Dr Caroline Kuhn

Personal statement

Dr Caroline Kuhn’s research sits at the intersection of education, with an emphasis on critical pedagogy, mathematics, sociology, philosophy and digital technology. Her work advances critical and social justice approaches in digital, open and higher education contexts. Her values and commitment to open practices and research in open education has been recognised with the Fred Mulder Award. With a rich international background—having lived, studied, and worked in Venezuela, Spain, and the Netherlands before joining Bath Spa University—she brings a truly global perspective to her research and teaching.

Driven by a concern for social justice and informed by critical pedagogy, Dr Kuhn has led high impact projects. As a Principal Investigator on the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project “Understanding Data: Praxis and Politics” (2020-2021), she collaborated with an international team to design, develop, and pilot an ecology of open educational resources (OER) that enhances and fosters critical data literacy among educators across Latin America, Europe and Africa.

The resources were used in locally focused pilot events and courses in collaboration with local leaders. The initiative innovatively combines OER and OEP to produce negotiated, locally relevant learning experiences to foster participants’ reflection, research, and practice transformation. The project significance and reach were acknowledged with the UNESCO OER Implementation Award for Excellence 2021 and has led to publications on data justice and critical data literacy in HE.

More recently, Dr Kuhn led the Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded project "Impact from the Ground" (2023-2024). Working in partnership with community leaders from Kinangop, Kenya, this initiative empowers smallholder farmers in the dairy industry through innovative Futures Literacy Laboratories. The project is testament of her commitment to community-centered education and resulted in the development of the Kitambaa learning framework, which effectively bridges local knowledge with scientific inquiry and proposes a convivial approach to technology.

Dr Kuhn is also advancing methodological discourse through her collaboration on a seminar series introducing critical realism, making this philosophy of social science more accessible to emerging scholars and illuminating its implications for educational research. 

She welcomes inquiries from prospective PhD students interested in exploring any of her areas of interest including critical approaches to AI. Her multicultural background and experience working across different educational systems make her particularly well-suited to supervise international students. Feel free to contact her to explore the unique opportunities a PhD at Bath Spa University can offer and how your interests align with her ongoing work. 

Academic qualifications

• Diploma, Teaching for Understanding (with a focus on student's understanding) - Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Professional Teaching Qualification (Spanish as a second language) - Cervantes Institute
• MA - University of Barcelona (Spain)
• MA - University of Simon Bolivar (Venezuela)
• BA (Hons) - Pedagogical University J.M. Siso Martinez, Venezuela

Professional memberships

• BERA (British Education Research Association)
• Fellow – Higher Education Academy (HEA)
• ALT (Association for Learning Technology)
• SRA (Social Research Association)
• SRHE (Society for Research in Higher Education)
• GOER-GN (Global Open Educational Resources Graduate Network)
• STEM Ambassador
• Freire Institute, University of Central Lancashire
• Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) 

Other external roles

• Coordinator of the thematic group Innovation, Technology and Design, at the Human Development and Capability Association

Areas of research and expertise

• Open educational practices
• Critical digital and data literacy
• Research methods for social science
• Mathematics education
• Qualitative methodology
• Technology enhanced learning
• Critical pedagogy
• Critical studies of AI
• Critical Realism

Teaching

Caroline teaches on the following modules:

• Research Methods for Social Sciences
• Learning in Mathematics
• Digital Inequalities in Times of Automation and Social (In)justices
• Critical Pedagogies for Sustainable Futures

Awards

• Winner - Best Open Research Practice 2019, Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN), Open University, UK. "Caroline Kuhn embodies open practice throughout her research, and has been one of the most active members of the GO-GN community."

Impact

• Since 2015, Caroline has volunteered on a monthly basis at BRLSI (Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution), where she works with young students (13+) that are interested in pursuing a small research project in a STEM subject. The programme aims to provide opportunities which put the young person and their interests at the centre of their own learning. Through this work, she is able to share her research journey with young researchers, while also inspiring and supporting them with their own interests and improving their research skills.