Cathy OtaI have always been curious and intrigued by how people understand themselves and others as well as how they interact and work together.  Education and our relationships with others have a fundamental impact on who and what we are, as well as how we feel about ourselves.  I have followed that interest as a researcher and author and now as an advocate and trainer in improved teaching methods and approaches and facilitator of groups and organsiations to help them to both identify their objectives more clearly and to perform and deliver more effectively.

I passionately believe that by improving our personal social and group working understanding and abilities we can have a positive and beneficial impact on the wider society that we live in.

From children as young as 2 years old (as shown by Pumpkin Patch, using the WWO approach in Canada) to established Education Partners (such as the Royal Academy of Engineering in their support of the Engineering Diploma) my range of groupwork training and facilitation workshops and programmes are having a dramatic impact on personal satisfaction and group achievement.

If you would like to know how together we could be having an immediate and positive impact on your pupils, staff, school, school network, teams and organsiation, please call me on 07817 363193 for an informal chat or email me at cathy@cathyota.com.

Previous Roles
2006-2009 - Director
Working With Others Research and Education Unit, University of Brighton. 

2004-2006 - Research Fellow then Senior Research Fellow
Working With Others Research and Education Unit, Education Research Centre, University of Brighton.

2001-2004 - Research Fellow
SPRinG Project, Education Research Centre, University of Brighton.

1999-2001 - Section 23 Inspections Manager
Secondment to RC Diocese of Arundel & Brighton & Southwark Schools Service.

1998 -2001 - Part-time Lecturer in Education and RE
University of Brighton, East Sussex.

1997-2001 - Research Fellow
The Children and WorldViews Project, jointly employed by University College Chichester, West Sussex and King Alfred's College, Winchester.

1995 -2000 - Part-time Lecturer
Undergraduate and post-graduate courses in Research Methodology, Education and Social Work, Chichester Institute of Higher Education, West Sussex. 

1994–1997 - Research Assistant and PhD Student
The Children and WorldViews Project, Chichester Institute of Higher Education, West Sussex.

International Collaboration
Canada
March 2007 – present: Following 12 month piloting and development of Working With Others programme at Pumpkin Patch Daycare Centre, Hamilton, Ontario now extending to further early years settings.

Barbados and Trinidad
May 2004 – two week visit to present seminars, provide individual supervision to teachers developing groupwork with the pupils.

Consultancy and Further Experience

2008-2009 - Principal Investigator, EYPS (Early Years Professional Status) Recruitment and Retention Research Project. Funded by CWDC grant.

2008 - Principal Investigator, Moving against the grain? An examination of the efficacy of touch based interventions in fostering children's social relationships in a climate of suspicion. Funded by British Academy small research grant.

2007 - External Examiner for PhD thesis, Massey University, New Zealand.

2006-2007 - Scientific Committee Member for Conference: Reclaiming Relational Pedagogy in Early Childhood: Learning from International Experience, Anglia Rushkin University, UK, 19-21 April 2007.

2006 - Convening Team Manager, Seventh International Conference on Children’s Spirituality, held at University of Winchester, UK, 23-27th July.

2006 - External Examiner for PhD thesis, School of Religious Education, Australian Catholic University, Victoria, Australia. (Brendan Hyde, ‘Identifying some characteristics of children’s spirituality in Australian Catholic Primary Schools: A study within hermeneutic phenomenology‘).

2005 - Second supervisor, University of Brighton for 2  PhD students and 1 EdD student.

2004-6 - Core Group Member for ESRC Seminar Series: Spirituality and Lifelong Learning.

2003 - External Examiner for PhD thesis, University of Sussex.

2002 - Convening Team Manager, Third International Conference on Children’s Spirituality, held at King Alfred’s College Winchester, UK, 9-12th July.

1999-2001 - Chair of Governors for St Mary’s Primary School, Portslade, Brighton.

1999-2000 - Consultant to Local Education Authorities, Health Authorities, Local Co-ordinators and schools to develop auditing and evaluation instruments for the Healthy Schools Scheme.

1998-1999 - Vice-Chair of Governors for St Mary’s Primary, Portslade, Brighton.

