Annual Research Institutes Reports

Completion of PhD

Erik Blair will be submitting his thesis later on in 2010.

5. Progress to date on use of research funds

• 
  organised a series of monthly research seminars from colleagues who can contribute in areas of interest to our colleagues and students. To date seminars have been presented by Dr Mere Berryman, University of Waikato, New Zealand (November), Dr Marie-Pierre Moreau, UoB (December). The seminar planned for January will be given by Dr Gabrielle Ivinson, Cardiff University, for February by Dr Sandra Davies (previously from the Open University) and for March by Prof Harry Torrance
  
• 
  launched the Doctorate in Education with a enrolment of 13 students, 9 of whom are UoB colleagues. Its overarching aim is to facilitate the creation of a new body of applied knowledge or theoretically-justified practice in education and provide evidence of the impact it has had, or could have, on the professional area. The ESRC (April, 2009) recently stated an intention to focus on professional Doctorates as well as PhDs and we will actively seek recognition of our EdD.
  
• 
  advertised small scale bursaries (10 x £1000) to support staff with their doctoral research with a clear agreement about on-going publications in the course of their studies.
  
• 
  developed and agreed criteria for the funding of a small grants scheme to provide seed corn funding for new small scale proposals for researchers with the potential for publications within 12 months, and advertised the scheme to colleagues.
  
• 
  advertised a writing weekend during January/February to colleagues who have the potential for publication of peer-reviewed journal articles. An external colleague who edits a high quality education journal has agreed to facilitate the weekend and support colleagues’ drafts to publication on a consultancy contract
  
• 
  planned in outline a session for research bid-training
  

6. Other activities

The activities of members of the Institute for Research in Education are reported below as follows: new appointments, publications, newly-funded research projects, completion of doctoral studies, progress to date on the use of QR funds (£25k), other activities.

Uvanney specialises in research that focuses on issues of ethnicity, racism and culture as they impact on educational practice and student and staff experience. She has directed a number of research projects including for example:

The impact of supplementary schools on pupils’ attainment: An investigation into what factors contribute to educational improvements (funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families - DCSF);

Evaluation of the Black Children’s (Primary) Achievement Programme (funded by the DCSF);

The Diversity and Citizenship research review (funded by the Department for Education and Skills, DfES – the study supported the DCSF diversity and citizenship curriculum review undertaken by Sir Keith Ajegbo).

Uvanney was part of a team commissioned in 2009 by the Equality Challenge Unit to undertake a literature review of the experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic staff working in higher education. She has also undertaken research in relation to for example, equality experiences of Black staff in further education (funded by the Commission for Black Staff in Further Education), factors affecting the recruitment and retention of Black teachers in London schools (funded by the Greater London Authority), supply teacher experiences of induction and continuing professional development (DfES funded), supplementary school teacher aspirations to teach community languages (CiLT funded), evaluation of the Teach First graduate teacher employment scheme, teacher experiences in relation to remodelling (DSCF funded), student experiences in higher education, the impact of education action zones and factors affecting middle ability pupil attainment in secondary schools.

Outside of education, Uvanney has conducted research concerning nurse recruitment and retention, cancer health awareness and young people’s experiences of crime and policing – she was formerly a member of the Lambeth Police-Consultative Group working party which investigated deaths in police custody in London.
Publications by Institute members since January, 2010
Janice Wearmouth

Wearmouth, J (in press) ‘Policy conflicts between the conventional SEN framework and ‘Every child matters’, in G Hallet & F Hallet (eds) Transforming the role of the SENCO, Buckingham: Open University Press

Moreau, M.P., Mendick, H. & Epstein, D. (2010) Constructions of Mathematicians in Popular Culture and Learners’ Narratives: A study of mathematical and non-mathematical subjectivities, Cambridge Journal of Education 40 (1)

Moreau, M.P. (in press) The societal construction of boys’ underachievement in educational policies: a cross-national comparison, Journal of Education Policy

Trevor Corner

Abukari, A. and Corner, T., (in preparation) Tailoring higher education to meet local needs in a developing context; the quality dilemma.

Corner, T. and Abukari, A. (submitted) Service Engagement and Functions in Higher Education: Exploring Temporary and Emerging Models. Mn 27pp Submitted to Studies in Higher Education.

