Access to HE lecturer published in UCLan journal
Former PGCE student, Stella Joseph, is the latest in a long line of Hugh Baird staff and students to have an edited version of their Action Research report published in the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) journal, Through the Looking Glass: Reflective Research in Post Compulsory Education.
Stella is now an Access to Higher Education tutor at the Hugh Baird University Centre and completed the UCLan validated Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) last year. Her article entitled Game Changer – Raising Expectations, looked at an intervention to develop study skills and motivation within a disengaged group that openly resented being in the classroom.
Action Research is one of the three modules in Year 2 of the PGCE and a substantial undertaking for the trainees, who must hand in a proposal and a report in 6,500 words. UCLan then invite lecturers from their partner Colleges to submit two or three for consideration for publishing and Hugh Baird University Centre Lecturer Steve Whittle said:
I generally choose several that have impressed me with the impact and the quality of the research and its evaluation. There are very few chances for lecturers in colleges such as ours to research and submit for publication: time/teaching commitments do not allow, so the fact that trainees on our Teacher Education courses have had articles published in all but one of the years that the journal has been going is a tribute to the opportunities the course can give them.
The benefits to the trainee lie in actually ‘being’ an active researcher as part of their class or group. In other words, the research is not remote, sat at a desk and tapping at a keyboard. The students also benefit from the fresh approach to practice adopted by the trainee teacher.
Steve added:
The Action Research is about an ‘intervention’, that is, a change in teaching, learning or assessment practice. In Stella’s case, she had a group that actively resented being in the classroom, resulting in poor personal expectations. Her aim was to design an intervention that could deliver study skills in an enjoyable and more engaging way. So, the focus is on the individual: there is nothing generic or corporate about it. I considered it a very thoughtful example of evidence based practice.
Read a copy of Stella’s article here.
If you would like to find out about any of the teacher education courses offered at the Hugh Baird University Centre, visit our course pages or telephone 0151 353 4444.
