“By creating we think, by living we learn” Patrick Geddes
University of Dundee
School of Education, Social Work and Community Education
Dalhousie Building
You are invited to the 1st Annual Stakeholder Research Conference - a small thank-you to all of our partners who help us deliver high quality professional education.
This one day conference sponsored by the School of Education, Social Work and Community Education will explore what it means to be a true professional in difficult times and to celebrate all that is working and positive in our professions. Presentations and workshops will showcase work undertaken by academic staff and partners and celebrate the important work and positive contribution to society that social workers, community educators and teachers do and make.
09.30 - 10.00 Registration and coffee - Foyer, Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee
10.00 - 11.15 Keynote Address - Dalhousie Lecture Theatre
11.30 - 12.30 Morning Breakout Sessions - Dalhousie Building
12.30 - 13.30 Lunch - Dalhousie Foyer
13.30 - 14:30 Afternoon Breakout Sessions - Dalhousie Building
14.45 - 15.30 Closing Plenary - Dalhousie Lecture Theatre
The Bell Lecture is in the evening, so make a day of it in Dundee. Dr Maria Evangelou, University of Oxford, Department of Education will be giving an address entitled, Supporting parents to engage in their children's learning: are we asking too much? Find out more about the Bell Lecture.
To register for the conference please go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CelebratingProfessionalPractice
For more information please contact Tracy at t.pratt@dundee.ac.uk or 01382 381512.
A PDF version of this announcement is also available for printing and display.
Celebrating Professional Practice
Professor Yolande Muschamp, Dean
Professor Muschamp will explore ways in which research can bring together practice and scholarship within
and across different disciplines and be used to underpin knowledge exchange between practitioners and
university tutors. In highlighting the benefits of such collaboration she will not ignore the tensions that can be
created by the different perspectives that inevitably exist within these different activities. To illustrate this
approach, Professor Muschamp will revisit one of her own research projects and ask what would have been
gained had there been greater involvement from practitioners and from university tutors from other
disciplines.
A Twin-Track Approach to Developing Self-Esteem in the Classroom
David Miller & Teresa Moran
Recent theoretical and empirical work suggests our previous beliefs about self-esteem have been limited.
While many teachers remain convinced about the importance of self-esteem to children's personal and
social development, others have criticised current enhancement techniques for fostering a culture where
children become dependent, self-absorbed, and lacking in drive and resilience. The twin-track approach
adopted by the presenters sees self-worth being counter-balanced by a similar emphasis on selfcompetence.
Employing a two-dimensional model of self-esteem as a framework for analysis, and
incorporating other recent research in this area, we consider implications for practice. It is argued that
teachers and teacher educators now need to take more account of the competence dimension of selfesteem.
Using classroom examples we show how a twin-track approach can help to provide teachers with a
clear model of how this may be achieved.
Understanding Educational Transitions: Which Piece of the Jigsaw Might YOU be Holding?
Divya Jindal-Snape, Elizabeth Hannah & Dominic Venditozzi
This will be an interactive workshop exploring the conceptualisation of educational transitions from
interdisciplinary perspectives across all educational stages. The conceptualisations explored will include
transition as a one off event/on-going process, horizontal/vertical approach, Ready children/Ready
Educational Institutions, Clean slate/Virtual backpacks, Bronfenbrenner's Ecological systems theory. It will
also explore the participants' experiences of transitions and make links with theories related to self-esteem,
resilience and emotional intelligence.
Transitions to Higher Education: A Case Study of Students in Initial Teacher Education
Erika Cunningham
This presentation will explore issues relating to transition into Higher Education for undergraduate students.
Throughout this time, the University as a whole and more specifically, the BEd Programme provide
supportive mechanisms for students. These include visit days, the use of the Virtual Learning Environment,
an induction programme and support through peer and staff connections. This discussion will focus mainly
on the social issues and academic expectations facing this diverse group of students. The impact and
implications for use of effective transitional models in Higher Education will be explored.
