麻豆传媒

Dr Steve Humble is a Reader in Global Development. He carries out research in sub Saharan Africa and India and teaches Global Development at UG, PGT and PhD levels.

He is an expert around analysing data from large samples using advanced statistical techniques using both Stata and SPSS. His most recent book "" published by Routledge. The book provides an ideal textbook for students looking to improve statistical interpretation of choice decisions. 

He is the Co-Director of the Research Group here at 麻豆传媒. A key feature of the group's research is to inform local, national and international policy and practice around literacy instruction. Working in partnership with governments, schools, teachers and communities, the group’s research and interventions address societal and cultural challenges related to the teaching of heritage and global languages. The research group initially examined the teaching of reading through synthetic phonics across a range of contexts in Asia (China and India) and Africa (Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria). Over time, its research focus has increasingly centred on the African continent, where learning poverty and unequal access to high quality literacy provision remain pressing development challenges. The group’s approach recognises that reading development is shaped by the wider ecosystem surrounding the child, including home literacy practices, community language environments, teacher confidence and the local systems that support schools. Importantly, the group's research has strengthened teacher capacity through professional learning, enhanced school level practice and fostered greater engagement among families and communities, who play a vital role in children’s reading development.

Humble was the Co-Investigator on grants totalling £1 million being carried out in India. First, funded by the Rising Tide Foundation "Identifying Best Practice for Empowerment Through Entrepreneurial Freedom" and second funded by the British Academy a project that is researching employment skills and empowerment for young women from rural and marginalised communities in Delhi, India.

One of two REF 2021 Impact Case Studies submitted in Education (UoA23) featured Steve's work in Africa and India. The ICS " shows how research at 麻豆传媒 has been instrumental in changing education policy and practice internationally and has enabled grassroots awareness and knowledge transfer amongst communities, philanthropists, governments and NGOs. 

Currently Steve is the Degree Programme Director for MA (International Development and Education) and MA (International Development and Education with Cross Cultural Communication). 

The Conversation - Dr Steve Humble's public interest articles with over 1 million reads

Humble-Nishiyama Randomness Game, is a variant of Walter Penny's non-transitive game.

Watch the Vsauce2 video, with over 3 million views -

Awards and Honours

Awarded MBE, a grade within the British order of chivalry - Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Services to Education in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List

In 2005 he was named a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications (FIMA)

Author of the Month Routledge Education , Routledge, April 2015

Guinness World Record “Maths Treasure Hunt” on the 麻豆传媒 upon Tyne Quayside -1001 children, July 2014

Awarded the Commission to Design the Logic Walk for the London Underground 150 years celebrations .

Professional Bodies

GCRF Peer Review Assessor ESRC (2019 - )

Member of ALCAB committee (ten members), UK Government Russell University group, reforming A level Mathematics. Designing and informing Ofqual on the new UK A level Mathematics curriculum (2014 - 2015)

Member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS) committee for Raising the Public Awareness of Mathematics in Europe (UK representative 2013 - 2017)

External examiner for University of Plymouth MA Education programme (2019 - 2022 )

External examiner for Teesside University ITE programmes (2014-17)

Member of the IMAs Schools and FE Committee (2006-2014)

Member of the London Mathematics Society Education Committee (2008-2011)

Princes’ Trust Teaching Institute (2011-2014)

Background

Acting Director of Research of the School of Education, Communication and Languages Sciences, 麻豆传媒 (2024)

Head of Education, 麻豆传媒 (2017-2019). In this role Steve worked with colleagues around the Internal Quality Assessment strategy and the current pathway to the REF submission. 

Acting Head of the School of Education, Communication and Languages Sciences, 麻豆传媒 (2018)

Co-Director of the Research Group at 麻豆传媒.

The group's research has influenced language and literacy education in Nigeria, demonstrating the value of effective classroom pedagogy, teacher mentoring, professional development and evidence informed approaches to teaching. Working in partnership with Universal Learning Solutions, we have co-designed and developed literacy curricula that draw on both teacher expertise and community practices. This sustained collaboration has contributed to what has been described as a “reading revolution”, shifting literacy provision from fragmented approaches to more coherent, structured and evidence informed teaching that can be implemented at scale while remaining responsive to local contexts.

