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Programme

[Posted on 18th June] We regret that due to unforeseen circumstances, Dr. Annamaria Pinter will be unable to give her workshop. Dr. Francesca Bargiela has kindly agreed to step in to give a workshop on "Researching (with) Professionals; what practitioners can teach us about our research".

[Posted on 21st June] The final version of the PG Conference programme and the abstracts are available on the website. Therefore, please refer to the latest files before deciding which sessions to attend. Thank you very much.

Pre-Conference Workshops (PCWs) Tuesday 22nd June 2010 at Room A0.23, Social Sciences Building, Central Campus

8:30 - 9:00 Registration

 9:00 - 10:20 Session 1 Keith Richards "Improving interview skills through interview analysis"

10:20 - 10:30 Break

10:30 - 11:50 Session 2 Sue Wharton "From thesis to research paper"

11:50 - 13:00 Break for lunch

13:00 - 14:20 Session 3 Helen Spencer-Oatey "Culture and the research process: design, data collection, and ethics"

14:20 - 14:30 Break

14:30 - 15:50 Session 4 Francesca Bargiela "Researching (with) Professionals; what practitioners can teach us about our research"

Annamaria Pinter "Children as research subjects – opportunities, restrictions and ethics"

15:50 - 16:10 Coffee Break (at Room A0.05)

16:10 - 17:30 Session 5 Mukul Saxena "Ethnography of community, classroom and workplace"

18:00 - Pre-conference dinner party

Please note that lunch and pre-conference dinner party are not included in the fees.

  • Abstracts

Keith Richards (University of Warwick) "Improving interview skills through interview analysis"

This workshop will be based on extracts from transcripts of research interviews and is designed to introduce participants to methods of analysing their own interviews in order to improve their technique. Although the workshop is not concerned with data analysis as such, its focus on aspects of co-construction will also help participants to understand and respond positively to current thinking about the ways in which the analysis of interviews should be approached. There will also be a brief opportunity to consider the issue of representation and deception in interview responses.

Sue Wharton (University of Warwick) "From thesis to research paper"

In this session we will look at journal requirements for published research papers and consider how a PhD thesis can function as a resource for writing a research article. We will look at some genre differences between theses and research papers, and discuss the implications of these for the optimum presentation of PhD research in a journal article. We will also spend some time discussing the processes of submitting an article to a journal, receiving feedback and making revisions.

Helen Spencer-Oatey (University of Warwick) "Culture and the research process: design, data collection, and ethics"

This workshop considers the ways in which culture can impact on the research process. It focuses on three main issues - culture and initial planning/design, culture and data collection (including questionnaire design and translation), and culture and research ethics - and for each of them, explores the various challenges that need to be addressed. Participants will have the opportunity to raise and discuss their own concerns and questions about culture and the research process. By the end of this workshop, participants should have a clear idea of the challenges involved in researching in different cultures, and have acquired some practical tips for handling such matters.

Francesca Bargiela (University of Warwick) "Researching (with) Professionals; what practitioners can teach us about our research"

TBC

Annamaria Pinter (University of Warwick) "Children as research subjects – opportunities, restrictions and ethics"

This workshop will consider the combined difficulties of using appropriate research methods and ethics with child subjects. Through some examples, we will consider different types of data collection tools and their advantages and disadvantages and key issues in ethics such as gaining consent from children of different ages while making sure they understand the goals of the project and they are happy and willing to participate. The central theme of the workshop is the debate around the power-gap between adults and children and whether it should, or indeed can be eliminated.

Mukul Saxena (University of Warwick) "Ethnography of community, classroom and workplace"

Is reality out there exists regardless of human capabilities for perceiving it or is it constructed by human actions? The general assumption with which Positivists start their research is that reality is objectively given and can be described by measurable properties which are independent of the observer (researcher) and his or her instruments. Interpretive researchers, on the other hand, assume that access to reality (given or socially constructed) is only through social constructions such as language, consciousness and shared meanings. Ethnography is one of the main approaches of the Interpretive tradition. This workshop will help the participants to explore the research methods through which Ethnographers try to get 'inside' social worlds and see them 'through the eyes' of people under the focus of research in order to understand and explain them in all their richness, complexity and specificity. It will help the participants to familiarise with ethnographic data collection and data analysis techniques.

Postgraduate Conference (PG Conference) Wednesday 23rd June 2010 at Ramphal Building, Central Campus

Please note that there has been change made on the timetable of sessions before lunch (as of 15 June). Lunch will be provided during the PG conference.

9:00 - 9:30 Registration
9:30 - 9:45 Welcome Address by Helen Spencer-Oatey
9:45 - 10:45 Keynote speech by Sarah Rich "Are we on the same page? Competing discourses of professionalism in TESOL and their impact on attempts to support the professional development of teachers."
10:45 - 11:15 Coffee Break
11:15 - 11:45 Session 1
11:50 - 12:20 Session 2
12:25 - 12:55 Session 3
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 14:30 Session 4
14:35 - 15:05 Session 5
15:10 - 15:40 Session 6
15:40 - 16:10 Coffee break
16:10 - 16:40 Session 7
16:45 - 17:15 Session 8
17:20 - 17:50 Session 9
17:50 - 18:00 Closing

  • Keynote Speaker

Sarah Rich (Senior Lecturer in Education (TESOL), Director of Professional Doctorate in TESOL programmes (Exeter), University of Exeter) "Are we on the same page? Competing discourses of professionalism in TESOL and their impact on attempts to support the professional development of teachers."

A common problem faced by in-service teacher educators (and school managers) in their attempts to promote professional development activities for teachers, is that these are often greeted less than enthusiastically. In my talk, I report on a research project into Egyptian secondary school teachers' narrative accounts of their professional identity construction and how this has informed my thinking about the cause of and possible ways to address this problem. I argue that, in essence, the problem lies in the fact that there is often an inherent tension between the discourse of professionalism that teacher educators draw upon to inform their work and the ways in which teachers understand themselves to be professionals. In other words, that teachers' professional identity is constructed with reference to a range of competing discourses in their local teaching world and that these may not necessarily resonate with the discourse of professionalism that underpins the professional development support initiatives they encounter in formal INSET provision.

Drawing upon the findings from my study, I suggest that insights into the complexity of teachers' professional identity construction have a number of implications for teacher educators and others with regard to how this problem can be addressed. Firstly, that they point to a need to subject the prevailing assumptions about professionalism in the field to much greater critical scrutiny than has previously been the case. Secondly, by revealing the socially-constituted nature of professional identity construction, they stress the need for in-service teacher development support initiatives to prioritise the development of a responsive dialogic pedagogy. That is, one that focuses on helping teachers evolve their operational definitions of professionalism as part of a project of capacity-building for the development of supportive teacher communities in their workplaces.

I end my talk by proposing a number of important theoretical and research agendas for future work in the field which can deepen an understanding of and better support teachers' professional development.

Please note that PCWs lunch and pre-conference dinner party are not included in the fees. --> Please note that lunch for the PG conference will be provided.

  • Downloads

(PDF Document)Campus Map

(PDF Document)PG Conference Abstracts

(PDF Document)PG Conference Programme










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