Louise’s research interests include social inequities and education, gender and feminist theories, children’s literature, and creative methods. Her ESRC-funded doctoral research, which she undertook at the University of Glasgow, explored how children respond to and engage with contemporary biographies about women. Louise has been involved in various research projects with children, both in the UK and abroad. Last year she worked with non-profit organisations in Canada to better understand how organisations are encouraging girls to engage with STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), and acted as a research consultant on the international, SSHRC-funded project, ‘Kids, KidTech and the Metaverse: Global Childhoods in Digital Capitalism’.
Louise has extensive experience of working in educational settings. She managed a network of children’s learning centres across London for a number of years and has taught in Australia, China and the UK. Louise has also delivered training sessions for early career researchers focusing on creative methods, research ethics, and research with children.
Louise holds a BA in English Language and Literature from King’s College London, an MA in Gender Studies from UCL and an MRes in Sociology and Research Methods from the University of Glasgow.
Publications
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals
Couceiro, L. (2022) Empowering or responsibilising? A critical content analysis of contemporary biographies about women. Barnboken: Journal of Children’s Literature Research, 45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14811/clr.v45.687.
Chapters in Books
Couceiro, L. (2020) Disorientation and new directions: developing the reader response toolkit. In: Kara, H. and Khoo, S.-M. (eds.) Researching in the Age of COVID-19: Volume 1: Response and Reassessment. Policy Press: Bristol, UK, pp. 30-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18gfz2s.8.
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Couceiro, L. (2022) ‘Biographies about women in science: why it is important to engage all learners’. Primary Science (174), p. 17.
Couceiro, L. (2022) ‘Online Research with Children: Cultivating Better Practice with the Beauty of Hindsight‘, SAGE MethodSpace (27th July 2022).
Couceiro, L. & Strobel, M. (2022) ‘The Work of Annika Thor: Relatable, Entertaining and Brimming with Enthusiasm‘, iBbY UK Blog (17th February 2022).
Couceiro, L. (2021) ‘Contemporary Children’s Biographies About Women: A Laudable Endeavour, but Critical Reading Remains Crucial‘, UWE Education Blog (22nd December 2021).
Couceiro, L. (2021) ‘Facilitating Group Discussions With Participants on Zoom‘, SAGE MethodSpace (21st January 2021).
Conference Papers
‘Education and Roblox’ (2023) Kids, KidTech and the Metaverse: Global Childhoods in Digital Capitalism, Phase 1 Symposium, York University, Canada.
‘Contemporary Children’s Biographies: How are children responding to and ’empowering’ stories of ‘inspirational’ women?’ (2022) Emergent Femininities and Masculinities in 21st Century Media and Popular Culture Conference, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
‘Contemporary Biographies: What are the implications of inviting children to ‘change the world’, in a way that foregrounds specialisation?’ (2022) The Child and the Book Conference, L-Università ta’ Malta, Malta.
‘Children’s Biographies in the Nonfiction Renaissance: Analysing the relationship between readers’ responses, the pedagogic and the aesthetic’ (2021) IRSCL 2021 Conference (online),
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile.
‘Sexual Education, Sexual Pleasure and Sexual Violence: A case for considering how queer theory can aid understandings of the hidden inequalities and challenges faced by individuals with learning disabilities’ (2021) ESA 2021 Conference (online).
”Fantastically Great Women’ and ‘Rebel Girls’: Do children’s biographies about women inspire or responsibilize young girls in their conceptions of girlhood?’ (2020) Conceptions of Girlhood Now and Then: “Girls’ Literature” and Beyond Conference (online), Linnæus University, Sweden.
‘Why Legislative Change is Not Enough: Critical discourse analysis of news reporting surrounding Scotland’s LGBTI inclusive education’ (2020) ECER Conference (cancelled due to Covid-19), University of Glasgow, Scotland
