Julia Reeve is a De Montfort University (DMU) Teacher Fellow and has worked in both academic and professional services roles: she works across disciplines, building confidence and creative thinking via imaginative, sensory learning including LEGO® Serious Play®, collage and drawing.
Her background in fashion design informs her teaching philosophy, which combines a constructionist ‘Thinking with the hands’ approach with compassionate pedagogy. She is particularly interested in emotional aspects of learning, and her pedagogy focuses on the development of self-awareness and empathy, supporting social connection and mental wellbeing through playfulness and creativity.
She shares her pedagogic practice via publication, conference contributions and social media, regularly blogging about her work via her Compassion Play blog. Her most recent publication, “Talking to myself: reflections on Reframing” considers using creative practice within Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).
Julia is Co-chair of DMU’s committee of Teacher Fellows, National Teaching Fellows and Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) winners, offering members support, raising their profile and providing opportunities for collaboration. As a DMU Teacher Fellow and pioneer of innovative pedagogy, she consistently supports and inspires colleagues at DMU. As a professional services member of staff who has previously worked as an academic she has a clear understanding of the challenges that academic colleagues face.
Her work is informed by a childhood love of imaginative play, she has never lost the fascination with making things by hand, whether drawing, collage or model-making. Creativity and imagination, central to her practice, she has developed a range of innovative, multisensory pedagogic tools that can be used in a range of disciplinary and learning contexts. Having had personal and professional experience of the impact of mental health issues, Julia has a deep empathy for mental wellbeing. She has intertwined her focus on the wellbeing of learners, awareness of learning differences and expertise as a Lego Serious Play facilitator to develop innovative, inclusive tools that embed mental wellbeing into the curriculum.
