Research interests

• Democratic Evaluation
• Ethics in Research and Evaluation 
• Programme, policy and institutional self-evaluation
• Case study and qualitative methodologies
• Creative arts in Evaluation

Current research

Helen Simons' research in the field of evaluation over forty years has focused on democratic processes, ethics, programme, policy and institutional self-evaluation, case study, and qualitative methodologies. Her  research and evaluation practices embody humanistic methodologies and participatory principles that give autonomy and skills to organisations to continue their own development. She has written widely on the theory and practice of evaluation, case study methodology and the ethics and politics of research, publishing several books and over ninety research reports and academic papers, several of which have been published in other languages, notably  Spanish and Polish.  Her book Getting to Know Schools in a Democracy: the politics and process of evaluation (Lewes: Falmer Press, 1987) was awarded an International  book prize for the 'most outstanding contribution to the social purposes of education'.  Case Study Research in Practice, published by Sage (2009), makes explicit the theory and practice of case study for researchers new to this methodology. For further readings on case study research and evaluation see the 2010  citing in the publications list  of the key note paper on ‘Democratic Evaluation: Theory and Practice’ for Virtual Conference at the University of Witwatersrand South Africa.

In furthering her research interest in ethics, Helen has  played a major role nationally and internationally, particularly in the generation of professional ethical guidelines and standards. When on the Executive Councils of the British Educational Research Association and the UK Evaluation Society, she co-authored each society’s ethical guidelines. For twelve years, as Convenor of the Capabilities working group of UKES, she led a team  to produce a Framework of capabilities outlining the capabilities evaluators  required to conduct quality evaluation. The revised edition was completed n 2021. She continues this interest in the professionalization of evaluation internationally through conference panels and  working with colleagues as a Council  member on the recently established (2022) International Academy of Evaluation. 

A further current research interest  is exploring the creative arts in evaluation and research. Helen has always been a passionate follower of the arts and, following retraining  at the Institute for Arts and Therapy  in London in 1999, introduced the use of poetry, narrative, image, metaphor and movement into her teaching and course evaluations.  She continues to  research the role of the creative arts in evaluation methodology, most recently,2020-2022, on the international advisory committee of the European funded Traction Project https://www.traction-project.eu/  which is researching the co-creation of  opera with disadvantaged communities in three European countries.  She also finds time to explore her own creativity through music, poetry and dance, as well as yoga and meditation.

Selected Examples of Research and Evaluation Consultancy:

` International Advisory Committee  of the European  Traction  project (2020-2022) https://www.traction-project.eu/.

` Council member of the International Evaluation Academy (IEAc) ( 2021- ongoing

`Evaluation Consultant (2010) to the New Zealand School Review Office on Internal and External School Review.

• Evaluation Consultant (2009-10) to Story Links, a research project exploring the effects of parent teacher and pupil co-construction of stories with SEN children.
• Evaluation Consultant (2009-10) to the Larc Project, a project in North Liverpool supporting the self-evaluation of nine arts organizations.
• Evaluation consultant (2009) to UNESCO on Monitoring and Evaluation in Partnerships in Education Programme.
• Evaluation Consultant (2007-8) to the Self–Evaluation of the Double Impact Project which aimed to engage vulnerable people in Nottingham with their creativity and arts in the city.
• Evaluation Consultant (2007) to UNICEF on Evaluation training in South Asia.
• Evaluation consultant (2006-7) to the Rise Phoenix multi-faith project, which worked with primary school children and artists (sculptors and painters) to explore the common values between different faiths, through creating a sculpture trail and mask procession.
• Evaluation Consultant and Academic Adviser (2007) to the Somerset Jumps Project, a partnership group of music organisations in Somerset to provide professional development services to musicians working with young people.

Helens' areas  of  teaching expertise fall primarily into  five areas which are interconnected: 

Democratic Evaluation

Ethics

Case Study Research and Evaluation

Study of Self

Qualitative methodologies

Helen's teaching  has followed  her research interests integrating her research experience into the courses she has taught. For over forty years  she has  developed and taught modules to Masters students and Research students in democratic evaluation, programme and policy evaluation, institutional self- evaluation, evaluation ethics  and qualitative methods, such as interviewing and observation.  Additionally in courses on case study research she has explored  the role of the self which is critical in qualitative methodology: as the researcher is the main instrument of data gathering and reporting, it is vital  she has an awareness of  the impact her values and interests may have on the interpretation.  

