Typing aloud
In common with most teacher educators, I am a big fan of classroom talk. I continually stress to my English subject trainee teachers the huge value of the spoken word and invite them to be...
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Activism, autonomy and identities: Stories from early childhood educators
In pre-Covid England, early childhood education and care (ECEC) was already in a state of uncertainty. A maelstrom of structural conditions and an onslaught of initiatives had manifested as...
Continue reading blog postBirth to three matters for schools: Attachment theory and readiness to learn
The role of attachment theory in education has frequently been questioned, as typified in the recent Twitter exchange on ‘edutwitter’ below. Figure 1: Anonymised screenshot of a tweet and...
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Predicted grades and prejudice
Across England, most secondary-level students will be receiving predicted grades at the end of this year. These grades may determine their entry into further education or a particular workforce....
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Positioning children with a vision impairment as knowledge producers and change agents
‘The ability to collaborate on both a small- and large-scale is becoming one of the core requisites of postmodern society’ (Fullan, 1993, p.5). Yet it is ‘still relatively rare for children...
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Storying identities, experiences and agency of graduate teaching assistants
‘Have you thought about including recordings of these stories as part of your thesis? It’s just that reading them out loud was really powerful for those of us listening.’ I stopped. To be...
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BERA ECR Network symposium: A personal reflection on constructive feedback
In October 2019 I travelled to the US to explore the benefits of oracy-centred teaching strategies and expeditionary learning for the development of the speaking, listening, reading and writing...
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Framing research: Participatory research approaches in early years education
On 14 February 2020, at the BERA ECR Network Symposium, my presentation focussed on participatory research in early childhood education. Having worked for a number of years in an early childhood...
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Editorial: Theories, concepts and reflexivity in educational research
In February of this year, the University of Sheffield hosted its second BERA ECR Network symposium. Targeted at early-career researchers (ECRs), master’s and doctoral students, the symposium...
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