The creation of a centre for the learning and teaching of Chinese at the University of Oxford’s Department of Education is being funded thanks to a generous donation from John Swire & Sons Ltd. Headed up by a newly endowed Chair, the aim of this initiative is to transform the study of Chinese across the UK.
The centre will provide initial and continuing teacher education with a national reach and will undertake associated world-leading research in collaboration with a network of schools across the country. It is expected to become fully operational by 2026. In the interim the initial focus will be on recruiting the Chair and developing the Mandarin PGCE programme, which will be closely aligned to the centre’s research.
The endowment of the Chair, along with the seed-funding to establish the centre, will help the University to raise the profile of the world’s second most-spoken language through carrying out cutting-edge research, building stronger networks between the University and teaching practitioners, and improving access and opportunities for school pupils. The centre will encourage high-quality learning and teaching of Chinese in state schools throughout the UK, opening up the opportunity to all schoolchildren, regardless of their background, to gain access to Chinese language and culture and allow them to excel.
The Director for Oxford’s Department of Education, Professor Victoria Murphy said: “We could not be more delighted to be establishing this centre thanks to this generous donation. We aim to be a beacon for research and education, and a go-to place for teachers seeking advice. We are very grateful to John Swire & Sons for making this possible and are excited to see how the centre develops.”
Sam Swire, Executive Director of John Swire & Sons and Chairman of the Swire Chinese Language Foundation, said: “We are very pleased to be funding this long-term initiative. The study of Chinese is both challenging and important, and this venture will be a key part of the infrastructure enabling it to flourish in schools across the country.”
A brand new video has been released which explores the Department’s Learning for Families Through Technology (LiFT) project.
The video features Department Director, Victoria Murphy, who introduces the project and explains the key areas of work.
You can watch the video now:
After 8.5 years, Simon Marginson steps down as Director of CGHE, and he shares some highlights and advice.
The Department of Education hosted an event to celebrate former MSc student, Sara Berkai, who has received the prestigious Women in Innovation Award from Innovate UK, by unveiling a purple plaque in her honour at the Department.
Sara Berkai completed the MSc Child Development in 2021 and set up ‘Ambessa Play’, a global social enterprise that encourages young children to learn Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) through play. Sara designs educational kits such as DIY torches that ignite curiosity, creativity, and confidence. Ambessa Play works on a one-for-one model, where for each DIY kit purchased, an out-of-school refugee child receives one for free.
In addition to the purple plaque, Sara has received a £50,000 grant and one-to-one mentoring to scale up her business further.
Sara said: “It’s been an honour to win the Women in Innovation Award and it has helped us scale up Ambessa Play even further. Our mission is to encourage children to have early STEM opportunities regardless of their backgrounds. I’d particularly like to thank my professors and supervisors at the Department of Education who transformed my understanding of child development.”
Emily Nott, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion programmes at Innovate UK said: “The Purple Plaque initiative is all about celebrating and recognising our brilliant Women in Innovation Award winners. We want these plaques to be a lasting legacy at the places where they are hosted, to hopefully spark conversations around the contributions of women in innovation around the UK.”
Sara is now part of a network of over 200 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award winners who are developing inspiring solutions to pressing societal, environmental, and economic challenges.
Rees DPhil student Lucy Robinson’s snapshots on “Military life, mobility, and me: A collection of composite images by British service children” has been published in the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health.
The four snapshots originate from ongoing doctoral research exploring how military life shapes British service children’s identity and educational experiences. Over a series of sessions, 19 service children aged 9 to 16 years engaged with several creative activities including self-portraits and relational maps and timelines, supported by exploratory questions and group discussion. For the snapshots, Lucy used images, spoken word, and text from the data corpus to create four compositive images that reflect British service children’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences around two military lifestyle dimensions — mobility and identity.
The goal of the snapshots is threefold. First, to act as a platform for service children’s voices to be amplified and taken seriously. Second, to act as a discussion point for readers so they can engage with the snapshots to spark conversation, draw comparisons, and — where applicable — reminisce about their own experiences of military childhood. Third, to advance current understanding of the experiences of British service children, as they continue to embody the strength beside the uniform.
