Donna Jones
Donna was Practice Learning and Development Manager and senior lecturer at Royal Holloway University of London where she gained her Applied and Participatory Theatre Practices MA and introduced arts-based pedagogies into the curriculum. She also developed a Social Work Film Club initiative as a vehicle to explore social work values and ethics, and which continues to enrich the curriculum at London Met.
Donna has previously taught Assessed Readiness for Direct Practice, Professional Social Work Values and Ethics, facilitation of child observation, law and critical reflection seminars as well as developing and delivering bespoke training workshops for key partner employer agencies.
Donna's research focus is participatory action-based projects working alongside people in the community:
- LamQ+ project 'understanding Lambeth's LGBTQI+ communities in times of Coronavirus A mixed methods study'. Funded by London Met Transformation Fund and developed in partnership with Lambeth Council and several local charities including Black Thrive, Black Out, Lambeth Links an Opening Doors London. Donna was the lead research academic for the Photovoice part of the project, working specifically with queer people from Black, Asian and other minoritised communities.
- Videovoice - Let's talk Islington. A trailblazing decolonial research methodology foregrounding undertaking research alongside people rather than making people the 'objects of research. Videovoice aims to explore experiences of discrimination whilst living in the borough with queer Islington residents theough the medium of documentary film making.
- Storytelling with Elders project - Let's talk Islington. This project recognises the value of 'story' and the ability of storytelling to build empathy and engagement. The project will work with a group of identified elders living in the borough of Islington to further understand their experiences of poverty and discrimination by gathering their stories.
- National Youth Theatre's 'Made by Members' programme. Engaged in collaborative work to evaluate the effectiveness of the Made by Members programme of reducing loneliness.
- LamQ+ Podcast: Queer POC Voices from Lockdown
- I'm a Footballer and I'm Gay
Principal Lecturer, Head of Social Work