Pippa Totraku

Pippa Totraku is a principal lecturer in the School teaching across both undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

She leads admissions and entry into the School’s initial teacher training courses, speaking at university open days and events about the rewards and opportunities for those who want to work in education.

Pippa trained to teach at the University of Brighton graduating in 1999 and taught in local primary schools before returning to complete a certificate in higher education.

Current Teaching Commitments

PGCE Primary

• Contemporary Issues in Teaching and Learning

BA Primary

• Exploring Learning and Teaching in Mathematics and Computing
• Computing and Contemporary Curriculum Developments
• How children think and learn.

Pippa is particularly interested in:

• Teaching children computational thinking
• The use of developmentally appropriate technology in the Early Years Foundation Stage
• Supporting the transition of students onto teacher training courses
• Removing the perceived barriers to initial teacher education

Pippa has been awarded a number of small grants to fund her research into use of social media with incoming students, disseminating her findings at the annual University of Brighton Learning and Teaching Conference (2017): iBelong: enhancing recruitment, retention and engagement through social media in two contrasting undergraduate ITE routes.

In another small research project funded she ran a coding project for local primary schools. This supported existing teachers in implementing the 2014 National Curriculum, where an emphasis on coding became more prominent. 

Pippa’s approach to teaching, strives to model the attitudes, aptitudes and values we look for in those seeking to enter the teaching profession. She is passionate about and truly believe in the importance of teachers and the University of Brighton provision to train outstanding ones.