Meet our tutors - Naomi Dickins

Naomi is one of our wonderful History tutors. History has always fascinated her, and she is constantly finding new areas of the subject to explore. After studying at university, she worked as a private tutor, archivist, and researcher before joining KAE about six years ago. Research and private lecturing brought her into contact with local historical societies and museums, and this is what led to her writing her first local history book, which was published in 2013. Art is Naomi’s other passion and a lifelong love of gardening and the natural world, inspired by her mother, led her to achieve a diploma in botanical painting. Living in the countryside in the centre of the county means that she is lucky enough to be able to indulge her love of nature and find plenty of artistic inspiration. Volunteering as a garden guide with the National Trust at Scotney has given her the opportunity to combine her interests by researching the history of the gardens there.

To Naomi, teaching is a vocation; she believes that you cannot do this job well if you don’t love what you do. She is passionate about history and she loves being able to inspire others into investigating and learning more about their own areas of interest; there’s nothing more rewarding than a student’s enthusiastic response. For a historian, it is essential to approach your subject with an open mind and it can be very satisfying to watch her students embracing new knowledge and breaking down existing preconceptions, as their own confidence increases. Naomi says: “Teaching also gives me opportunities to research new ideas in designing new courses, which is always an enjoyable challenge and means that I am always learning and discovering as well”.