Korrin Smith-Whitehouse

Having gained her teaching qualification in 2002, Korrin began her school career as an English Teacher before taking on management and senior leadership roles in various schools in South London.

She has worked at local (The Royal and Derngate) and national (The Poetry Society) arts organisations as Head of Education, promoting inclusion in the arts and widening participation of marginalised groups.  

From 2014-2019, Korrin began working in alternative provision, and was a senior leader in a pupil referal unit in South London, supporting young people with specific learning needs who had been excluded from mainstream school. Korrin's Masters dissertation explored the needs of excluded pupils on work experience placements.

In 2019, Korrin founded a local voluntary organisation (Northants Home Education Support) championing the needs of young people ‘out of education’, offering free advice, resources and teaching through the Right2Learn programme.

Korrin began working at the University of Northampton in 2020 and is a Senior Lecturer on the SEND and Inclusion team. She is currently coordinator for one of the Centre for Education and Research’s special interest groups: Education in Schools.

Korrin is also a published poet and founder and director of Public Sector Poetry Journal, a publication exploring ethnographic poetry written by professionals in Education, Health and Social Care to research the lived experiences of those working in our public sector.

Korrin's research interests are:

Childen's rights to education;

Off-rollling and home education;

Teacher identity and wellbeing;

Creative writing and its role in reflective practice;

Empowering children and eliciting voice;

The use of the arts as a tool for empowerment and inclusion