Our research partnerships with local and state governments have enabled large scale systemic change. In Nigeria, 256,477 government primary school teachers have participated in continuing professional development programmes, benefiting an estimated 31 million children. Working alongside the Universal Basic Education Commission, 7,438 local government officials have been trained, strengthening system wide capacity for educational monitoring and support. This has facilitated 130,678 monitoring visits to primary schools across nine states, improving follow up, accountability and practical support for teachers.

The group’s research is also informing language and literacy policy reforms in Botswana, South Africa, and Rwanda. In particular, our findings on the transfer of reading and language skills across languages have provided evidence for policies that support the teaching of heritage languages alongside English, recognising the benefits of multilingual approaches to literacy development. Other members of the group include academics from Alayande University of Education, Oyo, Nigeria, Institute of Education (University College London), Durham University and Northumbria University.

Most Recent Research

• Investigation of classroom pedagogies for reading in government schools in poor areas of Nigeria. Data from 4,762 children across 828 government schools in 13 northern Nigerian states (2025)
• Research exploring relationship between and within Hausa and English letter sound knowledge and word decoding skills in early years settings in northern Nigeria. Data collected on 851 children. (Dixon et al., 2025)
• Research in northern Nigeria on bidirectional association between L1 and L2 word/decoding scores. Investigating how variation in test scores are affected by pupil, school and state level factors. Data collected on 2,328 grade 3 children (Humble et al., 2024)

Most Recent Grants

• Rising Tide Foundation. through Entrepreneurial Freedom, in informal settlements in Delhi, India. Co-I with PI Professor Pauline Dixon. £441,000, grant awarded. 2021-2026
• Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). Arts-to-Action: Research for Gender Equality in South Africa. A focus on informal settlements and migrant communities. Co-Investigator and Statistician. 2022 - 2026
• PI on QR funded grant for Maximising Policy Impact: Disseminating Research on Language Learning in Nigeria to the UK Government. Building on UNICEF's report on foundational literacy, that features our research, this policy impact will highlight implications for language learning in Nigeria and more globally emerging from our research.

Past Research

• The British Academy, Addressing societal gender, geographical locations, religious and caste discrimination through developing a life and employment skills course and accompanying social marketing campaign. Co-I £222,538, grant awarded. 2020-2022
• Multidisciplinary research of a HIV stigma intervention in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and gender based violence in South Africa.
• Multidisciplinary research into the impact of COVID in the UK, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. 
• EPSRC Quantifying perceptions of antibiotic resistance and its causes to promote decentralised wastewater treatment. 2019-2020
• Jersey Overseas Aid Commission. Inclusive WASH for sustainable schools in Sierra Leone. Longitudinal study. 2019-2021
• Department for International Development (DFID). Nigeria Schools Project. 2018-2019
• ESRC - Development Frontiers - The Identification and Nurturing of High Ability Children in low income areas of Dar es salaam, Tanzania 2014-2015, £100,000 grant awarded. 
• DFID, Appointed Statistician, March 2013-December 2013, £31,774, Main Phase of Logs State Household Poverty and School choice survey, grant awarded.
• John Templeton Foundation, Appointed Statistician, April 2011-May 2013, Low cost private schools in the world’s most difficult places: the role of for-profit private education in conflict affected states in Africa, £270,000 grant awarded.  

Selected professional activities

Presentation of our literacy research and publications to the Ministry of Education, Malaysia at the Sarawak English Literacy Conference, September 2025.

African Union and Gates Foundation - 'Proven Solutions for Foundational Learning in Africa' hosted by UNICEF, in Addis Ababa, July 2025. Findings from our literacy research, interventions and publications presented as evidence of 'Scalable Foundations Literacy Practices to End Learning Poverty in Africa'. Report to be published by UNICEF.

