Shaun has had over 20 years of teaching experience in both Further and Higher Education institutions and has a Masters in Education from University of Plymouth. Prior to working in education, he was heavily involved with the training and assessing of Royal Life Saving Society pool lifeguards, teaching swimming, lifesaving, a range of different sports, undertaking Special Constable duties for Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, first aid training and duty managing leisure facilities.

When he was 33 years of age, he successfully achieved a First-Class Honours degree from University of Brighton in Sport and Leisure Studies and gained national recognition for his published dissertation on Leisure and Farm Diversification. The publication of his dissertation was now more than 20 years ago and his career trajectory into education has enabled him to combine his previous knowledge, skills and interests with the role he has today.

Shaun has always enjoyed the reward of teaching, developing people skills and enhancing opportunities for personal growth and career development combined with a fascination with the way in which the human body functions. His first foray into health was via sports development and then through becoming a programme manager for the BTEC Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care. Whilst he was a programme manager, frustration with a lack of opportunities for young people to access a career in nursing within north Devon provided him with the chance to set up a nationally recognised, Health Education England funded, Health and Care Academy in north Devon which provided work placement opportunities for young people and a transition into an apprenticeship and finally a route into nursing.

Via the Health and Care Academy, he developed and wrote the FdSc Assistant Practitioner, the BA (Hons) Professional Development in Health and Social Care and the FdSc Nursing Associate programmes of study for Petroc College and the local NHS Trust via partnership with University of Plymouth. During this time Shaun was heavily involved with working voluntarily for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust as a First Responder for 14 years and an Immediate Life Support Instructor for the UK Resuscitation Council and this combined with the Health and Care Academy provided him with the good fortune to work part-time with the University of Bolton in setting up, in partnership with Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust and Petroc College of Further and Higher Education, the University of Bolton’s Satellite Centre for Nursing here in Barnstaple, North Devon.

Shaun's first role with the University of Bolton was as their Nursing Satellite Centre Link Manager and this progressed into a full-time role as a Senior Lecturer within the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Although Shaun is not a registered nurse of allied health professional, the range of knowledge and experience he has within healthcare is extensive and something that he is extremely passionate about. As part of his current role, he combines his passion for teaching with the development of new and innovative programmes of study which he has gained recent success in the approval of a Level 6 and Level 7 Higher Education Advanced Diploma (CPD) Adult Social Care Nursing programme of study.

Research Interests and Research Subject Specialisms:
Curriculum Development and Collaborative/Integrated Partnership Models

Teaching specialisms;
Immediate Life Support, A-E, Deteriorating Patient, Anatomy and Physiology and Health Promotion/Illness Prevention.

Publications and Research:
Kershaw, S. (2001) ‘Leisure and Farm Diversification: A Case Study of the Milky Way Adventure Park’, Leisure Studies Association, 60 (1), pp.1-23.
Kershaw, S. (2018) ‘Challenging Professional Practice: Ontological Insecurity, Mindfulness of the ‘Gap’ and Advocacy for Collaborative, Reflective and Deleuzian Inspired Praxis’, The Devonian, 1 (1), pp. 10-14.
Kershaw, S. (2020) Business and Financial Case Report for the One Education System. Petroc: Barnstaple.

Professional Online Profile Links (e.g. LinkedIn)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-kershaw-79b5843b/

Affiliations
Higher Education Academy (Advance HE) – Fellow (FHEA)