1997-1998 - Governor for St Mary’s Primary School, Portslade, Brighton.

1997-1998 - Member of Working Party of Portslade schools to develop drug policy and curriculum framework for Brighton and Hove Schools.

Achievements  

• Co-founder of Association for Children’s Spirituality (from 2006)
• Co-founder of the Working With Others Research and Education Unit, Education Research Centre, University of Brighton (from 2004)
• Project Manager & Convening Team for Annual International Conference on Children’s Spirituality (from July 2000)
• Co-editor of The International Journal of Children’s Spirituality (from 1999)
• Chair of Governors for St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Portslade, Brighton (1999-2001)

Journals Edited

1999-date - Co-Editor, The International Journal of Children’s Spirituality.

1996–1999 - Commissioning & Book Reviews Editor, The International Journal of Children’s Spirituality.

Series Co-editor (books)
Issues in Spiritual Education published by Sussex Academic Press

Publications
Books
Baines, E., Blatchford, P., Kutnick, P. with Chowne, A., Ota, C. and Berdondini, L. (2009) Promoting Effective Groupwork in the Primary Classroom – A Handbook for Teachers and Practitioners.  London: Routledge.

Ota, C. & Chater, M. (ed.) (2007) Spiritual education in a divided world: Social, environmental and pedagogical perspectives on the spirituality of children and young people, London, Taylor and Francis.

Ota, C. & Erricker, C. (ed.) (2005) Spiritual Education: Literary, Empirical and Pedagogical Approaches, Sussex, Sussex Academic Press.  

Erricker, J., Ota, C. & Erricker, C. (ed.) (2001) Spiritual Education – Cultural, Religious and Social Differences: New Perspectives for the 21st Century, Sussex, Sussex Academic Press.  

Erricker, J., Ota, C. & Erricker, C. (1999) Developing Emotional Literacy – a guide for teachers, in house publication, King Alfred College Winchester.

Erricker, C., Erricker, J. Ota, C., Logan, J. and Sullivan, D. (1997) The Education of the Whole Child, Issues in Education Series, London, Cassell. 

Chapters
Ota, C. (2009) Building a Safe and Inclusive Classroom for Children with Special Needs - a spiritual and social relational approach to holistic learning and well being, In De Souza, M. International Handbook on Education for spirituality, care and wellbeing, The Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Ota, C. and Berdondini, L. (2007) Building Bridges and Right Relations: A Study in Fostering Spiritual, Moral and Social Growth Through Groupwork Skills with Young Children, In De Souza, M. (Ed.) International Handbook on the Religious, Moral and Spiritual Dimensions of Education, The Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Ota, C. (2007) A Risky Business: The potential of groupwork for spiritual education in a divided classroom, In:  Spiritual education in a divided world: Social, environmental and pedagogical perspectives on the spirituality of children and young people, London, Taylor and Francis.

Berdondini, L., and Ota, C. (2005) Comunicare le emozioni: contento o triste? (Communicating emotions: happy or sad?). In Genta, M. L. (Ed.) Io sono, tu sei: competenze infantili e scoperta dell’altro a 4 anni (I am, you are: children’s competence and discovery of the others at 4 years old). Carrocci.

Ota, C. (2001) 'Nurture in Catholic Schools: A Question of Identity and Pedagogical Effectiveness', in: Spiritual Education – Cultural, Religious and Social Differences: New Perspectives for the 21st Century edited by Erricker, J., Ota, C and Erricker, C., Sussex, Sussex Academic Press. pp260-275.

Articles
Macintyre, H., Colwell, J. and Ota, C. (2010) Moving against the grain? Investigating the efficacy of a touch-based intervention in a climate of suspicion. International Journal of Pastoral Care.

Kutnick, P., Ota, C. and Berdondini, L. (2007) Improving the effects of groupworking in classrooms with young school-aged children; facilitating attainment, interaction and classroom activity, Learning and Instruction.

Ota, C. (2006) A Risky Business: The potential of groupwork for spiritual education in a divided classroom, International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 11 (1).

Bosacki, S. & Ota, C. (2000) 'Preadolescents' Voices: A consideration of British and Canadian children's reflections on religion, spirituality and their sense of self', International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 5(2), December. pp.203-219.