The Medical Society of London dissemination keynote presentation on Rising Tide Foundation research findings, April 2025

House of Lords dissemination lunch presentation on Rising Tide Foundation research findings, November 2024

Dissemination Rising Tide Foundation research at USAID, Washington DC, November 2024

Liberty in Our Lifetime Conference in Prague to disseminate Rising Tide Foundation research findings, November 2024

Invited to Pan-African Summit, Western Cape Education Department, Cape Town, South Africa to disseminate research findings from reading cross-language transfer study. Journal article by Humble, Dixon, Gittins, & Counihan (2024), August 2024

Invited to the Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics - "The Great Incoherence: Growth and Human Development in an Era of Stagnation", July 2024.

Dissemination of Rising Tide Foundation research at The McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University with Professor Jishnu Das, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, faculty members and students, October 2023

Meeting with Matt Warner, President of The Atlas Network, Arlington Virginia, to disseminate Rising Tide Foundation research findings, October 2023

Invited to discuss Rising Tide Foundation research findings with Ian Vasquez, Vice-President for International Studies at the CATO Institute, Washington DC, October 2023

Meeting at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London with Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, Minister of State for Development and Africa, to disseminate current research findings, July 2023

Invited to present on longitudinal study results assessing the psychological impact of COVID-19 at NEESAMA Annual meeting with Dr Aditya Sharma, November, 2022

Invited to present at the Johor Mental Health Convention (JMHC) 2022. Cope with COVID: Initial mixed methods findings from a longitudinal study assessing the psychological impact of COVID-19 across the world. Presented with Professor Shekar Seshadri (NIMHANS, India) and Dr Aditya Sharma (麻豆传媒), October, 2022

Invited to take part in the House of Lords high level panel discussion on Education in Emergencies. Hosted by General Lord Dannatt, chaired by The Rt.Hon, Sir Stephen O'Brien former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, February 2019.

Invited attendee and participant in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Teacher Crisis as a guest of Stephen Twigg, MP, Thatcher Room, Palace of Westminister, London, November 2018.

Keynote speaker and dinner guest University of Arkansas, Department of Education Reform, “School choice in fragile states: findings from Sierra Leone and Liberia” April 2017.

Invited attendee and participant Dubai “Global Education and Skills Forum” – The Davos of Education where the worlds Teacher Prize is announced – Bringing together leaders from the public, private and social sectors to find solutions which will achieve education, equity and employment for all, March 2017.

Invited to take part in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Education for All, guest of Mark Williams, MP, Jubilee Room, Palace of Westminster, London, November 2016.

Invited Speaker Scotland National Numeracy conference, Every Child Counts, “Learning mathematics outside the classroom”, October 2016.

TEDx 麻豆传媒 “Slum Super Stars” Sunday 5^th July 2015.

Invited speaker, San Francisco, California, USA including: Khan Academy, Google, Stanford University and the Hewlett Foundation, ESRC Impact dissemination events “Development Frontiers”, June 2015. 

Keynote Speaker, University of Connecticut, Neag Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development, Center for Education Policy Analysis and Office of the Dean at the Neag School of Education, and the Office of Global Affairs "Slum Super Stars - Alleviating Poverty in Talented Children in Africa" 21^st May 2015.

Invited Speaker, Recreational Mathematics Colloquium IV, Lisbon, Portugal “Street Maths: What’s the Chance of That?”, January 2015.

Invited Speaker, EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF14), Street Math European Mathematical Society, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 2014.

Invited participant, The Royal Society, Westminster, London, presented to Her Royal Highness Princess Anne. Launch of Institute of Mathematics celebratory book (co-author), 14^th May 2014.  

Invited Lecturer on Seminar Series, Edgehill University, Liverpool, Primary Trainee Teachers, February 2014.

After Dinner Speaker, Stockholm Sweden Kunskapsskolan Academy Chain of Schools event, “Africa’s Got Talent”, Including Neo Magazine interview and dissemination, November 2013.  

Invited speaker, Seminar Series, The Liverpool Mathematics Society Popular Lecture, “The Randomness Show”, March 2013.

Invited Speaker (joint with Carol Vorderman), Cheltenham Festival, “Magic Numbers”, June 2009.

