Keith worked at the University of Durham, UK, for 14 years before moving to Macau, China in 2000, where he has been a Professor of Education and Vice-rector. He is currently Registrar at Macau University of Science and Technology, engaged in the academic and administrative development of this relatively new university. His doctorate thesis was in the work of Habermas and its implications for aspects of school curriculums, and his early publications were in the fields of curriculums and assessment. More recently he has been investigating complexity theory in leadership and educational research, including School Leadership and Complexity Theory, published by Routledge.

Keith has worked with many colleagues whose educational expertise lies in many fields, particularly with Emeritus Professor Louis Cohen (who publishes with Routledge) and the late Lawrence Manion, to both of whom he acknowledges an enormous debt of gratitude. He has tried to share their example of collaborative research and publication, and since moving to Macau he has been particularly involved in developing young and inexperienced writers and researchers. He takes from Louis Cohen the commitment to academic writing, and tries to write nearly every day, as a matter of self discipline.

Keith has published 15 books, of which 9 are jointly authored and 8 are with Routledge, some 90 papers in international journals, around 100 papers and consultancy reports in non refereed sources and for different governments, and manuals for working in SPSS and qualitative research. In 2008 he wrote the country report on Higher Education in Macau for the Asia Pacific UNESCO conference on higher education, and in 2009 he presented the Asia Pacific Regional Report for the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in Paris. He is the Editor of the journal Evaluation and Research in Education (published by Routledge), a post which he has held for 11 years. Click here to view the latest table of contents. Two key books feature in his profile: three editions each of Research Methods in Education and A Guide to Teaching Practice, all with Routledge, which have been translated into several languages. Keith is particularly concerned to ensure that researchers are rigorous, modest and careful; his 2009 book on Causation in Educational Research invites them to examine closely the claims that they make from their research. Keith has worked in the UK, South Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Macau, and finds mainland Chinese students by far the most rewarding to teach, as their thirst for learning is remarkable.

Keith has a lifelong passion for music, playing the organ, piano and clavichord, all of which he has in Macau. He has been a cathedral choral scholar, an organ recitalist and music teacher.