Dr Dandan (Doreen) Chen

Contact details

Address

Street

Moray House School of Education and Sport

City
University of Edinburgh (Holyrood Campus)
Post code
EH8 8AQ

Biography

Background

Dandan is a highly driven, resilient, and innovative educator and interdisciplinary researcher dedicated to advancing pedagogical excellence and transformative scholarship. She currently serves as an Associate Tutor at the University of Edinburgh and an Assistant Professor at the University of Birmingham, with previous academic contributions at the University of Strathclyde and research appointments at Durham University and the University of Hull.

Her expertise spans higher education teaching, postgraduate supervision, and curriculum development, with a strong emphasis on research-led innovation in language education. She leads both independent and collaborative research initiatives, generating impactful findings for publication while actively contributing to postgraduate education through teaching, tutoring, and curriculum enhancement. She has taught modules such as Research Methods, Source of Knowledge, Second Language Learning, Second Language Teaching Methodology, Language, Discourse and Society, and has played a central role in shaping postgraduate programs, including Spatial Pedagogies for Second Language Teacher Education.

Grounded in an artistic background in illustration and animation, Dandan’s scholarly work is distinguished by art-informed pedagogical approaches, such as visual languaging, which support learner well-being in affective, agentive, and cognitive domains. Her research integrates Pluriliteracies Teaching for Deeper Learning (PTDL) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), with a commitment to inclusive and equitable education. She integrates hand drawing, painting, and other creative methodologies into pedagogical designs that foster both learner and teacher agency and enhance quality education..

Her doctoral research at the University of Edinburgh investigated how second language learners create and utilise visual resources to express understanding of subject-specific content through academic language using cognitive discourse functions, facilitating internalisation and transfer of meaning. Building on this foundation, she continues to explore interdisciplinary pathways through which visual arts and pedagogic innovation can enhance engagement, deepen learning, and advance social justice in education. 

Dandan also contributes to academic mentorship, providing guidance and support to Master’s and PhD students through forum discussions, pastoral care, and supervision that empower learners to fulfil their academic potential. Her commitment to intellectual development is matched by a passion for integrating creative methodologies into education. Her personal art portfolio, which reflects her ongoing engagement with visual expression and pedagogical creativity, can be viewed at: https://869432330.wixsite.com/illustratedpaints

CV

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Qualifications

PhD Education

MA illustration

MSc Interdisciplinary Practices by Research

BA Animation

BSc Business English

Undergraduate teaching

Delivering lectures and seminars and marking  essays of BA Developing Language and Communication Skills

Postgraduate teaching

MSc dissertation supervision and marking

Delivering lectures and seminars and marking essays of MSc course modules (e.g., MSc Curriculum Development in TESOL,  Source of Knowledge, Conceptualising Research)

Research summary

  • Visualisation (learners generated visuals e.g., drawings in L2 classrooms); Visual literacy, Art-informed approaches to language and subject learning
  • Languaging (e.g., visual scaffolded languaging); Translanguaging 
  • Pluriliteracies (PTDL)
  • Inclusive equality education 

  

Publication

Journal articles

British Journal of Education Technology (BJET)

Title: Digital Platform Use in the Context of K-12 Education: A Systematic Literature Review (manuscript ID: BJET-1162-Jun-2025-OR)

 English Teaching and Learning Journal, Springer

Chen, D. (2023). Exploring the Alignment of Visual Languaging with a Pluriliteracies Model for Deeper Learning in English Language Classrooms. English Teaching & Learning 47, 359–383 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-023-00152-x

Manuscript number: ETAL-D-22-00387R2

Book chapter

Critical Thinking and Creativity in CLIL: Global Perspectives (Edited by Chantal Hemmi & Takanori Sato, submitted to Taylor & Francis Group, under external review)

Title: Fostering Creativity in a CLIL Didactic Sequence on 'Food Chain’ in Critical Thinking and Creativity in CLIL: Global Perspectives.

PhD Thesis

Chen, D. (2023). Drawing Thinking: Exploring the Alignment of Visual Languaging with a Pluriliteracies Model for Deeper Learning. Edinburgh Research Archive, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/40396

 

In preparation          

Journal articles

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

Title: A Feasible Study: Exploring a Pluriliteracies Approach for Deeper Learning in Multilingual Classrooms in the Basque Country

International Journal of Multilingualism

Title: Basque Country Teacher CPD in Multilingual Classrooms through a Pluriliteracies Lens for Ecological Growth

Research Paper

Project title:  Come Draw and Tell: Being a Junior Creativity Champion 

Research Report (Durham University, EEF-funded project)

Early Years Conversation Project (Publication planned with cohort 2 data in 2026)

Current research interests

Inclusive equality education; Pluriliteracies (PTDL); Visualisation (learners generated visuals e.g., drawings in L2 classrooms); Visual literacy; Art-informed approaches to language and subject learning; Languaging (e.g., visual scaffolded languaging); Translanguaging; CLIL; Inter- and trans-disciplinarity; Digital education; Children and young learners' development

Past research interests

Story illustration; Animal welfare

Project activity

Recent and current projects -

  • Pluriliteracies for deeper learning in multilingualism and teacher CDP 
  • Early years conversation project using the ShREC approach (i.e., share attention, response, expand, conversation)
  • Co-Designing Art Pedagogies to Develop Diverse Learners' Agency in Primary Schools
  • Exploring the potential of digital platforms for K-12 education
  • Visual Languaging for EAL learner cognitive, linguistic and agentive development embedded in the pluriliteracies principles

Conference details

2024                 EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) Evaluator Conference

Why do evaluation? Generating evidence to support disadvantaged pupils

2024                 BERA/ECER 2024 

Title: Understanding the role of digital platforms in secondary schools: opportunities and challenges

2025              Child Language Symposium

Title: Using the WellComm Early Years Tool Kit to Assess the Language and Communication Skills of Two to Three-Year-Old Children as Part of the Evaluation of Early Years Conversation Project

Invited speaker

2024                

May-                  A research seminar at Durham University

March-             Arts as Qualitative Research – Understanding the Arts in Education, Durham University

January-         PhD Forum at MHSES, University of Edinburgh

2025

May-                 Career Session, University of Edinburgh

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