Steve Connolly has been a media educator for more than 20 years. Currently Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, he previously taught at The University of Bedfordshire and, prior to that, Media and Film Studies in a range of London secondary schools, including a five year stint as a Director of Specialism in a Visual and Media Arts College.  His research covers a wide range of topics including the role of cognitivism in film education, vocational media education and philosophies. In 2021, Steve published his first book ‘The Changing Role of Media in the English Curriculum: Returning to Nowhere’ Steve is The MEA's Chair.

Kirk is a senior leader in secondary education, having worked previously as a subject specialist and head of department for media studies and film studies in a range of schools and colleges across London. He is currently Head of Sixth Form at a school in South West London and has been responsible for teaching and learning, student voice and digital curricula in his time as an Assistant Head. Kirk is committed to making media literacy a statutory part of the National Curriculum for England.

Melissa has taught Media and Film in a comprehensive School in East London for twenty years. Over that time she has worked as Head of Vocational Media and Head of Department. She also ran the specialist schools programme which included media arts. She is still very much involved in Media teaching in her school which she juggles alongside her role as Director of Sixth Form. In addition she has worked on a number of examination board qualifications and she is on the senior examining team for AQA GCSE Media Studies. She is the current MEA secretary. 

Jenny Grahame is a founder member of the MEA. A longtime media educator in London schools, she worked at the English and Media Centre for 30 years, where she trained media teachers, produced many classroom resources and publications , and launched and edited MediaMagazine for sixteen years.

Brian is currently Principal Examiner of the CIE A Level  Media Studies course and teaches part-time in a sixth form college. He is also Director of Newsliners, a  truly social media community non-profit project. Prior to this he was the head of department for Media in a large sixth form college for over twenty years and a team leader for OCR A Level Critical Perspectives. Brian is looking to increase membership and participation to make MEA the voice of Media teaching at all levels. 

Keith is a committed media educator who has taught media related courses in a range of sectors over the last 30 years or so years. Keith is currently the Deputy Head of Initial Teacher Education at the University of Sussex where he also leads the PGCE in Media; he is also an Assistant Headteacher at St Paul’s Catholic College. His media research interests are around the role of media education in exploring issues around immigration with school students and trainee teachers.

Claire Pollard is an advisory teacher for Media Studies at the English and Media Centre and the editor of MediaMagazine. She also runs the Goldsmiths PGCE Media and Film and English. Prior to that, she spent 16 years teaching English and Media in secondary schools in London. Despite not being very creative she holds a degree in English and Creative Studies and an MA in Creative and Media Education.

Symon is a founding member of the MEA who has extensive experience as an educator in media and film studies.  He has worked across the secondary, tertiary and Higher Education sectors and written widely about education, media and film. His research interests include short film, political ideologies and the representation of the working class. His current roles include leading on the BFI’s/National Film and Television School’s Film Academy and lecturing at Brunel and Bedfordshire universities. Simon is the treasurer of the MEA.

Michelle taught media in the post-16 sector for over twenty years. A former Curriculum Area Leader for Media at an inner London sixth form, she now works as a senior lecturer on the Post-Compulsory PGCE at UEL whilst completing a doctorate in education at Bournemouth University’s Centre for Excellence in Media Practice. Her research is focused on the impact of the recent curriculum reform on Media Studies at post-16. She has also written journal articles, blogs and resources for a range of publications and websites related to media education. ​Michelle is the communications officer for The MEA. 

Bethan is a Film and Television graduate and teacher, and is Media and Film Subject Lead in her school in South Wales. She is also the Central South Consortium Lead Practitioner for Film and Digital Media. Through founding @mediaeduchat on Twitter, she hopes to connect teachers and provide support, resources and CPD events for practitioners of all levels. She also blogs regularly about teaching Media at secondary level. 

Sarah has taught and led on Media Studies at GCSE and A Level for over ten years. Now based in South Wales, Sarah has previously worked at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in the Film and Television Department. Sarah is setting up a Wales, Regional MEA network to connect Secondary and Higher level educators, and media industry professionals.