Carlene Cornish

I joined UEA in September 2019. Originally from South Africa, I have both local and international experience in social work, probation and academic research. I have various academic qualifications and professional experiences across a range of disciplines, which includes postgraduate and professional qualifications in Social Work, Probation Services and Education. These qualifications led to specialist practice in areas of child protection, fostering and adoption, youth offending and restorative justice.

Within the School of Social Work and Faculty of Social Science, I play a significant leadership role in the following key areas: I am the Admissions Director for the Social Work and Sociology degrees and also play an active role in the SNSWTP Admissions Workgroup, regularly meeting with colleagues across the Teaching Partnership discussing, monitoring and evaluating current social work recruitment and admissions strategies across Norfolk and Suffolk regions. Demonstrating academic leadership, I am Co-Chair on the Vice Chancellor's Taskforce on Race Equality and also Co-Chair of the Academic Staff Workstream on Race Equality. Through my active involvement in this REC working group, I have established close collaborative networks with colleagues across UEA and especially peers in the Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) Staff Network. Evidence of me raising UEA’s profile, is notable in my advisory work with Norfolk County Council, assisting the local authority in their evaluation of social work practice. I was Project Lead on the SUC project, responsible for co-ordinating the creation of a digital library resource, aiding the improvement in social work provision in the Norfolk and Suffolk areas. I am Chair of the ARPCE (Research Organisation's)  Sub-group, leading meetings with other UK academics organising an online Social Justice Seminar Series. 

Following the completion of my PhD in Sociology, I contribute to research and scholarly activities through journal publications and conference attendance. I have an undergraduate social work qualification and Honours and Masters qualifications in Probation and Correctional Practice. My teaching qualifications include a PGCE qualification with QTLS as well as Fellowship status with the Higher Education Academy (HEA). I am a registered Social Worker with Social Work England occasionally working as an independent consultant social worker with British Association of Social Workers (BASW). 

The acquisition of my PhD, teaching qualifications, industry knowledge and experience, and ongoing research activities evidence my commitment to excellent teaching in the HE context

Director of Admissions for Social Work and Sociology degrees

Co-Chair on Vice Chancellor's Taskforce on the Race Equality Charter

Co-Chair on REC Academic Workstream

Academic Advisor Link with Norwich City College

Teaching Partnership Lead Norfolk and Suffolk

Dissertation Supervisor 

External Examiner

Marginalised youth, i.e youth in care, school dropouts, socially excluded and Not in Education Employment Training NEET) youth

Race, Inequality and Social Work Practice

Children and Families - Child Protection, Fostering and Adoptions

Youth Offending, Probation Services and Child Criminal Sexual Exploitation

I have various academic qualifications and professional experiences across a range of disciplines, which includes postgraduate and professional qualifications in Social Work, Probation Services and Education. These qualifications led to specialist practice in areas of child protection, fostering and adoption, youth offending and restorative justice. My teaching qualifications include a PGCE qualification with QTLS as well as Fellowship status with the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Since my appointment in the School, I have used my scholarship hours to expand my social work profile to align with a focus on Race and Social Work Education. Consequently, I have published in this area of Race and Social Work alongside research on the Marginalised and Excluded youth in the Education Sector.  Additionally, I have undertaken various engagement activities on Race within the University, our School as well as Norfolk County Council, which I will further discuss in the next section. I represent a small working group in the School, actively engaging BAME Social Work students, to discover how we can promote racially sensitive support and academic teaching for our BAME students.

Furthermore, drawing on my social work expertise, I have recently completed a peer review report for the NSPCC’s 10-year evaluation of their service, which furthermore demonstrates opportunities which I have used to raise our School’s profile and collaborative engagement with a key organisation delivering essential social work services in the community. Furthermore, through my regular attendance at conferences, it raised my research profile and I was approached and am now on the Editorial Board of ARPCE (Association for Research in Post Compulsory Education). As UEA staff, I lead as Chair of the ARPCE sub-group responsible for Seminar and Conference planning. I have been able to publish journal articles, mainly in England and also in Europe. I have several publications in the Sociology of Education field relevant to my PhD in Sociology qualification. Known for my PhD research on disengaged and NEET (not in education, employment and training) youth, Professor Pam Cox from the University of Essex invited me to work collaboratively on an evaluation research project on Antisocial Behaviour in Colchester. The project was commissioned through Colchester Borough Council’s Safer Partnership Group, The University of Essex Hefce-funded Catalyst initiative and local partnership agencies to assist in the development of interventions to reduce ASB, improve the life chances of marginal young people and make better use of community assets. In collaboration with others, I played an active role in the submission of funding application for this evaluation study, and in this role, I closely worked with a range of local businesses and partnership agencies within the private and public sector. I am the first author of the report, titled Young Colchester: Life Chances, Assets and Anti-social Behaviour (ASB). Furthermore, I discovered that leading scholars were also aware of my work when an Editor at Palgrave Macmillan approached me to review two Book Proposals after my name was listed as one of five experts in the area of NEET and Marginalised Youth. I have subsequently completed the two review reports, making recommendations accordingly. Another key responsibility is my role as Partnership Link, representing UEA and our School of Social Work at this Government funded Teaching Partnership (TP). Through this collaborative engagement, we consolidate our strong working relationships with Norfolk County Council, Suffolk County Council, University of Suffolk and the Service User and Carer’s Group and UEA thus contributes in enhancing initial and continuing training of social workers in the region. Also, with the release of government funding for TPs, I am Project Lead and our SWK School leads on this project, designed to involve community members by creating a digital resource to capture and share Service User and Carers’ experiences of social work, consequently shaping and educating academics, social workers and trainees in Norfolk and Suffolk regions.

I teach on the folowing courses: 

BA Year 1: Social Work in Context, Social Work Skills, Introduction to Social Sciences

BA Year 2: Case Assessment,Case Study & Working with Diversity

BA Year 3: Research Dissertation and Supervision

MA Year 1: Working with Diversity 

MA Year 2: Child Observation Study & MA Dissertation Supervision