Welcome to the WJETT blog
What is WJETT?
The WJETT blog or Warwick Journal of Education - Transforming Teaching blog is designed to encourage staff and students to disseminate good practice and to engage with their peers on academic cultural critique or areas of research that they find interesting. With the increased focus on ‘teachers as researchers’ in the sector, many qualified teachers are expected to publish the outcomes of any action research projects they undertake. The WJETT blog can be the first step on your journey towards publishing and enables you to experience publishing and reviewing in a friendly and supportive environment.
You will need to scroll down the page below the tags to see the posts.
An intern’s perspective of the Schools of King Edward VI Internship Programme
There were many reasons that motivated me to sign up for the internship program across the KES consortium. Firstly, I saw it as an opportunity to observe good practice in another school environment whilst also sharing some of my own skills in return. In addition to this, it allowed me to research an area of my own interest in more depth and tied in reasonably well with my Masters studies into the use of technology in the classroom. Finally, as an aspiring middle manager I felt it was an opportunity to add something unique to my CV that represented a driven and reflective teacher with the ability to drive forward new initiatives.
The research is focusing on the usefulness of technology in the classroom with one of the initial challenges being the matching of the aims of the school placement with what is achievable in a small scale research project. Whilst it is hoped that the research will provide some insight into the impact of technology on attainment, it is difficult to provide any conclusive evidence within the timescale of the current research. Observations and interviews with a series of staff that might consider themselves ‘techie’ or technophobes have been conducted with the aim of gaining a rounded picture of the potential benefits or limitations of using technology. The feedback provided in these interviews and observations will add direction when forming a questionnaire for the whole staff of the placement school.
After reviewing the results, I hope a clear picture will form regarding the use of technology across the school, its problems and benefits and the impact it has on student learning. After reflecting upon these results I will consider what advice I might offer the Senior Leadership Team of the school, and offer to provide a CPD session for any interested staff. It is my hope that I might add some of the ideas acquired from interviews and observations with staff to my own teaching practice as well as adding something new to my own school environment.
Writing guidance
Can I write about anything in my blog post?
Yes pretty much. Academic cultural critique (Thomson and Mewburn, 2013) is always a good source of content for academic blogs. This can include (but is not limited to) comments and reflections on funding; higher education policy or academic life. You might also want to consider blogging about:
- Academic practice (Saper, 2006)
- Information and/or self-help advice
- Technical, teaching and careers advice
- Your research or practice
- How you’ve undertaken research
- The impact of research on your practice
- An area of research/practice that interests you
- Your teaching experiences/reflections
How long can my blog post be?
Each individual blog post should be no longer than 500 words. Long blocks of text are sometimes hard for readers to digest. Break up your content into shorter paragraphs, bullet points and lists whenever possible. Also include a list of keywords or tags as this makes it easier for Google to find your work.
Do I need to use citations?
No, this is a reflective piece so it does not need to include citations (but you obviously can include them if they are relevant).
Can I include links or images?
We would encourage you to include links to any articles that you have considered whilst writing your blog post. We also welcome the use of images (as long as you have permission to use them) as they can often help to illustrate a point and obviously will not be included in the word limit. Please remember this is a public site so if you want to include images of your students in your classes then you will need permission to do this.
What is the process for submitting a piece of work?
Your blog post should be emailed to A.Ball.1@warwick.ac.uk. Once the submission has been reviewed it will either be uploaded at the beginning of the next available week or sent back to you for editing if it requires amendments. You should then send the amended work to me once again and I will then upload it.