Mr Mark Cottingham

Mark has a career long commitment to supporting all young people and educators to be successful, particularly those living and working in the most economically disadvantaged communities. He has 31 years’ experience of teaching and leading in schools in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, including 12 years as a Headteacher.
Mark joined the School of Education at The University of Sheffield in August 2023, working primarily as History PGCE Tutor. His leadership responsibilities include the coordination of the Education & Professional Studies programme and co-leadership of Partnership & Mentoring.
He has a BA(Hons) from the University of Sheffield in Economic & Social History, an MSc from the University of Leicester in Education Leadership and is currently studying for a Doctorate in Education with a focus on historical empathy.

Mark is particularly interested in the contested concept of historical empathy, which is the focus of his Doctorate research and the relationship between history and the wider curriculum including arts, drama, literature and geography.
Mark is a collaborator on The Nervous State Knowledge Exchange Project exploring the impact and application of emotion history and 'history from within' https://player.sheffield.ac.uk/series/nervous-state
Mark instigated an interdisciplinary project - 'Hidden Sheffield' focussed on the use of local history to diversify and decolonise the history and geography secondary school curricula.