Jenny Glen is currently a Lecturer and Placement Practice Convenor in Community Education, the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Division of Education and Social Work at the University of Dundee.

Jenny teaches and tutors students on the CE (Community Education) programmes including the Work Based route and the MSc in Community Education and also supports the delivery of the BA Professional Development programme for distanced and part time students from a wide range of professional contexts. Jenny has over 35 years’ experience of youth, adult and community education practice and has led, developed, implemented and managed council-wide services, Government strategies, targeted teams and innovative practice in Edinburgh, London and Fife. Her roles included: the management and development of a London borough youth service and multi-disciplinary team, the development of specific services for young asylum seekers and refugees in London and work with the LGBT+ community in Edinburgh and London. Since returning to Scotland Jenny managed major funding bids for a new community hub in Fife.

Jenny is a Community Education practitioner, a feminist, and a member of the LGBT+ community and her teaching stance emphasises the importance of understanding the complexity and lived reality of people’s lives as the basis for transformative change. This approach centres on the values and ethos of Community Education and the fundamental importance of dialogue in teaching and participatory research.

Jenny is currently completing a Professional Doctorate which explore community education’s response to the climate crisis with a focus on community activism and social justice through the creation and development of community gardens.

Jenny has been teaching, lecturing, and tutoring within the Community Education undergraduate, postgraduate and work-based programmes since 2016 and has been Practice Learning Convenor since 2018.

Her approach to teaching is to encourage students to think critically, using dialogue and student led learning. Jenny provides pastoral and academic support to a significant number of full time, part time and distanced learning students. Jenny’s main areas of teaching are focused within the following themes and topics:

• Values and self determination
• Social Justice
• Community development
• Developing sustainable organisations in Community Education
• Critically pedagogy
• Practice Learning

Jenny has extensive experience on community boards:

• 2018 to present - Member of the CLD Standards Council, the Higher Education, Further Education CLD Standards Council Collaborative, the Inter University Collective, the Career Pathways for CLD Practitioners Group and the CLD Standards Council Placement Supervisors Working Group
•  2018 to present - Director and Trustee of Tayport Community Trust with a focus on sharing academic knowledge and expertise about community engagement.
• 2016 – 2018 PLANT Board, Tayport, Fife
• 2002 – 2006 - Young Parents Support Group, Coram Family Centre, Kings Coss, London
• 1997 – 2002 - Slough Young Women’s Group
• 1989 – 1992 - Founder member, Stonewall Youth Project, Edinburgh

PhD thesis titled, ‘Local activism, community gardens and the climate crisis - Exploring community activists’ perspectives on their work to address climate change through the creation and development of community gardens.’