was an excellent panel member at the event itself.