“I’m delighted that my snapshots have been published within a special edition – The strength beside the uniform – of the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health. By centring the service children in my contribution, I hope to highlight the importance of listening, and responding to, their experiences of military life,” Lucy said.
The snapshots are open-access and available to view following this link: Military life, mobility, and me: A collection of composite images by British service children | Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health (utpjournals.press)
The Department has launched it’s first podcast series, “Conversations in Med Ed“, with host Dr Danica Sims, Senior Departmental Lecturer in Medical Education.
The “Conversations in Med Ed” podcast explores the diverse world of health professions education and research. Each episode dives into excellent research, recommendations for real world practice, and the people behind the research.
Dr Danica Sims said: “We are interested in hearing the personal stories of researchers and their varied journeys into the field. As they reflect on their challenges and successes, we hope that our listeners are encouraged and inspired. “Conversations in Med Ed” invites you to join this virtual community of practice, to continue your lifelong learning, and develop connections in the ever-evolving landscape of health professions education. Embark on this exciting journey with us!”
In the first episode, Danica plays the role of the guest as her colleague, Dr Liam Guilfoyle, asks her, “Why start a podcast?”. Listen to the first episode.
DPhil students Lucy Robinson, Jennifer Ginger and Josie Scammell attended and presented at the University of Bath’s Qualitative Research Symposium in January.
Lucy and Jennifer presented on the topic ‘Credibility, trust and power: is sharing positionality with participants always ethical?’ In their presentation, both students discussed how they shared their differing positionalities with their participants, within their respective research contexts, and reflected on their rationales for doing so. They also reflected on what they chose to hold back, what was left unsaid and what impact this may have had on their participants. They left the audience to question their own experiences of sharing positionality with research participants and encouraged further debate around the ethical complexities of this practice. Lucy also shared her research ethics tree.
Josie presented on her paper titled ‘(Over) thinking exit ethics: conceptualising a trauma-informed approach to the ethics around leaving the field.’ Her paper explores the ethics around the actual exit from the field itself, looking at the ways in which trauma-informed qualitative research frameworks could be expanded and adapted to include guidance around ethical considerations for both the participants and researcher when considering the exit from fieldwork.
An exciting research conference with a focus on attachment-aware and trauma-informed practice in schools will be held at Harcourt Hill Campus, Oxford Brookes University on Thursday 20th June 2024.
Rees Centre will be presenting key findings from the Alex Timpson Attachment and Trauma Awareness in Schools Programme that explored the perceived impact of whole-school attachment and trauma awareness training on staff and children in over 300 schools across England.
The Conference is supported by organisations including the Mulberry Bush Organisation, SEBDA and the Attachment Research Community.
The conference will also include opportunities to network with like-minded colleagues and to choose from 4 practical and interactive workshops.
Click here for more information.
Two academics at our Department, Dr Ann Childs and Dr Ariel Lindorff, have received awards at the Social Sciences Division’s annual Teaching Excellence Awards. The awards recognise the exceptional contributions to education by colleagues across the Division at the University of Oxford.
Dr Ann Childs, Associate Professor of Science Education, received an Achievement Award for demonstrating high quality and sustained commitment to education. Dr Childs said: “Thank you so much for this wonderful recognition of my teaching. Thanks must also go to my brilliant colleagues and students at the Department of Education and beyond for creating a culture of excellence and support which I have had the privilege to learn from every single day.”
Dr Ariel Lindorff, Associate Professor and Research Lecturer, received an Individual Award as an outstanding academic who teaches graduate students. Dr Lindorff said: “I am honoured to receive a Teaching Excellence Award. Anything positive I do in my teaching is very much facilitated by having such brilliant students and colleagues!”
Professor Timothy Power, Head of the Social Sciences Division, said: “Many congratulations to all of this year’s recipients of the Teaching Excellence Awards. I am thrilled to see the outstanding work of our talented colleagues across the division being recognised in this way, and I extend my gratitude to them and to all of our staff who contribute to our exceptional educational offering.”