Helen  has also designed and conducted evaluation  and research training courses  in  case study research in a number of countries overseas, in the MSc in Applied Research at the University of Vallodolid, Spain, for instance, and at the University of Aaarhus, Denmark. For many years (for different periods of time) she conducted intensive courses in case study research and evaluation for the New Zealand Social Statistics Network,  the Australasian Evaluation Society and the European Evaluation Society, as well as teaching on the MA in Social Research and Evaluation at London Metropolitan University and the MA in Language at the University  of Cyprus.

Professor Simons initially trained as a teacher in New Zealand gaining  the Certificate of Teaching ( with distinction)  in 1960) and as a psychologist in Melbourne, Victoria , Australia where she practiced as an educational  psychologist for six years before  emigrating to England.   She  received her BA degree (English literature and Psychology) and Diploma of Education (with distinction)   from the University of Melbourne, Australia and her PhD in Applied Educational Research from the University of East Anglia, UK. Her PhD was  titled 'The Democratisation of Evaluation Processes' and featured three case studies of democratic evaluation providing the basis for much of her subsequent work in case study, democratic evaluation, and ethics. Her research positions have included Senior Research Associate, University of East Anglia, UK  and Senior Research Fellow, the Nuffield foundation, London researching curriculum innovation in schools and higher education respectively.

From 1977-1990 she  was on the staff  of the University of London Institute of Education, first as lecturer, then senior lecturer in Curriculum Studies where she was Chair of the Department and the Ethics Committee for several years  She taught many research courses during this time, directed  several  funded evaluation and research projects  and published numerous  papers, edited several books and singled  authored another. In 1989 she became a Reader of the University of London and in 1991 was appointed to a professorship in the School of Education at the University of Southampton, where she was Head of School (1994-6), Chair of Research Degrees Board (2001-4),  Director of Research Degrees Training Programme and M. Phil  (Research Methodology) Degree ( 2001-5) and Chair of the  School of Education Research Ethics Committee (2004-6) in addition to serving on several University related research committees and serving as the University trainer for Appraisal.

Professor Simons has also held Visiting Professorships  in the UK at London Metropolitan University, the University of East Anglia, Brunel University  and  the University of Westminster , in Spain at the Universities of Almeria, Malaga and Granada, in Reykjavik at the University of Iceland and in Melbourne, Australia at the RMIT University. In addition she has been  a Visiting  Scholar  at Universities and Research Centres in the US, Canada (  University of British Columbia ,Vancouver)  Australia (Melbourne and Western Australia)  New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, Iceland,  Norway (Trondheim and Lillehammer), Denmark  (University of Aarhus) and Cyprus.

From 1990 - 1992, she held a  Research scholarship from The Research Council of Norway based in Lillehammer  and from 1993- 2002 she was on the Research and Development Committee, English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, UK.

During this period of her career, Helen served on the Editorial Board  of  six peer reviewed research journals and was an elected member of the Executive Council of  the  British Educational Research Association (BERA); and a founder member of  the UK Evaluation  Society (UKES)  where she served on the Executive Council for twenty-seven years and as  President from  2004-6.  Currently she is a member of the American Evaluation Association, and  the European Evaluation Society.

Evaluation and Consultancy: Professor Simons has conducted many external evaluations of innovatory programmes funded by both government and non-government agencies and directed numerous evaluation training workshops - on case study evaluation, programme evaluation, democratic evaluation and institutional self-evaluation  - both in the UK and overseas. The countries in which she has worked include Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Sweden,  Norway  Iceland, India, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, Scotland, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Cyprus, Greece and the United States.

She is also an experienced consultant to ministries and organizations on setting up evaluation systems to monitor their policies and practices and to international agencies, such as the OECD and UNESCO, advising on curriculum and evaluation projects. For five years with European Commission funding, she directed a programme of evaluation capacity building and training in Poland and in 2007 was part of a team sponsored by UNICEF to conduct evaluation training and capacity building in South Asia. Further details on Evaluation, Ethics and other research interests are set out under the Research tab.

Community Service: For ten years  Helen was a trustee of Charities Evaluation Services, an agency dedicated to promoting quality systems, organisational development and self-evaluation in voluntary organizations and the Development School, an NGO specialising in social development for Central and Eastern European Countries.  For a further 20 years she was a  trustee of Artswork, a youth arts agency committed to developing creative opportunities for young people aged 12-35.