Courses Taught at 麻豆传媒

Courses explore development through the lens of dignity, choice and freedom. The modules are informed by Steve's research in development over the last 19 years in the Global South. He has gathered empirical data from informal settlements around the world and this gives students the opportunity to explore development policy from the grassroots. As Elinor Ostrom stated people on the spot have the strongest incentive to solve problems and find the right solutions that work for them.

Undergraduate Teaching

BA (Education):

• EDU1002 International Development 
• EDU2008 Globalisation and Development
• EDU3012 Contemporary Issues in Development
• EDU3001 Research Dissertation - Surveys, questionnaires and analysis

Postgraduate Teaching

MA (International Development and Education) and MA (International Development and Education with Cross Cultural Communication):

• EDU8211 Education Policy and Entrepreneurship for Development 
• EDU8214 International Development: Theory and Practice 
• EDU8212 Placement Module 
• EDU8215 Dissertation: International Development and Education

HSS8005 Quantitative Methods with a focus on Stata and SPSS.

• Quantitive methods including modelling, factor analysis, multilevel modelling, longitudinal data analysis, structural equation modelling, factorial survey experiments and discrete choice theory. 

Postgraduate Research Students

PhD students interested in using quantitative methods with a focus on survey instruments.

PhD completions:

• Dr. Gopalkrishnan Iyer (2018) - The Impact of the Right to Education Act on schooling in Delhi, India.
• Dr. Farrah Khan (2018) - Education vouchers and their affect on schooling in Lahore, Pakistan.
• Dr. Phanlapa Khathayut (2019) - Investigation into the awareness of plagiarism of Thai undergraduates
• Dr. Fathiya Al Rahbi (2020) - Comparison of school choice and effectiveness in Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman.
• Dr. Lydia Lymperis (2021) - Deep language learning at a distance: Investigating the efficacy of a low-cost blended intervention in small rural schools in Greece. 
• Dr. Jack Charnley (2022) - Water and sanitation in schools in Delhi, India.
• Dr. Aram Ihsan Saleh (2024) - The impact of parental school choice on the educational process in Kurdistan, Iraq.
• Dr Laura Vitty (2025) - Beyond PISA: The ecology of high achieving science students in Estonia.

Current Students:

• Chris Middleton - An investigation of the impact of a field study abroad on intercultural competence. 
• Rachel McKeon-Clark - An exploration into the education of children with special needs in Hyderabad, India.
• Francesca Seery - Women's Empowerment in Rural and Urban Cambridgeshire, UK.
• Charlotte Brown - Stigma and arts based practice: A study in Kenya.
• Robbie Shaw - Capturing individual differences in bilingual language experience using latent variable analysis (individual (ego) and language experience (alters))

