Education Studies News and Events

Michael Wyness and Mon Partovi have had their article published online in Educational Review. Read the full article

The paper provides analysis of findings from research on “pupil voice” collected from 88 Iranian pupils within five primary classrooms. No previous research has been carried out in Iran on “pupil voice” emphasising children’s right to a say about different matters in their school lives. Two methods of data collection were applied: a) participant observation where the observer facilitated workshops within each classroom enabling children to reflect on issues that matter to them; b) individual interviews with pupils, teachers and headteachers aimed at gathering information regarding school participants’ insights into their experiences in schools, including the role of teachers, school regulations and pupil voice activities. Our data reports on the preoccupation teachers and children had with our workshop as an alternative pedagogic form in their schools. While both pupils and teachers saw the advantages of a participatory approach to classroom interactions, national, educational and pedagogic cultural factors provided substantial challenges.

On the 11th of December 2019, Dr Olympia Palikara gave an invited talk at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, as part of an interactive debate, titled "Discovering and defining my personality in school" which aimed at discussing international research and best practices promoting diversity and inclusion in education. The debate was organised by SKEP - Association of Social Responsibility for Children and Youth and was held under the auspices of the Permanent Delegation of Greece to UNESCO. Dr. Palikara’s talk discussed the development of a Transnational Professional Development Platform for Promoting Quality Inclusion in Schools. Invited participants included delegates from the 193 member states of UNESCO.

Dr Rachel Turner King (Principal Investigator, Education) and Professor David Mond (Global Sustainable Development), Dr Bobby Smith (Theatre and Performance Studies) has been awarded Coventry City of Culture funding for the project “I don’t want your hope, I want your action”: exploring youth eco-citizenship through verbatim theatre and digital ethnography in the city.

This project invites local school pupils to become active researchers. Using digital ethnography and verbatim theatre, the young people will work collaboratively to investigate the complex interrelationships between their environment, their lives and the climate crisis.

Drawing on the interdisciplinary background of the team, an applied theatre approach will enable open discussion around these issues and provide an opportunity for young people to explore the climate crisis creatively, and to perform their findings to audiences in the city. 

Dr Rachel Turner-King and a team of volunteers organised a pop-up Story Garden in Canley Community Centre, with four themed areas of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter representing different aspects of learning. She said:-

“We were thrilled with the turn-out. My aim was to welcome the public into a transformed space that brought the outdoors indoors! I also wanted to create a space that felt inviting, enchanting and beautiful.

“In the Summer garden we invited visitors to co-create stories by finding curious treasures hidden amongst the tree-trunks and branches and using these objects as prompts for creative writing. One young boy found some old keys, some shells and a spoon. We co-created a story about a prisoner who was washed up on a shore and had found 5 magic shells that would help him unlock the secret library in the castle. It was really impressive how quickly he took to storytelling in this way.

“I feel like we can really take this idea of a transportable Pop Up Story Garden to other venues around the city and it’s something we want to develop in the near future.”

https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/local_residents_entertained

Opportunity China welcomed a record number of teachers to the Teach China Graduate Program this September including University of Warwick students from across a range of different disciplines.
We are delighted to announce that the Teach China Graduate Program 2020 is now accepting applications for 2 intakes:

February 2020 intake: 30th November application deadline

September 2020 intake: 30th May application deadline
The Program is inclusive of training and pre-departure support, with a well-paid placement at a trusted partner school in China, good salary, flight reimbursement and accommodation. Opportunity China are passionate about continuing to widen participation in International Mobility among graduates, therefore, no fees are charged and all participants are given a full flight reimbursement. See [www.opportunity-china.com/tcgp]www.opportunity-china.com/tcgp for detailed information and alumni testimonials.