Ota, C. (2000) ‘Stories Told and Lessons Learned: Meeting Beliefs, Values and Community through Narrative and Dialogue’, Journal of Beliefs and Values, 21(2), 189-201.

Erricker, J., Ota, C. and Erricker, C. (1999) ‘Children and Adults, Their Spirituality – What’s the Connection?’, Alister Hardy Occasional Paper.

Ota, C., Erricker, C. & Erricker, J. (1997) ‘The Secrets of the Play Ground, Pastoral Care in Education, 15(4), December, 19-24.

Ota, C. (1997) ‘Learning to Juggle - the experience of Muslim and Sikh children coping with different value systems’, The International Journal of Beliefs and Values, 18(2), 227-234.

Erricker, C. & Ota, C. (1996) 'Comment les enfants construisent la realite: expressiens conceptuelles de la religion implicite' ('Children's Constructions of Reality: Conceptual Expressions of Implicit Religion'), Religiologiques, Montreal, Canada.

Erricker, C. & Ota, C. (1996/7) 'Conflict and Loss in Children's Experience', World Religions in Education - National Journal of the SHAP Working Party, 1996/7. 

Erricker, C. & Ota, C. (1995/6) 'Living A Life: Relating Children's Thinking to the SCAA Model Syllabuses', World Religions in Education - National Journal of the SHAP Working Party, Autumn 1995.

Ota, C. (1995)  'Research Network Report - The Children & Worldviews Project', SPES - The Newsletter of the Centre for Research into Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Education (RIMSCUE), at the University of Plymouth, No. 2.

Ota, C. (1995) 'Children Searching for Meaning', Resource, Spring 1995.

Ota, C. (1994) 'The Development of Children's Worldviews', Journal of Beliefs and Values, 15(2).

Papers Presented - by invitation
2009     ‘Creating spiritual spaces with children: The importance of trust and relationships’, Creating Spiritual Spaces for Children and Young People’, Spiritual England, London, 21 May.

2006 - ‘Creating Conversation’, ESRC Seminar Series, Researching Spirituality as a Dimension of Lifelong Learning, Exeter University, UK, 10 February.

2005 - ‘Developing Effective Groupwork in Primary School Classrooms – A Social-Relational Approach’, West Sussex Primary Headteacher’s Conference, 3 February.

2005 - 'Spiritual Narratives: Empowering Children for Lifelong Learning', ESRC Seminar Series, Researching Spirituality as a Dimension of Lifelong Learning, Post-Conference to the Annual SCUTREA Conference, 8 July.

2001 - ‘Nurture, Narrative And Other Knitting Patterns: Religious Education In UK Church Schools’, School of Education, University of Birmingham, Research Seminar, 6 December.

1998 - ‘Children and Adults – What’s the Connection?’, Alister Hardy Annual Lecture, Westminster College, Oxford, 7 November.

1998 - ‘Writing a Phd and Research in Church Schools’, Postgraduate Research Seminar, Chichester Institute of Higher Education, West Sussex, 22 September.

Papers Presented
2006 - ‘Practical Steps Towards Building Social Capital in School Communities:  Issues of Trust and Contemporary Spirituality’, VII International Conference on Children’s Spirituality, University of Winchester, UK, 23-27 July.

2005 -  ‘Special Needs: Groupwork and Social Inclusion in Primary Classes’, XIIth European Conference on Developmental Psychology, Tenerife, 24-28 August.

2005 - ‘Peer Support as a Framework of Supervision for Teachers’, 10th Annual Teaching and Learning Conference, University of Brighton, 15 July.

2005 - ‘Spirituality and the Reflective Practitioner in Education’, 6th International Conference on Children’s Spirituality, Rabat, Malta, 12-14 July.

2004 - ‘Collaborative Learning in the Workplace: Developing the Professional Autonomy of Teachers’, Learning at Work Conference, Centre for Learning and Teaching, University of Brighton, UK, 12 November.

2004 - ‘A Risky Business: The Potential of Groupwork Skills for Spiritual Education’, Fifth International Conference on Children’s Spirituality, Bishop Grosseteste College, Lincoln, UK, 19-23 July.

