By Oscar Odena The trend of English as Second Language (ESL) students coming to established English-speaking universities is on the increase, particularly to enrol on research degree programmes. With their new research skills many will aim to bring about educational change in their countries after completion. Developing academic writing is a crucial skill for completingContinue reading “Supervisors to mentor ESL students”
Tag Archives: educational change
Our recent work at the Robert Owen Centre
Our latest E Bulletin can be accessed by clicking on the link below – this has details on our latest research, recent awards and appointments, recent publications and some of our knowledge exchange activities: Ebulletin-issue-2 As you can gather it’s been another highly productive and rewarding year for the Robert Owen Centre. You will find the previous bulletinContinue reading “Our recent work at the Robert Owen Centre”
Music building better societies
Oscar Odena explores the use of music education as a tool for social inclusion. The power of music to affect human beings is well documented in the literature. Marketing and psychotherapy scholars have shown how music is used to alter the consumer’s mood (Brown & Volgsten, 2006) and to develop communication skills with children onContinue reading “Music building better societies”
Tackling educational inequity: between and beyond school improvement
By Chris Chapman Traditionally, we have focused on change within schools. This has delivered some returns: at worst – tactically ratcheting up test scores at the expense of capacity building and at best – increasing schools’ capacity to manage change for the longer term. In addition, improving the learning level is crucial and within-school approachesContinue reading “Tackling educational inequity: between and beyond school improvement”
Advancing ‘race’ and ethnicity in educational research
By Oscar Odena and Richard Race There is a prevailing sense that the term ‘race’, used in the past to highlight difference based on perceived ability and temperament, is no longer acceptable. ‘Race’ issues appear to be currently off the policy agenda, subsumed into ‘social justice’, ‘inclusion’ and ‘ethnicity’ topics. However ‘race’ is still aContinue reading “Advancing ‘race’ and ethnicity in educational research”
Knowledge is the route to emancipation: Lawrence Stenhouse on teacher work
By Clive Dimmock Since joining the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change I am experiencing constant resonances with the work of a man I have admired for most of my 30-year university career. If you espouse these – teachers researching their own practice, action research, use of data to inform improved practice, the centrality ofContinue reading “Knowledge is the route to emancipation: Lawrence Stenhouse on teacher work”
‘A truly postmodern condition’: The unintended side-effects of global education rankings
By Barbara Kehm When the invitation came (in January 2013) to give a presentation at the 5th International Conference on World Class Universities in Shanghai to celebrate 10 years of Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Class Universities I felt very honoured. But I was also in a split mind concerning my presentation. CouldContinue reading “‘A truly postmodern condition’: The unintended side-effects of global education rankings”
Some challenges of practice-centred research
By Oscar Odena Finding a methodological approach within which to work is not straightforward for practitioner-researchers engaged in enquiry aimed at educational change. Practitioner-researcher projects often (but not always) have a qualitative orientation, focussing on a limited number of participants and allowing for an in-depth analysis of particular cases and interactions. These projects tend toContinue reading “Some challenges of practice-centred research”
Education, justice and democracy: The struggle over ignorance and opportunity
By Professor Stephen Ball This is the name of a new report I wrote for CLASS, the Centre for Labour and Social Studies, which was published in September 2013. Below is an edited extract from the report, the full version of which can be found here. Comments are welcome. Despite the relentless and repeated criticismsContinue reading “Education, justice and democracy: The struggle over ignorance and opportunity”
Does educational research matter? Response to BERA
This is the question posed in a recent briefing document produced by the British Educational Research Association (BERA, 29 August 2013), entitled Why education research matters. The briefing document is designed to inform future funding decisions and details a range of case studies to illustrate the importance of education research and its success in impactingContinue reading “Does educational research matter? Response to BERA”