PGCE conference poster
On June 13th 2013 members of the SJIE Research Centre held a conference on ‘Voices in Education’ for some of the PGCE students who have recently completed their training. The conference was organised by Cristina Azaola and Kiki Messiou and intended as a forum where:
– research centre members and PGCE students could meet each other
– we could all think about research-informed teaching and practice
– students could consider how issues of social justice and inclusion relate to their teaching
The audience!
– students could meet other teachers / practitioners currently undertaking their own research for doctoral degrees.
The morning was a great success with approximately 60 people attending in total (staff and students). Cristina, Kiki and Kate Green started the morning by welcoming the students to the conference, followed by a brief introduction to the SJIE research centre from Sarah Parsons (Head of Centre). Kiki then gave a really interesting paper about her ongoing international work on ‘ Responding to diversity by engaging with students’ voices: a strategy for teacher development’, including very practical suggestions for classroom management and organisation from her recent project meeting in Portugal.
Kiki presenting
Sarah then talked about ‘Disabled children and ‘voice’: how can we give a voice to those who may not often be heard?’ drawing upon research conducted for the Disability Rights Commission a few years ago. Main messages from that were that disabled children and young people know when they are not being listened to and often it is the ‘small things’ that matter (e.g. writing in a thicker pen on the board; being believed when saying they were OK to work by themselves). There was plenty of group discussion during the morning and opportunities for questions. Mel Nind gave an excellent summing up of the morning and encouraged students to retain their agency and criticality as practitioners to make sure that their own voices are heard as well as the students!
Margaret’s poster
Matt Sambrook, Mona Mohabbatsafa, Margaret Smith presented excellent posters of their doctoral work focusing on inclusion in mainstream schools, language games in Iranian classrooms, and multi-disciplinary working within a behavioural support service. This was a good opportunity for them to share what they have been researching and for the PGCE students to hear about doctoral research being carried out by fellow practitioners. Kalwant Bhopal (Director of Postgraduate Research Degrees) was also on hand to talk through the range of post-PGCE study options available for the trainees should they consider returning to study in the future.
Matt’s poster
Finally, some comments from the students which sum-up the day – we hope to do something similar again next year!:
The conference made me consider my own position as a teacher
The conference was helpful because it allowed me to reflect on my practice and think about students in my classes
The whole thing was thought-provoking and reminded me that there are really important aspects of our practice that we need to revisit constantly
Mona’s poster
