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Jane McDonnell is a Lecturer in Education in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences (ECLS) at Newcastle University, where she currently co-directs the BA Education degree. Her research interests include the relationship between democracy and education, the role of the arts in young people's political formation, and policies relating to the teaching of values in schools. She has a particular interest in how schools and teachers have responded creatively to advice on the promotion of 'fundamental British values' (FBV) and the re-emergence of character education in recent years – including how these policy areas intersect with questions of religion and faith. Jane also has a strong theoretical interest in the writing of Jacques Rancière and has published a book on the contribution of his philosophy to educational thought – including but not limited to theorisations of democratic education. Jane has experimented with arts-based research methods in her empirical work and continues to work with diverse research methodologies to explore a range of educational questions. Jane worked as a teacher of Religious Education (RE) in secondary schools before completing her PhD at the University of Exeter in 2011. Jane has taught on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, as well as supervising postgraduate research in education. She currently leads undergraduate modules that explore educational philosophy, policy and politics in UK education, and the relationship between religion(s) and education in complex societies.