Professor Victoria Kinsella is Professor of Education at Birmingham City University. Her research sits at the intersection of arts education, creativities, inclusion, and equitable learning for children and young people, with particular focus on those experiencing educational marginalisation, including learners with SEND and those at risk of educational exclusion. Her work spans diverse educational and cultural contexts, including schools, early years settings, community arts organisations, galleries, youth justice settings, prisons and cultural institutions.

Professor Kinsella is internationally recognised for her work in arts education and multimodal creativities, with significant contributions to music education, arts pedagogy, and socially just educational practice. Her research has had sustained national and international impact on policy, classroom practice, creative pedagogy, teacher professional development, and inclusive arts education. She has led and co-led major externally funded research initiatives with organisations including Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, AHRC, Music Hubs, cultural organisations and national education partners, shaping policy and practice across education and arts sectors.

Victoria’s research outcomes have been widely disseminated and recognised across academic, professional and public platforms. She has been invited to deliver keynote lectures, invited symposia, conference addresses, and practitioner training nationally and internationally. Her work has also been featured across broadcast and public engagement platforms, including national radio and podcasts, and shared with cultural, government and third-sector organisations to inform policy and practice.

Professor Kinsella has published extensively in leading international journals including the British Journal of Music Education and contributes regularly to edited collections on music, arts, creativity and inclusion. She is currently editor of the International Journal of Art and Design Education. 

A sector leader in her field, Victoria currently serves as Convenor of the BERA Creativities Special Interest Group, is a strategic board member for multiple arts and cultural organisations, is trustee of Open Theatre and works extensively with national networks to influence creative, inclusive and equitable education. She is also a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, in recognition of her sustained impact on higher education teaching, research and leadership.

Victoria is an experienced doctoral supervisor and examiner and has taught across a wide range of courses from MA Education, EdD, and research methods modules with specialist focus on creativity, arts-based research, inclusion, multimodality and posthumanism. She currently supervises 11 PhD and EdD candidates researching inclusive arts education, SEND, music pedagogy, participatory methods and posthuman approaches, and has examined doctorates nationally.

Professor Kinsella is regularly invited to deliver keynotes, seminars, invited lectures and strategic consultancy across the UK and internationally. With research that is deeply rooted in practice, she works in close partnership with schools, cultural organisations, music and arts education networks, local authorities, policymaking bodies, and community partners to translate research into meaningful change.

Her work centres on advancing inclusive, creative and socially just pedagogies, and she regularly advises on the implementation of arts-based learning, music education, multimodal and affective creativities, and SEND-inclusive practice within professional and institutional contexts.