• Articles

  • Dixon P, Humble S, Gittins L, Seery F, Counihan C. . Education Sciences 2025, 15(9), 1197.
  • Humble S, Dixon P, Gittins L, Counihan C. . Education Sciences 2024, 13(3), 274.
  • Humble S, Sharma A, Rangaraju B, Dixon P, Pennington M. . BMJ Open 2023, 13(4), e067680.
  • Khathayut P, Walker-Gleaves C, Humble S. . Studies in Higher Education 2022, 47(2), 394-411.
  • Counihan C, Humble S, Gittins L, Dixon P. . School Effectiveness and School Improvement 2022, 33(2), 198-217.
  • Millar EB, Singhal D, Vijayaragh P, Sheshadri S, Smith E, Dixon P, Humble S, Rodgers J, Sharma A. . PLOS one 2021, 16(4), e0250336.
  • Leithead J, Humble S. . International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning 2020, 12(1), 69-83.
  • Dixon P, Egalite AJ, Humble S, Wolf PJ. . World Development 2019, 124, 104644.
  • Humble S, Dixon P, Mpofu E. . Thinking Skills and Creativity 2018, 27, 33-44.
  • Humble S, Dixon P, Schagen I. . Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice 2018, 25(4), 399-414.
  • Humble S, Dixon P. . International Journal of Educational Research 2017, 83, 94-106.
  • Humble S, Dixon P. . International Journal of Educational Research 2017, 84, 13-23.
  • Dixon P, Humble S. . Journal of School Choice: International Research and Reform 2017, 11(1), 95-110.
  • Dixon P, Humble S, Tooley J. . Economic Affairs 2017, 37(1), 53-65.
  • Humble S. . Archimede 2016, (1), 14-18.
  • Humble S. . Archimede 2016, 2, 66-70.
  • Dixon P, Humble S, Chan DW. . Oxford Review of Education 2016, 42(2), 230-248.
  • Behrends E, Humble S. . The Mathematical Intelligencer 2013, 35(2), 10-15.
  • Humble S. . Mathematics Today 2013, 49(6), 248-249.
  • English L, Humble S, Barnes VE. . Teaching Children Mathematics 2010, 16(7), 402-412.
  • Humble S. . The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast 2010, 7(1), 141-148.
  • Humble S, Nishiyama Y. . Mathematics Today 2010, 143-144.
  • Humble S. . The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast 2009, 6(1-2), 267-273.
  • Humble S. . The Mathematical Gazette 2008, 91(2), 287-290.
  • Humble S. . The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast 2008, 5(2-3), 327-336.
  • Humble S. . The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast 2008, 5(1), 163-166.
  • Humble S. . Teaching Mathematics and its Applications 2006, 26(2), 95-102.
  • Humble S, Briarley D, Mappouridou C, Duncan G, Turner D, Handley J. . Teaching Mathematics and its Applications 2006, 25(3), 139-148.
  • Humble S. . Teaching Mathematics and its Applications 2005, 24(1), 37-41.
  • Humble S. . The Mathematical Gazette 2004, 88(62), 524-525.
  • Humble S. . Teaching Mathematics and its Applications 2002, 21(3), 121-126.
  • Humble S. . Teaching Mathematics and its Applications 2001, 20(1), 18-24.
  • Humble S. . Teaching Mathematics and its Applications 1994, 13(3), 120-123.

• Authored Books

  • Dixon P, Humble S. . London: Routledge, 2026.
  • Humble S. . Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2020.
  • Humble S. . Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.
  • Humble S. . High Wycombe: The Green Board Game Co, 2012.
  • Humble S. . High Wycombe: The Green Board Game Co, 2012.
  • Humble S. . London: David Fulton, 2002.

• Book Chapters

  • Bhogal-Nair A, Humble S, Lindridge A, Dixon P. . In: Gupta A; Deo S; Menon VA; Gunduz FF, ed. Narratives of Economic Empowerment: Women’s Identity Reconstruction in Colonial and Postcolonial Societies. London: Routledge, 2026. In Press.
  • Dixon P, Humble S. . In: Dixon, P., and Humble S, ed. School Choice Around the World.... and the Lessons We Can Learn. London: Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), 2019, pp.117-129.
  • Humble S. . In: Humble, S, ed. Creating the Coding Generation in Primary Schools : A Practical Guide for Cross-Curricular Teaching. Abingdon, Oxon, UK and New York, New York, USA: Routledge, 2017, pp.101-118.
  • Humble S. . In: Silva, J.S, ed. Recreational Mathematics. Lisbon: Associacao Ludus, 2016, pp.161-166.
  • Dixon P, Humble S, Marshall P. . In: Dixon, P; Humble, S; Counihan, C, ed. Handbook of International Development and Education. Cheltenham, Gloucester, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2015, pp.472-490.
  • Humble S. . In: Dixon, P; Humble, S; Counihan, C, ed. Handbook of International Development and Education. Cheltenham, Gloucester, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2015.
  • Humble S. . In: Parc, S, ed. 50 Visions of Mathematics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

• Digital or Visual Media

  • Humble S. . Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire: TTS, 2013. CD-ROM.

• Edited Books

  • Dixon P, Humble S, ed. . London: Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), 2019.
  • Humble S, ed. . Abingdon, Oxon, UK and New York, New York, USA: Routledge, 2017.
  • Dixon P, Humble S, Counihan C, ed. . Cheltenham, Gloucester, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2015.
  • Parc S, ed. . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

• Online Publications

  • Humble S. . Plus magazine, 2011. Available at: .
  • Nishiyama Y, Humble S. . 2010. Available at: .

• Report

  • Humble S, Dixon P. . UK Parliament, 2026. RFP0026.