Paul Richardson is assistant professor for the PGCEi course Teachers in Educational Equity (Malaysia) at University of Birmingham. Previously, he was senior lecturer and co-led the English team on the PGCE Primary and Early Years course at Bath Spa University. He has previously taught primary English on the Teach First and the Troops to Teachers programmes. Before becoming a teacher educator, he taught English as a second language to both children and adults in Thailand and Vietnam, and then worked as a primary teacher in England for several years.

His doctoral thesis focused on the relationship between small rural primary schools and multi-academy trusts. He currently leads a small international collaborative research project looking at planning schemes for writing and the deprofessionalism of teachers. He is also working with refugee teachers in Malaysia through a research project that seeks to include teachers as participants in action research.