Andrea Raiker

Raiker, A. (Accepted for UoB publication 2010) ‘Student and staff perceptions of Personal Development Planning (PDP) processes designed to support undergraduate dissertations’. In (ed. M. Atlay & A. Coughlin) Title to be identified. Luton: UoB.

Dickson E & Burton, N (in press) Thirteen Year Old’s Ability To Encode and Decode Nonverbal Communication and Demonstrate ‘Emotional Literacy’. Education 3-13

N Burton (in press) Where did the science go?. Education 3-13

Erik Blair

Blair, E. (in press) How does telling the truth help educational action research, Educational Action Research

Blair, E., Cline, T. & Wallis, J. (in press) When do adults entering Higher Education begin to identify themselves as students? The Threshold-of-Induction model, Studies in Continuing Education

Malini Mistry

Grant, K & Mistry, M (in press) `How does the use of role play affect the learning of year four children in a predominately EAL class’, in Education 3-13

Mistry, M & Sood, K (in press) `English as an Additional Language: Challenges & Assumptions’, in Management in Education

Sood, K & Mistry, M (in press) `English as an Additional Language: is there a need to embed cultural values and beliefs in institutional practice’, in Education 3-13

Maylor, U. (forthcoming) Notions of diversity, British identities and citizenship belonging, Race, Ethnicity and Education.

Maylor, U. & Williams, K. (forthcoming) Challenges in theorising the ‘Black middle class’  : Education, experience and authenticity’, Journal of Gender and Education.

Maylor, U., Tanner, E., Finch, S., Glass, K., Low, N., Minty, S., Purdon, S., Rose, A., Ross, Taylor, E. and Tipping, S. (2010) ‘The impact of supplementary schools on pupils’ attainment: An investigation into what factors contribute to educational improvements, Research Report 210, Nottingham : DCSF.

Maylor, U. (2009) ‘They do not relate to people like us’: Black teachers as role models for Black pupils, Journal of Education Policy, 24 (1): 1-21.

Maylor, U. (2009) What is the meaning of Black?: Researching ‘ Black’ respondents, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32 (2): 369 -387.

Maylor, U. & Ross, A. (2009) Teacher education for multiple identities in Europe: a study, Special Issue : Social Science Tribune, (University of Thessaly, Greece), Vol 14, Issue 55, 229-245, Summer

Maylor, U. (2009) Policy Context: New Labour, Social Inclusion and the Curriculum, in, D. Hill and L. Robertson (eds.) Equality in the Primary School. London & New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, pp. 41-53

Leathwood, C., Maylor, U. & Moreau, M. (2009) The Experience of Black and Minority Ethnic Staff Working in Higher Education, Literature Review, June. London: Equality Challenge Unit.

Smart, S., Hutchings, M., Maylor, U., Mendick, H. & Menter, I. (2009) Processes of middle-class reproduction in a graduate teacher employment scheme, Journal of Education and Work, 22 (1): 35-53.

Since January, 2010:

the series of monthly research seminars continued in January with seminars by Dr Gabrielle Ivinson, Cardiff University, in February by Dr Sandra Davies (previously from the Open University), in early March by Prof Harry Torrance, and in late March by Prof Meg McGuire, London University. We are approaching Dr Rose Drury (Open University) and Dr Uvanney Maylor, for further seminars this academic year.

advertised small scale bursaries (10 x £1000) to support staff with their doctoral research with a clear agreement about on-going publications in the course of their studies.

developed and agreed criteria for the funding of a small grants scheme to provide seed corn funding for new small scale proposals for researchers with the potential for publications within 12 months, and advertised the scheme to colleagues.

a writing weekend was held in February for colleagues who have the potential for publication of peer-reviewed journal articles. An external colleague co-facilitated the weekend and has been contracted to support colleagues’ drafts to publication on a consultancy contract the session on research bid-training was postponed because interested staff were committed to teaching duties.

Dr Marie-Pierre Moreau, on behalf of the comparative and international education Special Interest Group of the British Educational Research Association (BERA), has organised a seminar: New Paradigms and Challenges in Comparative and International Education for May 12th. Speakers will be Professor Karen Evans, Institute of Education (‘Comparative and International Education: past, present and new directions for the future?’) and Professor Alistair Ross, London Metropolitan University (‘Partnerships: Pitfalls and Pleasures’).