Dr Fufy Demissie BA Hons, PGCE, MEd, EdD

Fufy has worked in Sheffield Hallam since 2000. She was course leader until 2010 on the full time and part-time early years QTS courses and the MA in Education (Part-time).
She has been involved in two projects. In 2004, she worked on a TDA project to enhance the quality of early years mentoring in schools. In 2009, she led a cross-area CETL project on using a community of enquiry methodology to enhance student engagement. As a result, Fufy set up an elective module entitled 'Philosophy for Young Children' on the BA Primary and Early Years courses.  The P4C approach is now an integral part of the BA undergraduate course in Teacher Education.
In June 2012, she co-organised a conference on 'P4C in the curriculum' that was attended by school children, school teachers, trainers and Sheffield Hallam students. In July 2018 Fufy co-organised and presented the key note speech for a conference entitled ‘Inspiring P4C practice in the classroom’.  
Fufy’s research interests are professional learning, enquiry-based pedagogies and student learning.  She is currently involved in an Erasmus project on Global citizenship and Mathematics education based on the Philosophy for children (P4C) pedagogy.

Specialist areas of interest

Pedagogy, early years, research, reflective practice

Department of Teacher Education

Social Sciences and Arts

MA Education Full time/Part time

Specific modules Fufy teaches on are Child Development, Early Years Pedagogy, Philosophy for Children, Educational Enquiry, and learning across the curriculum.

Journal articles

Demissie, F.A. (2020). Understanding barriers to discussion-based learning: using an epistemological perspective to theorise student teachers' perceptions. TEAN (Teacher Education Action Network), 12 (1), 97-108. https://ojs.cumbria.ac.uk/index.php/TEAN/article/view/648

Demissie, F., & Doxey, C. (2020). Trainee teachers' experiences of using picture books with the Philosophy for Children (P4C) pedagogy. English, four to eleven.

Demissie, F. (2020). The Philosophy for Children pedagogy in a university-based initial teacher training course: a case study of a 'disruptive' pedagogy. Forum for Promoting 3-19 Comprehensive Education, 62 (1), 69-78. http://doi.org/10.15730/forum.2020.62.1.69

Demissie, F.A. (2019). A cross-curricular project in citizenship and mathematics (PiCaM). Mathematics Teaching, (269), 12-15.

Demissie, F. (2016). ‘Student teachers' perceptions of seminar learning contexts in ITE (initial teacher education). TEAN (Teacher Education Action Network), 8 (1), 46-55. http://ojs.cumbria.ac.uk/index.php/TEAN/article/view/287/412

Demissie, F. (2015). Promoting student teachers' reflective thinking through a philosophical community of enquiry approach. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (12), 1-13. http://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n12.1

Demissie, F. (2012). Investigating students’ perspectives of learning and participating in seminars using a Bourdieuian perspective. Student Engagement and Experience Journal, 1 (1), 1-9. http://doi.org/10.7190/seej.v1i1.32

Demissie, F., Burnett, C., Haynes, M., & Sharpe, S. (2009). Now I feel like I am at university”: using a community of enquiry approach to promote engagement and academic literacy amongst undergraduate students'. CPLA (Centre for Promoting Learner Autonomy), 1 (1), 69-79. https://extra.shu.ac.uk/cetl/cpla/resources/CPLA_Case_Studies_Volume_1.pdf

Demissie, F.A. (n.d.). 1 Theorising barriers to learning through discussion in HE: the role of epistemological beliefs in student teachers' perceptions of learning through discussion. TEAN (Teacher Education Action Network).

Demissie, F.A. (n.d.). Using a Philosophy for Children (P4C) pedagogy in a university classroom : tutors ’ 'stories of practice' from a 1 st year professional learning module. Australian Journal of Teacher Education.

Conference papers

Demissie, A., Povey, H., & Adams, G. (2019). What are the affordances and limitations of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) pedagogy for teaching and learning mathematics? In Curtis, F. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Open University, 19 March 2019.

Chronaki, A., Adams, G., Andrade, M., Bruno, G., Demissie, F., Marcone, R., ... Yolcu, A. (2019). Unfolding global/local policies, practices and/or hybrids in mathematics education worldwide: utopias, pleasures, pressures and conflicts. Proceedings of the Tenth International Mathematics Education and Society Conference. https://www.mescommunity.info/proceedings/MES10.pdf

Povey, H., Adams, G., Demissie, F., & Chronaki, A. (2019). Initial report from the project in citizenship and mathematics (PICAM): moral and political dilemmas. Proceedings of the Tenth International Mathematics Education and Society Conference. https://www.mescommunity.info/proceedings/MES10.pdf

Book chapters

Demissie, F.A. (2020). Dialogic interaction in the higher education classroom - a Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach. In Meaningful Teaching Interaction a the Internationalised University: From Research to Impact. Dipplod, D. & Heron, M. (1st). Routledge

Demissie, F.A. (2020). Philosophy for Children as a pedagogy for social education - A UK perspective. In Educación social: teoría educativa, procedimientos y experiencias ( Social Education: educational theory, procedures and experiences). (1st). Barcelona: Ediciones Octaedro

Demissie, F.A. (2018). Young Children's Thinking. In Early Childhood Studies. (1st). Sage

Demissie, F.A. (2017). P4C in Early Childhood Education. In Philosophy for Children: Theory and Praxis in Teacher Education. (1st). Taylor & Francis

Demissie, F.A. (2017). The praxis of P4C in teacher education. In Philosophy for Children: Theories and praxis in teacher education. (1st). Routledge

Internet Publications

Demissie, F.A. (2019). P4C: a dialogic pedagogy for creative conversations. https://mon.uvic.cat/grell/philosophy-for-children-p4c-a-dialogic-pedagogy-for-creative-conversations/

Other publications

Demissie, A. (2016). SHUP4c - Coommunity of Enquiry in HE. https://shup4c.wordpress.com/

Consultancy

Membership of professional bodies - Society for higher education research (SRHE), Society for the advancement of philosophy and reflection in education (SAPERE)

SAPERE (Society for the Advancement of Philosophy and Reflection in Education) registered LEVEL 1 trainer

Helen Sheehan; Karen Barr

Lisa Kerr