Mr Daniel Leyton

I am a sociologist interested in how relations of power, forms of knowledge and affective forces shape educational institutions and the experiences of educational actors—from students, families and teachers to researchers, academics and policymakers.

My research addresses two interconnected areas of inquiry:

First, I examine how the human and life sciences, together with managerial ideologies, define educational problems and propose solutions to issues such as socio-cultural and epistemic inequality, mental health and work precarity. I am particularly interested in the actors and organisations that support and circulate these forms of knowledge, and in how they contribute to reorganising educational institutions and shaping the subjectivities of students, teachers, researchers, academics and managers, among other actors. 

Second, I investigate the lived experiences of young people, education professionals, researchers and academics, with a particular emphasis on those cultural, political, economic and epistemic contexts that influence the formation of powerless and powerful social groups in and through education.

Approach to research, teaching and supervision

My research and teaching are driven by the connection between social theory and empirical inquiry. I draw particularly on contemporary critical theory, including poststructuralist and feminist thinking.

My approach to doctoral supervision is characterised by a commitment to supporting the development of skilled, versatile, critical and ethically engaged researchers. I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD researchers interested in the areas and theoretical perspectives outlined above, particularly those committed to the art of reading and writing and to rigorous theoretical and methodological development.

I am currently supervising the following PhD students

• Bathsheba Slater-Wells — Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) scholarship. An Ethics of Responsibility: A Study of Peer-Group Relationships in a UK Secondary School.
• Nan Zhao — Affective Inequality, Class and Rurality in Chinese Higher Education: Working-Class Students’ Experiences of Belonging, Recognition and Institutional Mediation.
• Zainab Rezaiee — Sanctuary Scholarship Award. Exploring the Dynamics of Cultural Norms and Power Structures in Shaping Women’s Educational Opportunities in Afghanistan.