Ali Struthers

Associate Professor

Director of Widening Participation
Human Rights; Human Rights Education; Children

School of Law
S1.24, Social Sciences Building
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom

024 765 75306

Scholarship

My principal research interest lies in socio-legal explorations of children's rights, particularly around human rights in education. My work has addressed issues of: human rights education; children's participation and empowerment; safeguarding; privacy; British values; children's rights literature; children's legal education; and media sensationalism around human rights in the UK.

My 2020 monograph, Teaching Human Rights in Primary Schools: Overcoming the barriers to effective practice (Routledge) focuses on Human Rights Education in English primary education, utilising quantitative and qualitative empirical research methods to better understand the reasons for deficiencies in current practices in this area. It argues that England is not meeting its international legal obligations, but that the problem is more ingrained than simply a lack of relevant government policy. Teachers are apprehensive about HRE due to misunderstandings, misconceptions and myths surrounding human rights. The book offers broad, interdisciplinary recommendations for reform to current HRE practice in England.

Bio

Alison obtained her PhD from the University of Warwick in 2016. Prior to this she completed her LLB(Hons) and LLM in Legal Research at the University of Edinburgh. She also gained her Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Edinburgh in 2008 and qualified as a solicitor in Scotland in 2010. From 2015 to 2016, Alison was an Early Career Research Fellow with the Institute of Advanced Study and a Teaching Fellow in the School of Law at Warwick. She is now an Associate Professor in the School of Law. Alison is also a Research Associate and Project Manager for the Centre for Human Rights in Practice, heading up the Centre's work on Human Rights Education, and is Book and Media Reviews editor for Human Rights Education Review (www.humanrer.org).

Publications

Struthers, Alison E. C., 2024. ?They did not ask for this life? : a child rights approach to photographing the children of celebrities. International Journal of Children?s Rights, 32 (1), pp. 198-218
Struthers, Alison E. C., McConnell, Siobhan, 2023. Improve children?s legal knowledge and skills through School Tasking : your time starts now. The Law Teacher
'Struthers, Alison E. C., 2022. 'The great Anglo-Scottish human rights divide. Scottish Affairs, 31 (1), pp. 21-40
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2021. Protecting invisible children in England : how human rights education could improve school safeguarding. Human Rights Education Review, 4 (3), pp. 45-64
Struthers, Alison E. C., Mansuy, Julie, 2020. ?British values are also values all around the world' : teaching fundamental British values through a human rights lens. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 12 (3), pp. 696-710
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2017. ?Debunking the ?criminals' charter?: education as an antidote to human rights sensationalism. European Human Rights Law Review, 2017 (2), pp. 169-179
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2017. The underdeveloped transformative potential of human rights education : English primary education as a case study. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 9 (1), pp. 68-84
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2017. Copyright protection for magic tricks : a danger lurking in the shadows?. European Intellectual Property Review, 39 (3), pp. 136-145
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2017. Teaching British values in our schools : but why not human rights values?. Social and Legal Studies, 26 (1), pp. 89-110
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2016. Breaking down boundaries : voice and participation in English primary education. The International Journal of Children's Rights, 24 (2), pp. 434-468
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2016. Human rights : a topic too controversial for mainstream education?. Human Rights Law Review, 16 (1), pp. 131-162
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2015. Building blocks and beyond : how human rights education in initial teacher education may help to change the human rights landscape in Scotland. Scottish Educational Review, 47 (2), pp. 5-19
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2014. Human rights education : educating about, through and for human rights. The International Journal of Human Rights, 19 (1), pp. 53-73

Struthers, Alison E. C., 2021. Education, austerity and the COVID generation. Cowan, Dave; Mumford , Ann (eds.), Pandemic Legalities : legal responses to covid-19 - justice and social responsibility, Bristol, University of Bristol Press
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2019. Teaching human rights in primary schools : overcoming the barriers to effective practice. New York, Routledge
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2017. Human rights. Gretton, George; Steven, Andrew (eds.), Property, trusts and succession, Haywards Heath ; London, Bloomsbury Professional
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2013. Human rights. Gretton, George; Steven, Andrew (eds.), Property, trusts and succession, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, Bloomsbury Professional

Webber, Diane, Struthers, Alison E. C., 2019. Critiquing approaches to countering extremism : the fundamental British values problem in English formal schooling. Government publication
Struthers, Alison E. C., Siddle, Kathleen, Mansuy, Julie, 2017. Teaching fundamental British values in primary schools : project summary. Centre for Human Rights in Practice, University of Warwick
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2016. A human rights solution to our loneliness epidemic?. University of Warwick
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2016. Teaching human rights in schools : ?Who am I to say that democracy is the right way?'. Oxford University Press
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2015. Building blocks for improving human rights education within initial teacher education in Scotland. Centre for Human Rights in Practice, University of Warwick
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2015. Educating about, through and for human rights in English primary schools : a failure of education policy, classroom practice or teacher attitudes?.
Struthers, Alison E. C., 2015. Faltan 43 : can Human Rights Education heal Mexico's deep wounds?. Lacuna Magazine, Centre for Human Rights in Practice, University of Warwick
Watts, Elaine, Struthers, Alison E. C., 2013. A review of human rights education in schools in Scotland. BEMIS

Teaching Projects

Title	Funder	Award start	Award end
Addressing challenging social science issues with young people	ESRC	02 Nov 2016	01 Dec 2016

Impact

Policy

Invited paper to feed into the Government's review of the Prevent Strategy: Alison E. C. Struthers, and Diane Webber, 'Critiquing approaches to countering extremism : the fundamental British values problem in English formal schooling' (Government publication 2019)

Public Understanding

'School Tasking': primary outreach project based on the format of the Channel 4 show, Taskmaster. Started as a pilot at Warwick Law School in 2021-22 and is now being run by 26 universities across the UK (2021-present)

'Teaching Fundamental British Values in Primary Schools': project carried out with Warwickshire primary schools involving workshops on teaching Fundamental British Values through a human rights lens (2017)

'Addressing Challenging Issues in the Social Sciences with Young People': interdisciplinary event as part of the Festival of Social Sciences with primary and secondary pupils from widening participation schools involving workshops on challenging topics within the social sciences (2016)

‘Building Blocks for Improving Human Rights Education within Initial Teacher Education in Scotland’ (2015): project considering how best to improve Human Rights Education within Initial Teacher Education in Scotland.

Research Supervision

I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD supervisees. However, please ensure that you have a research proposal which corresponds with the University of Warwick School of Law requirements.

I particularly welcome proposals from postgraduate research students in the following areas:

Human Rights Education
Children's Rights
Children's Participation and Empowerment
Safeguarding and Child Protection
Children's Privacy

Media

Alison E.C. Struthers, 'Names We Know and Those We Don't: The disconnect between children's rights and school safeguarding' (2022) Child Rights Early Career Researcher Network
Alison E. C. Struthers, 'A human rights solution to our loneliness epidemic?' (2016) Lacuna Magazine
Alison E. C. Struthers, 'Teaching human rights in schools : ‘Who am I to say that democracy is the right way?’' (2016) OUP blog.
Alison E. C. Struthers, 'Faltan 43 : can Human Rights Education heal Mexico’s deep wounds?' (2015) Lacuna Magazine

Social Media