'Playing the game called writing': children's views and voices

Collects primary pupils' views of themselves as writers and their preferences, attitudes and awareness of the source of their ideas in the context of England's National Literacy Strategy. Underlines the importance of listening to pupils' views about literacy, in order to create a more open dialogue about language and learning, and to negotiate the content of the curriculum in response to their perspectives

What is the appeal of poetry written for children for children? A study of children's relationship with poetry

ABSTRACT\ud This thesis explores the appeal that a sample of children's poetry has for a group of thirty children in their final year of primary school in the United Kingdom. It examines this appeal within a socio-historical context that perceives literature written for children as playing an important role within a 'developmental state' (Lee, 2001) - a State where children are seen as sites of investment and as 'human becomings'. The thesis argues that the literature written for children forms part of the discourse that has historically attempted to define, manage and maintain contemporary conceptualisations of childhood. Within this context of adult society's ideological claim over literature written for children - including poetry - the study explores the nature of the appeal the texts generate for a class of ll-year olds.\ud Through the use of a triangulation of case studies, the enquiry investigates how this appeal reflects children's own understanding of their childness (Hollindale, 1997). It will argue that although children's literature continues to be written for a variety of adult purposes, children are able to manage the messages and meanings found within the poetry and create their own pleasures from the texts with which they engage, rejecting those that they individually dislike

Accelerated degrees in education: a new profile, alternative access to teaching or part of a re-tooling process?

In the UK, the provision of accelerated undergraduate programmes is responding to the needs of an increasingly diverse and career-focused student body and a flexible, ever-changing labour market. These fast track degrees are particularly new in education where recent developments in school autonomy and teacher training have had consequences on the design and delivery of programmes, definition of professional profiles and implications for the future of education as a subject of study in universities. This article portrays a small-scale research study about the views of students undertaking a new two-year accelerated degree in one English university using surveys at the beginning and end of the first academic year. The great majority were not planning to attend the programme but have chosen it for its career options and for being a quicker and cheaper route to access a degree – with teaching as the career goal. After one year, students reported gains in knowledge and skills, recommended the programme and kept their intention to pursue a career in teaching. Overall, we address a gap in the literature and start the discussion about the (dis)association between the students’ career routes and goals, the provision of these programmes and the teacher training offers

Mentor, colleague, co-learner and judge: using Bourdieu to evaluate the motivations of mentors of Newly Qualified Teachers

This study uses Bourdieu’s interconnected notions of fields, habitus and capital as a theoretical template to analyse the responses of eight mentors of Newly Qualified Teachers with regard to the motivations and challenges of their role. This is an original grounded approach to the analysis of the experiences of such mentors. The data reveal that each mentor was a highly committed re-creator of the fields and habitus in which they operated, although this was not consciously done. They were each also committed to helping the NQTs develop professional cultural capital. Although Bourdieu famously referred to education as ‘symbolic violence’ the data from this study give no indication that the recreation of fields through the mentoring of professional practice was viewed as an act of dominion on the part of the mentors. Rather, these mentors saw their role as an empowering aspect of professional agency in which both parties shared in a co-authoring of a (usually) positive and mutually-affirming outcome

Action research projects 2015-2016: Teachers’ reports - Boxgrove Alliance.

This year my Colleague, Dr Ana Cabral, and I from the University of Greenwich have had the privilege of working with a group of talented teachers from schools within the Alliance who were all interested to study their own practice in order to enrich the learning of the children they teach. Ana and I wanted to introduce the teachers to action research. The classic work by Carr and Kemmis (1986) describe action research as being about: • the improvement of practice; • the improvement of the understanding of practice; • the improvement of the situation in which the practice takes place. It was important to us that the teachers were systematic about the way they undertook their investigations. Teachers are busy people and the degree to which they applied the methodology varied. We discussed their aims – constructing research questions or identifying the problem they wished to solve. We worked on the best ways of collecting data to inform their actions and we talked about the ethical issues of being an ‘insider-researcher’ and how to address them. We met with the teachers at least three times during a term and on a number of occasions we went to schools or had telephones conversations when teachers were too busy to attend. The meetings with the teachers were fascinating. Research has informed us that the most effective forms of continuing professional development (CPD) (BERA/RSA 2014) involve: • the use of specialist advisors and external experts • collaborative enquiry and structured peer support • the opportunity to explore why things do and don’t ‘work’ • the exploration and challenging of teachers own beliefs and assumptions (p.25 – 27). ‘All the research indicates that enquiry-orientated learning is not a quick-fix, but needs to be a sustained over time to ensure that learning (for both teachers and pupils) actually takes place’. (BERA/RCA 2014: 26) In this document we provide the reports from the teachers that describe their work. They document the processes with which the teachers were engaged. In most cases teachers collected information from their own surveys or interviews and/or from reading literature in the area. They then describe the action they felt to be appropriate and conclude with a brief evaluation of the success of their projects. They all demonstrate the teachers’ hard work and determination. We would like to extend our thanks to all the teachers and the children involved. (Andrew Lambirth

Action research projects 2015-2016: Teachers’ reports - Royal Greenwich Teaching School Alliance

