Sally's research focuses on health and social care practice and her teaching focuses on applied research in public services. She works on projects concerning applied learning in work-based contexts, postgraduate research, and practitioner and practice development, including the Professional Advocacy research project.
Qualifying as an Occupational Therapist in 1994, Sally worked in both clinical and managerial positions in a range of adult mental health settings.
Since joining the academic community in 2003, she has participated in the curriculum development and delivery of a range of pre-registration, continuing professional development and postgraduate research courses.
Following her MA in Higher Education, Sally achieved her Doctorate (EdD), using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the experiences of distance learners.
Sally presents at conferences, reviews, and writes chapters in textbooks, and publishes articles about reflexivity, phenomenology, and practitioner development.
Sally's research work focuses on both higher education and health and social care practice. She is interested in the experience of learning and how learning benefits individuals and public services.
Sally would be pleased to consider supervising doctoral students with the following research interests/topics:
Sally is the Director of the Professional Doctorate Health and Social Care and leads a team of academics in the teaching and organisation of doctoral study.
She is an experienced Lecturer and Course Lead in higher education, an Advance HE Senior Fellow, and an Advance HE accredited external examiner.
Within ARU, Sally is a member of the Research Degrees Committee, Postgraduate Research Student Progress Subcommittee and leads a knowledge exchange working group (Collaborations in Professional Practice, Education and Research – CoPPER), supporting the integration of practice education, research to develop innovation, and operational strategies.
Sally is an external examiner and teaching reviewer, and works with faculty colleagues and other universities to develop and monitor teaching, learning and educational assessment in health and social care courses.
2022: ESNEFT funded evaluation of Professional Midwifery Advocate (PMA) and Professional Nurse Advocate (PNA) and potential relationships between a. staff wellbeing & b. staff retention (£518k).
van Veggel, N., Allison, J., Goldspink, S., Engward, H., 2022. The presuppositional interview as a means of transparent reflexive practice in grounded theory. International Journal of Social Research Methodology (under review).
Rumary, K. R., Goldspink, S., Howlett, P., 2022. Exiting the elephant: hearing the participant voice in qualitative data collection. International Journal of Research & Method in Education. doi: 10.1080/1743727X.2022.2128742
Engward, H., Goldspink, S., Kersey, T., Iancu, M., Wood, A., 2022. Togetherness in Separation: Ethical Considerations for Remote Qualitative Interviews. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, pp. 1-9. doi: 10.1177/16094069211073212
Barrett-Rodger, L., Goldspink, S., Engward, H., 2022. Being in the wood: Using a presuppositional interview in hermeneutic phenomenological research. Qualitative Research. doi: 10.1177/14687941211061055
Engward, H., Goldspink, S., 2020. Working with Me: Revisiting the Tutorial as Academic Care. Frontiers in Education, 5(105), pp. 1-7.
Engward, H., Goldspink, S., 2020. Lodgers in the House: Living with the Data in Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Research, Reflective Practice, 21(1), pp. 41-53. doi: 10.1080/14623943.2019.1708305
Goldspink, S., Engward, H., 2020. Curiosity and Self-connected Learning: Re-centering the ‘I’ in Technology Assisted Learning. In: Driver, A. (Ed.), 2020. Employability via Higher Education: Sustainability as Scholarship (London: Springer), pp. 305-319.
Goldspink, S., Engward, H., 2019. Booming Clangs and Whispering Ghosts; Attending to the Reflexive Echoes in IPA Research. Journal of Qualitative Research in Psychology, 16(2), pp. 291-304.doi: 10.1080/14780887.2018.1543111
Goldspink, S., Engward, H., 2018. Shedding Light on Transformational Online Learning Using Five Practice Based Tenets: Illuminating the Significance of the Self. The Asia Pacific Journal of Contemporary Education and Communication Technology, 5(2).
Goldspink, S., Engward, H., 2023. Togetherness in Separation: Practical Considerations for Doing Remote Qualitative Interviews Ethically. The Qualitative Report's 14th Annual Conference (TQR2023). Online, 16 February 2023. Peer reviewed.
Engward, H., Goldspink, S., 2020. Working with Me: Revisiting the Tutorial as Academic Care. UK Academic Tutoring (UKACT) Conference: Festival of Effective Tutoring and Advising. Online, 2 September 2020. Invited presentation. Peer reviewed.
Goldspink, S., Engward, H., 2019. Working with Me - Using Self-Connected Learning in Practice. CIHE Conference. Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, 10 July 2019. Peer reviewed.
Goldspink, S., Engward, E., 2019. Here, There and Everywhere: Working with the Professional and Personal Notions of Togetherness. Phenomenology of Health and Relationships (PHaR) Conference. Birmingham, 22-23 May 2019. Invited Presentation. Peer reviewed.
Goldspink, S., 2018. Booming Clangs and Whispering Ghosts; Attending to the Reflexive Echoes in IPA Research. Hermeneutic Phenomenological Symposium. Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, 27 April 2018. Invited presentation. Peer reviewed.
Goldspink, S., Engward, E., 2018. Shedding Light on Transformational Online Learning Using Five Practice Based Tenets: Illuminating the Significance of the Self. 4th International Conference of Theory and Practice (ICTP- 2018). Adelaide, Australia, 4 February 2018.