University of Cumbria welcomes new appointments in Charlotte Mason Studies

Professors of Practice Jason Fletcher, Kerri Forney and Dr Deani Van Pelt are joined by visiting research fellows Dr Jack Beckman, Lisa Cadora, Dr Elizabeth Millar, Dr Doug Sikkema, Dr Jennifer Spencer, and Dr Shannon Whiteside. 

The Ambleside campus is the historic home of Charlotte Mason’s teacher training. Renewed international interest in her relational approach to education presents a timely opportunity for the campus to serve as an international hub for study and research. 

Professor Sally Elton-Chalcraft, Professor of Social Justice in Education, University of Cumbria said: “These appointments strengthen current collaborations with many of the individuals, we ran a sold out Charlotte Mason conference in 2023 and have just published a book in 2026. These appointments bring further possibilities for partnership, enabling staff and the wider academic community to collaborate closely with external experts. This will support further research and publication, while showcasing Ambleside’s unique heritage assets, including archives linked to Mason, as resources of continuing international importance.  

The appointments also raise the profile of graduate programmes and related educational offerings, while strengthening the potential for research that shapes contemporary educational thinking and future policy reform. This enhances academic reputation, attracts new talent and learners to the region, and contributes to the wider rural and visitor economy.”  

Jason Fletcher 

Jason Fletcher co-founded Heritage School with his wife Fiona Macaulay-Fletcher in 2007 in central Cambridge, a school for boys and girls aged 4-16 inspired by the educational vision of Charlotte Mason and the Parents National Educational Union (PNEU). 

“As a Professor of Practice in Charlotte Mason Studies, I look forward to supporting the University of Cumbria as it seeks to encourage understanding of and engagement with the Charlotte Mason tradition – because I believe it has much to offer those exploring the nature of a non-reductive, humane vision for education. As the headmaster and co-founder in 2007 of Heritage School, Cambridge, the only remaining school in the UK explicitly seeking to put Charlotte Mason’s theory and methods into practice, our primary contribution will be to host the practicum component of the MA in Charlotte Mason Studies offered by the University of Cumbria and the Certificate in Charlotte Mason Pedagogy and Practice offered by the Charlotte Mason Institute.” 

Kerri Forney 

Kerri Forney serves as the executive director of the Charlotte Mason Institute. She has researched and taught Charlotte Mason’s ideas and methods for over two decades.  

“I look forward to contributing as a Professor of Practice through applied leadership and collaboration on the Mason Studies Pathway, the next Mason conference, and other joint initiatives, while sharing professional expertise, supporting practitioners, and facilitating Mason research between the Charlotte Mason Institute and the University of Cumbria. I am particularly interested in working to reduce digital access barriers to Mason archival materials and to deepen understanding of the contemporary relevance and faithful translation of Mason’s philosophy and practices.” 

Deani Van Pelt, PhD 

Dr Deani Van Pelt, of Hamilton, Canada is co-editor of Awakening the Whole Child: A Charlotte Mason Philosophy of Education for the 21st Century (Routledge, 2026) and editor of the Charlotte Mason Centenary Series (2023). She is board chair of the Charlotte Mason Institute (a USA charity) and led the international digitisation project of the Armitt Museum’s Charlotte Mason Collection.  

As a Professor of Practice, she is dedicated to participating in elevating the legacy of Charlotte Mason into a dynamic, global force for modern educational reform and to contributing to the university’s position as a primary relational nexus for Charlotte Mason Studies. Grounded in the strategic partnership between the University of Cumbria and the Charlotte Mason Institute, her aim with this appointment is to lead and contribute to high-impact international bridge-building across scholarly and practitioner networks. Specifically, she plans to spearhead the development of a series to connect archival treasures, scholarly and practitioner expertise with contemporary insights on pressing topics for K-12 education in our times. She also plans to leverage the definitive volume Awakening the Whole Child with Routledge Academic, co-chair the 2028 International Charlotte Mason Conference in Ambleside, contribute to the graduate program in Charlotte Mason Studies, and participate in strategic speaking engagements. Through this appointment her aim is to ensure Mason’s innovative philosophy continues to transform living and learning for a new generation. 

