Special issue:Advancing theory and research in widening participation

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Networked together: designing participatory research in on-line ethnography

Abstract. This book contains the conference proceedings of the third edition of Rethinking Educational Ethnography: Researching on-line communities and interactions Conference hold in Napoli from 6th to 7th of June 2013. In 2013, the third edition of the Conference has invited ethnographers in different fields of research (not only in education), and those involved in ethnographic investigations in diverse disciplines (anthropology, sociology, etc.) to present and discuss contributions on the challenges of participatory research design in digital ethnography

'Actup!' Theatre as Education and its impact on Young People's Learning

This paper presents the findings from a study which explores the role of theatre as a site for learning in a community context and how it can provide informal learning opportunities for young people experiencing social exclusion. The study involved 'Actup!' a theatre group for young people on Leicester's Saffron Lane Estate and run by Speakeasy Theatre Company. Observations, interviews and visual records were used to explore practitioners' and young people's experiences of 'Actup!' The research findings suggest that theatre as education has a number of important functions for these young people. Using structured processes such as rehearsal techniques and exercises that involve the experiences of young people, theatre can positively contribute to the transmission of their skills development, influencing and supporting intellectual development, as well as empowering them to affect change in their own lives by opening up further education (FE) opportunities. This also highlights the importance of theatre as an art form and how its application outside of a formal education setting allows space for the exploration of personal experience and self-reflection through a kinaesthetic process. The paper concludes by recognising the need to undertake a longitudinal examination of how theatre as education can support and transform young people experiencing social exclusion and the importance of developing links between FE and other types of educational providers in developing learning provision that can provide a pathway into further learning

You’ve got mail…! Using email interviews to gather academic narratives

The paper explores how computer-mediated communication offers space for academics to think and make sense of their experiences in the qualitative research encounter. It draws on a research study that used email interviewing to generate online narratives to understand academic lives and identities through research encounters in virtual space. The paper discusses how email can provide a site where the self can be viewed reflexively and re-negotiated through a process of interaction. The paper demonstrates that the asynchronous nature of email helps to facilitate this, by allowing participants to contribute to research in their space and according to their own preference in time. However, it also argues for the construction of more collaborative approaches to research that acknowledge the right of participants to use the temporal nature of space and time that email offers to construct, reflect upon and learn from their stories of experience in their own manner, and not merely to the researcher's agenda. It concludes by recognizing the importance of email as a research tool for capturing the complexity of social interaction online

Using email interviews in qualitative educational research: creating space to think and time to talk

The paper explores how the Internet and email offers space for participants to think and make sense of their experiences in the qualitative research encounter. It draws on a research study that used email interviewing to generate online narratives to understand academic lives and identities through research encounters in virtual space. The paper discusses how the asynchronous nature of email helps to facilitate this by allowing research participants to contribute to research in their space and according to their own preference in time, and engage in a process of reflection and interaction. However, it also argues for the construction of more collaborative approaches to research that acknowledge their right to use the temporal nature of space and time that email offers to construct, reflect upon and learn from their stories of experience in their own manner, and not merely to the researcher’s agenda. It concludes by recognising the importance of email as a research tool for capturing the complexity of social interaction online

Teacher professionalism, teacher identity : how do I see myself?

This doctoral thesis describes a research study that explores how academic psychologists see themselves in the communities in which they live and work - in this context higher education and their professional body, the British Psychological Society. It examines how professional identity is constructed in such communities and how they underpin their teacher professionalism. A detailed literature review has taken place, involving an examination of two theoretical concepts - the nature of teacher professionalism and professional identity. The epistemological framework of the study and the narrative inquiry approach both provide a way of understanding the academic psychologists' experiences as lived and told narratives. The relationships that define their lives have also been explored - these include talking to Society staff and students studying on undergraduate degrees in psychology. A narrative method of inquiry has been used in the form of email interviewing, offering an alternative site for the academic psychologists to reflect upon experiential events and write their accounts. This is complemented by the use of non-narrative methods such as email questionnaires delivered to the students and face-to-face interviews conducted with Society staff. Through the data analysis the emergent themes illustrate how the academic psychologists see themselves and how they are perceived by others. Conclusions drawn suggest an emerging model of teacher professionalism whereby the academic psychologists are engaged in critical self-reflection to explore their identities using self-images. They also highlight that a multiplicity of identities exist that are shaped by the academic psychologists' varied working communities and are interlinked with their personal lives. Recommendations for organisational practice have also been made, looking at how academic psychologists see themselves as members of the Society and the implications this has for supporting the development of the profession