Adding to the 'Blender'. Developing Innovative Methodologies in Adult Literacies Work
Gary Roberts
This workshop will explore the efficacy of using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as a platform for
engaging with adult literacies practitioners working in diverse communities across Scotland. The Teaching
Qualification in Adult Literacies (TQAL) is a pilot programme which was created out of a policy initiative in
Scotland 'to encourage the development of a confident and professional workforce to deliver high-quality
services.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Learner, Can Blogging Make a Difference?
Lynn Boyle & Brenda Dunn
This presentation will discuss the isolation felt by distance learning students and how using collegiate
interactive blogs may be useful in alleviating this perceived isolation and how we have helped to facilitate a
community of learners online. After a brief outline of the thinking behind a Childhood Practice community on
the VLE, research into students perceptions of distance learning will be presented. This will be followed by a
demonstration of what has happened and been produced with the students via a very successful blog.
Educational Design for Teacher Presence in Online Learning Communities
Brian Hudson
This paper is based on a study of the student learning experience in an international Masters programme
which involved working in an online learning environment. It builds on earlier studies into the formation of
online learning communities which highlighted the importance of the design and development of social
infrastructure for supporting the development of such communities. It does so by revisiting the data from the
perspective of an educational design framework. The overall aims of this study were to consider how, as
teachers, we designed for online teacher presence and how this was achieved in practice from the design of
teaching- learning processes through to interaction in the online learning community.
Evaluating Training: Community Service, Prosocial Modelling, and Desistance
Trish McCulloch
This paper reports on the findings of an evaluative study which sought to assess the impact of pro-social
modelling training on the practice of Community Service supervision. The findings of the study will be
discussed within the broader context of evaluation and service development. In this respect the paper aims
to engage those interested in evaluation generally - whether formally in the form of a research study or, more
simply, in asking the question 'is this working?'.
The Tools of the Trade - Using the Correct Tool for the Correct Job. A Small Study of the Top Ten Social Media Tools Used for Direct Teaching and Online Delivery
Sharon Tonner
This presentation will demonstrate and discuss how different Web 2.0 tools can either enhance or have no
effect on a learning environment if the wrong tool is implemented. Today's generation of learners are used
to communicating and collaborating anytime, anyplace, anywhere through a range of social media tools.
This synchronous and asynchronous style of learning, through the use of technology, can be replicated in
educational settings through selecting the correct Web 2.0 tool that will enhance a chosen learning
environment and method of learning. Student's responses to how these different tools have enhanced or
detracted from their learning will be presented.
The Relationship Between Science Questions, Levels of Perceived Confidence and Science Answers: Patterns in Data Collected through an Interactive Response System
Margaret Cameron, Colette Fortuna, Susan Rodrigues, Lorraine Syme-Smith & Neil Taylor
We are interested in exploring literacy (whether it be scientific, language, technology or mathematical
literacy) demands made by questions posed in an online science achievement/knowledge survey that was
completed by adult participants. This paper will describe the methodology used and present some of the
initial findings in terms of the patterns observed thus far.
Using a Dialogic Approach to Support the Development of Dialogic Teaching
Wilma Barrow
This presentation will report on an ongoing project which attempts to embed dialogic teaching in a primary
class through the application of Philosophy for Children. This is a collaborative action research project
involving the researcher in her role as Educational Psychologist (EP) and a primary class teacher. A
theoretical rationale for the project's aim will be provided. The ways in which the methodology has been
developed to fit the theoretical underpinnings will be considered. The nature of the collaborative process will
be discussed and issues raised by the research role of the EP will be considered. Finally there will be a brief
overview of the ways in which this project is contributing to a developing community of practice around
dialogic teaching.
Teachers' Experiences with Global Citizenship
Mary Knight
The concept of global citizenship is one that is gaining in importance within the context of primary education.
