Transitions Community Compass - July 2026

Dr Sean Marshall is a mixed-methods narrative and developmental psychology researcher whose work centres on the mental health and well-being of young people. His PhD looked at identity through turning-point narratives and wellbeing in emerging adulthood (roughly ages 18 to 25), which is a life stage marked by upheaval with the end of secondary schooling, and biographical disruption. His 2024 move to Australia set off several transitions at once: from working within a department of psychology to the faculty of education, and from studying emerging adults to emerging adolescents—which he refers to as ages 10 to 12 years. He now explores how the social and psychological climate of a school longitudinally shapes young people's mental health and their engagement across upper primary school, and across their move from primary to secondary school. He is also drawn to designing inclusive, 'universal by design' mental health supports that are co-designed with for neurodivergent young people. In this session, Sean will reflect on what it means to move through so many transitions at once, and how changing country, discipline, and his own way of understanding identity and mental health has reshaped his approach to research.

Dr Charlotte Bagnall is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester in Manchester’s Institue of Education. Her research is focused on supporting children’s emotional wellbeing within schools, particularly over primary-secondary school transitions. As part of her programme of research she is currently the Principal Investigator of the Primary-Secondary School Transitions Emotional Wellbeing Scale design and validation project.