Dr Jack E. Beckman 

“If Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was right, then education is indeed a life as I have spent over 50 years under the regulus and patterns of teaching and learning - initially as an early childhood educator in the classroom, then as an educational leader, and finally as Professor of Elementary Education at Covenant College on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Each of these contexts has allowed me the privilege of working with students, teachers, and parents on a variety of levels involving instructional pedagogy, curriculum development, and teacher professional learning. And in all these experiences, the life and work of Charlotte Mason have been a mainstay of my life and vocation. Her ideas and practices have challenged my thinking and formed the core of several schools I have started, consulting work with schools and likeminded groups, speaking in numerous venues in North America and internationally, as well as teaching my favorite course at Covenant College: The Life and Thought of Charlotte Mason, a credit-level undergraduate study.”  

“My rationale for the appointment as Visiting Research Fellow in Charlotte Mason Studies is as an extension of my lifelong pedagogical work in translating Mason’s philosophy and model to a current educational and cultural contexts.” 

Lisa Cadora 

Lisa Cadora has worked with students, parents, teachers, and colleagues in all manner of settings for 40 years to offer what Charlotte Mason called a “living” education, one that heals the divide between sacred and secular, spirit and matter, and being and doing. 

“It is my desire to look at Mason’s work critically; that is, to grasp the zeitgeist in which she lived and moved and had her being, so as to gain an understanding of the philosophical and theological issues of her day that will allow us to more faithfully convey and apply her principles and practices to current and  future generations.” 

Dr Elizabeth Millar 

Dr. Elizabeth Millar is an academic mentor, researcher, storyteller, spiritual director, and co-editor of Awakening the Whole Child: A Charlotte Mason Philosophy of Education for the 21st Century with Deani Van Pelt and Sally Elton-Chalcraft. Elizabeth’s twenty years of educating her five children with the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education have provided a wealth of practical knowledge and a treasure of joyful memories.  

As visiting research fellow, Elizabeth aims to explore Mason’s instruction to youth as articulated in her book Ourselves (Volume IV of Charlotte Mason’s Homeschooling series) from a practical theology of joy perspective and to uncover the theological underpinnings of her ideas for a life worth living. She hopes to instil a greater appreciation and understanding of not only Mason’s philosophy of education, but her theological approach to living life well, believing that it is particularly relevant for youth in the 21st century.  

Professor Douglas Sikkema 

Doug Sikkema is Associate Professor of English and Core Humanities at Redeemer University in Ancaster, ON and an associate editor of Comment. Along with his wife and four children, Doug helped cofound a classical Christian school that is guided by Charlotte Mason’s principles. 

“As a visiting scholar at the University of Cumbria, my overarching goal is to facilitate the growth in Mason scholarship. Central to this is the completion of the annotated critical editions of Charlotte Mason’s Home Education series alongside my colleague and co-editor Kevin Foth. In addition to this, I plan to work with my home institution in Canada, Redeemer University (currently hosting Mason’s digital archive), to help it become a research hub of Mason scholarship and to host an international conference that generates unique contributions to Mason scholarship. Finally, I hope to dig deeper into the connecting points between Charlotte Mason’s educational vision and influence and the growing Classical education movement in England, Canada, and the USA.” 

Jennifer Spencer, EdD 

Dr Jen Spencer taught in public and private schools for 14 years before founding a small Charlotte Mason school, where she was principal. In 2016 she led the creation of Alveary, a comprehensive curriculum for schools and homeschools that continues to be published yearly by the Charlotte Mason Institute.  

“The aim of my research is to situate Charlotte Mason within the philosophical context of Victorian Britain, when scientism and idealism were vying for cultural supremacy. Mason was unsatisfied by both, because they overlooked the most important consideration when developing pedagogy: the human person. This suggests that she belongs among a group of thinkers that came to be known as the ‘British personal idealists’. Their worldview offers fresh insight for Mason’s methodology. During my fellowship, I would like to publish those insights for Charlotte Mason practitioners and work with personalist organisations to establish Mason as an early personalist thinker.” 

Dr Shannon Whiteside 

Shannon Whiteside (PhD) is the program director for Alveary, a curriculum and teacher training program which is part of the Charlotte Mason Institute. She began her career as a classroom teacher and has spent the last 15 years homeschooling her three children using the principles of Charlotte Mason. 

“As a visiting research fellow, my goal is to identify and analyse the key principles of curriculum design articulated in Mason’s choice of books, exam questions, and progression of content throughout the forms. This will require time spent in the archives at the Armitt Museum to locate any programmes and exams that have not been digitised. Accessing digital or print copies of the books used in the programmes will also be part of the process. With this data collected, I will propose a conceptual model or set of guidelines for applying Mason’s curriculum design principles within modern educational contexts.”