John leads the MA International Social Work and Community Development programme at the University of Central Lancashire, and contributes to other programmes in social policy, community and social care and community leadership. He also teaches research methods on the Professional Doctorate in Community and Social Care: Policy and Practice, and supervises a number of doctoral students. John’s most recent research projects include a systematic review in the field of relationship education, a study of young people and employment, a study of social value, and an analysis of the free libraries movement internationally. He edits the Journal of Community Research, and is actively involved in a range of academic networks.
John has many years of involvement in community-based learning, community organising and academic lecturing. He was first introduced to the frameworks and processes of the Paris-based Ecumenical Institute for the Development of Peoples, of which Paulo Freire was the first president, as a young community activist. He has continued his involvement in this work through the Freire Institute, as well as through academic work at the University of York, the University of Manchester and the University of Central Lancashire. John has conducted extensive community-based research with trade unions, voluntary organisations and faith-based bodies. John was the co-organizer of international Paulo Freire conferences in the UK in 2014, and Cyprus in 2017.
