Department student wins UK Literacy Association Research Prize

Adrian Fernandes, who graduated from the MSc Education (Research, Design and Methodology) in 2024, has been awarded the UK Literacy Association (UKLA) Student Research Prize for his Master’s dissertation.

Adrian’s award-winning research investigated how secondary school English teachers responded to the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement and was supervised by Professor Velda Elliott.  

On receiving the award, Adrian said: “I am honoured to receive this award. My research was inspired by my experience of teaching secondary school students over the past 12 years, so this recognition is very meaningful. Transitioning into research was a big step, and I could not have done it without the support of my supervisor, Velda Elliott. This award is a welcome encouragement and gives me confidence as I move forward with my DPhil.”  

The UKLA Student Research Prize is awarded annually and is given for an outstanding student dissertation at undergraduate, postgraduate or higher degree level undertaken at a UK institution. Each study is assessed for the scholarly quality of its report, and its contribution to the field of literacy. 

Speaking about his research, Adrian added: “The findings revealed a universal and strong desire to diversify the curriculum by incorporating more texts by Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) authors. However, a significant and troubling disconnection emerged between this ambition and the reality of implementation. Teachers faced major systemic barriers, the most critical being that they felt ill-equipped to teach GEM texts because these had never been part of their own education. 

“The central impact of this finding is that it now drives my DPhil research into teacher education. The goal is to ensure that teacher education programmes empower new teachers with the pedagogical skills and confidence to teach a diverse range of texts effectively, thereby bridging the gap found in my MSc research. I hope that the ultimate impact will be to translate the grassroots momentum of BLM into tangible, systemic and lasting change within the classroom, ensuring that curriculum diversity becomes an embedded reality rather than an aspirational goal.” 

Adrian is currently completing a DPhil at the Department of Education on teachers’ preparation for, and experiences of, race in the classroom.