This year, with my colleague, Dr Ana Cabral from the University of Greenwich I have had the privilege of working with a group of talented teachers and a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) from schools within the Alliance who were all interested to study their own practice in order to enrich the learning of the children they teach. Ana and I wanted to introduce the group to action research. The classic work by Carr and Kemmis (1986) describe action research as being about: • the improvement of practice; • the improvement of the understanding of practice; • the improvement of the situation in which the practice takes place. It was important to us that the teachers and LSAs were as systematic as possible about the way they undertook their investigations. Teachers and LSAs are busy people and the degree to which they applied the methodology varied. The group consisted of those from a range of academic backgrounds and experiences. We discussed their aims – constructing research questions or identifying the problem they wished to solve. We introduced literature that was relevant to the focus of their study. We worked on the best ways of collecting data to inform their actions and we talked about the ethical issues of being an ‘insider-researcher’ and how to address them. We met with the group at least three times during a term and on a number of occasions we went to schools or had telephones conversations when teachers were too busy to attend. The meetings with the teachers and LSAs were fascinating. The combination of staff from secondary and primary led to exciting and fruitful professional conversations. Everyone recognised how pedagogy associated with each phase challenged and enriched the other. In some cases, the teachers invited each other into their classes and team teaching took place as a result, bringing forth further rich professional discussions. Research has informed us that the most effective forms of continuing professional development (CPD) (BERA/RSA 2014) involve: • the use of specialist advisors and external experts • collaborative enquiry and structured peer support • the opportunity to explore why things do and don’t ‘work’ • the exploration and challenging of teachers own beliefs and assumptions (p.25 – 27). ‘All the research indicates that enquiry-orientated learning is not a quick-fix, but needs to be a sustained over time to ensure that learning (for both teachers and pupils) actually takes place’. (BERA/RCA 2014: 26) The RGTSA wants to make this form of teacher-led inquiry part of the practice in their schools. We hope to continue with these powerful projects in the coming years. In this document we provide the reports from the group that describe their work. They document the processes with which they were engaged. In most cases they collected information from their own surveys or interviews and/or from reading literature in the area. They then describe the action they felt to be appropriate and conclude with a brief evaluation of the success of their projects. They all demonstrate their hard work and determination. We would like to extend our thanks to all the teachers and LSAs and the children involved and especially to Jon Curtis-Brignell who helped facilitate the projects. (Andrew Lambirth

Action research projects 2014-2015: Teachers’ reports - Royal Greenwich Teaching School Alliance (RGTSA)

This year my Colleague, Dr Ana Cabral, and I from the University of Greenwich have had the privilege of working with a group of talented teachers from schools within the Alliance who were all interested to study their own practice in order to enrich the learning of the children they teach. We worked with two core groups. One met at The John Roan School and the other at Thomas Tallis School. The John Roan group was coordinated by Paul Barber and the Tallis group by Andy Smythe. Andy’s group of teachers were interested in studying ways to enrich the teaching of science. The John Roan group were interested in enriching the teaching of literacy. Ana and I wanted to introduce the teachers to action research. The classic work by Carr and Kemmis (1986) describe action research as being about: • the improvement of practice; • the improvement of the understanding of practice; • the improvement of the situation in which the practice takes place. It was important to us that the teachers were systematic about the way they undertook their investigations. Teachers are busy people and the degree to which they applied the methodology varied. We discussed their aims – constructing research questions or identifying the problem they wished to solve. We worked on the best ways of collecting data to inform their actions and we talked about the ethical issues of being an ‘insider--‐researcher’ and how to address them. We met with the teachers at least three times during a term and on a number of occasions we went to schools or had telephone conversations when teachers were too busy to attend. The meetings with the teachers were fascinating. The combination of teachers from secondary and primary led to exciting and fruitful professional conversations. Everyone recognised how pedagogy associated with each phase challenged and enriched the other. In some cases, the teachers invited each other into their classes and team teaching took place as a result, bringing forth further rich professional discussions. Research has informed us that the most effective forms of continuing professional development (CPD) (BERA/RSA 2014) involve: • the use of specialist advisors and external experts • collaborative enquiry and structured peer support • the opportunity to explore why things do and don’t ‘work’ • the exploration and challenging of teachers own beliefs and assumptions (p.25 – 27). ‘All the research indicates that enquiry--‐orientated learning is not a quick--‐fix, but needs to be sustained over time to ensure that learning (for both teachers and pupils) actually takes place’. (BERA/RCA 2014: 26) The RGTSA wants to make this form of teacher-led inquiry part of the practice in their schools. We hope to continue with these powerful projects in the coming years. In this document we provide the reports from the teachers that describe their work. They document the processes with which the teachers were engaged. In most cases teachers collected information from their own surveys or interviews and/or from reading literature in the area. They then describe the action they felt to be appropriate and conclude with a brief evaluation of the success of their projects. They all demonstrate the teachers’ hard work and determination. We would like to extend our thanks to all the teachers and the children involved and especially to Paul Barber and Andy Smythe who helped facilitate the projects. (Andrew Lambirth

Exploring children's discourses of writing

This article reports on a study which was part of a two year writing project undertaken by a University in South East England with 17 primary schools. A survey sought the views of up to 565 children on the subject of writing. The analysis utilises Ivanič's (2004) discourses of writing framework as a heuristic and so provides a unique lens for a new understanding of children's ideological perspectives on writing and learning how to write. This study shows the development of learned or acquired skills and compliance discourses by the participating children within which accuracy and correctness overrides many other considerations for the use of the written word