As we continue to explore its nature and scope, it is likely to figure strongly in the aspirations of curriculum
planners in the foreseeable future. "Global issues are part of children and young people's lives in ways
unfamiliar to previous generations." (DFID et al., 2005). This presentation looks at the beliefs and practices
of some teachers currently engaged in this work. Several issues will be highlighted, including the attitudes
and beliefs of the teachers interviewed, activities related to global citizenship, benefits for children and
impact on teachers themselves. Other issues include links with parents and the wider community and
challenges or barriers to global citizenship work.
Biographical Reflexivity: Research as Pedagogy or Pedagogy as Research?
Sue Mansfield
In this paper we seek to present an overview of the themes that permeate our respective current research
activities, including how our own biographies and experiences of 'border crossings' have impacted on our
research, the significance of 'other' as a concept as well as a lived experience or way of being and the
function of the development of voice as an integral part of the development of critical literacies in both
learners and adult education practitioners. It draws heavily on our current research and teaching with
practitioners and learners in Scotland and especially women from minority ethnic communities, as well as
our research and practice elsewhere in the UK and in Australia with women in a multi-cultural context. In
doing so, we also draw heavily on Brookfield's (2005) four traditions of criticality, in particular pragmatic
constructivism, to link our understandings of both voice and the ways in which auto/biographies can be
interrogated.
Glass Half Empty...Glass Half Full?
Terry Barber
This workshop will explore optimism, pessimism and the variable effects this can have on student
achievement. Firstly, there will be an examination of theoretical frameworks which relate to situational and
dispositional aspects. Secondly, the workshop draws upon recent research carried out by the author with
undergraduate Community Education students at the University of Dundee, which examined explanatory
style theory; situational/dispositional influence and the relationship with student achievement. Finally, the
workshop offers a model for developing a more creative and optimistic learning climate with students, which
contributes to a positive impact on well-being.
Interactivity or inactivity? A Study of Blogging in a Professional Teaching Qualification Programme for College Lecturers
Aileen McGuigan & Carey Normand
This paper will present our work in progress on a study we're undertaking on blogging in the context of the
TQ(FE) programme. The recent upgrade to Blackboard version 9 caused navigation problems within the
VLE and the authors decided to provide an alternative blog, outside the University of Dundee system, in
order to investigate the possibility that a more easily accessible blog would improve frequency and
intellectual activity of participants on the blog. Our study opens up new and refined research questions to do
with harnessing the potential of blogs to enable social constructivist learning, the active creation of
knowledge and meaning. Furthermore, it is hoped that the study will identify the defining characteristics of a
blog as an effective learning tool in a VLE, and thereby facilitate the development of future blogs in such
environments.
Double Jeopardy: Supporting Carers from BME or Rural Communities
Tim Kelly
This paper will present the results from a study evaluating carer training programmes for unpaid carers from
Black and Minority Ethnics (BME) communities and from the Highlands. Results indicate that educational
programmes for carers can have a positive impact on outcomes valued by carers. The importance of culture,
life long learning, and community development /capacity building approaches will be highlighted.
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a School-based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programme
Ian Barron
This child sexual abuse prevention study evaluated the effectiveness of the Tweenees programme,
developed by a voluntary agency 'survivors of abuse' organization, Eighteen and Under (18U). Areas
evaluated included children's personal safety knowledge and perceived skills and disclosures of abuse. The
study also sought to identify effective factors of programme implementation. Results of the evaluation will be
presented followed by discussion of the findings and implications for practice.
Interactive Teaching Using Handheld Devices and Technology
Sharon Tonner
Today's generation of learners are classed as 'Digital Natives' who communicate, collaborate and create
using technology. When students attend lectures or workshops where the lecturer transmits their knowledge
on a ratio of one-to-many, students have to revert to a learning style that is linear and singular. Many
pedagogical approaches that propose to enable engagement and collaboration, (e.g., questioning in
lectures, Forums on a VLE, wikis or blogs) do not always enable true collaboration or meet the needs of
learners. This presentation will discuss how to implement technology into lectures through the use of mobile
phones and collaborative Web 2.0 tools where true collaboration and communication are enabled. The
results of this small case study will be shared and discussed through using handheld devices.
Posted: 18 March 2010
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