2002 - ‘Faith and Identity in Asian Primary Aged Children’, Third International Conference on Children’s Spirituality, King Alfred’s College, Winchester, UK, 7-11 July.

2001 -  ‘Nurture, Narrative And Other Knitting Patterns: Religious Education In UK Church Schools’, School of Education, University of Birmingham, Research Seminar, 6 December.

2001 - ‘The Meaning of Life and Other Spiritual Quests: Spiritual Growth and Adult-Child Relationships’, Second International Conference on Children’s Spirituality, University of Haifa, Israel, 2-6 August.

2000 -  ‘Marking Out An Identity: The Place of Spirituality in UK Catholic Schools Today’, First International Conference on Children’s Spirituality, University College Chichester, West Sussex, UK, 9-12th July.

1999 -  ‘Knitting Patterns and Telling Stories: Religion and the Development of Worldviews’, Religion, Text and Performance, Annual NATFHE Religious Studies Conference, Digby Stuart College, Roehampton Institute London, 9 -10 July.

1998 - ‘Stories Told and Lessons Learned: Meeting Beliefs, Values and Community through Narrative and Dialogue’, Sixth International Conference on Education, Spirituality and the Whole Child, Roehampton Institute, London, 17-19 June.

1998 - Religious Education and Personal Development in Denominational Schools: A Marriage Built To Last?’, The International Seminar on Religious Education and Values '98 (ISREV), Trinity College, Carmarthen, Wales, 9–14 August.

1998 -  ‘Relationships and Conversations – A Grounding for SCMS’, Fifth Annual Conference on Education, Spirituality and the Whole Child, Roehampton Institute, London, 19-20 June.

1997 - ‘‘I’m sorry we can’t answer your call but if you leave your message we’ll get back to you when we can’ – the experience of being on the receiving end of messages given by denominational schools’, Fourth Annual Conference on Education, Spirituality and the Whole Child – ‘Getting the Message?’, Roehampton Institute, London, 20–21 June.

1996 -  ‘Spirituality and Morality - The Roles of Church Schools’, Engaging the Curriculum - Spirituality and Moral Development Forum, La Sainte Union College of Higher Education, Southampton, 13-14 December.

1996 - ‘What Happens When People Die: The Place of the Media in Constructing Children's Narratives’, The International Seminar on Religious Education and Values '96 (ISREV), University of Judaism, Los Angeles, USA, 11-16 August.

1996      ‘Learning to Juggle - the experience of Muslim and Sikh children coping with different value systems’, Third Annual Conference on Education, Spirituality and the Whole Child, Roehampton Institute, London, 28-29 June.

1996 - ‘Educating the Whole Child - The Work of the Children and Worldviews Project’, Liberating the Vision Summer School 1996, Centre for Contemporary Theology, La Sainte Union College of Higher Education, 27 May.

1996 - ‘Between Two Cultures: Listening To Muslim Children’, Lenten talk, La Sainte Union College, University of Southampton, 21 March.

1995 -  ‘Using Children's Worldviews’, Conference of University Lecturers of Religious Education (CULRE), November.

1995 -  ‘Using Children's Worldviews’, West Sussex RE Teacher’s Association, 18 October.

1995 -  ‘True Stories and Other Dreams: Listening to Children’, Hampshire Conference on RE, Winchester, Hampshire, 20 October.

1995 - ‘The Secret World of the Playground’, Education, Spirituality and the Whole Child: Expressions of Spirituality, Roehampton Institute, London, 23-24 June.

1995 -  ‘Children’s Constructions of Reality: Conceptual Expressions of Implicit Religion’, Conference for the Study of Implicit Religion - Denton XVIII, 12-14 May.

1994 - ‘The Development of Children’s Worldviews’, NATFE Conference, Birmingham, 16 September.

Institutions Attended and Qualifications

1998 - University College Chichester, Southampton University, PhD - The Place of Religious Education in the Development of Children’s Worldviews.

1990 - Heythrop College, University of London, Master of Theology (MTh), Pastoral Theology and Pastoral Care.

1989 - St Mary’s College, University of Surrey, B.A. (Hons.) Theology, Religious Studies and Sociology.

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