Laura is currently working on the FoSTER project which seeks to understand the range of ways that schools support teachers to engage with and in research across the UK and Ireland.
This involves conducting a survey of teachers’ engagement with/in research, followed by detailed case studies of schools who are successfully supporting teachers to engage with/in research. Laura is also a practising primary school teacher and is studying for an EdD Education at the University of Birmingham. Her research uses a constructivist grounded theory methodology to explore children’s lived experience of the maths mastery policy, through the lens of social justice.
Brian, a Rhodes scholar from Kenya, doctoral research explores teachers’ identities and professionalism under the influence of performance-based accountability systems. He holds an MSc in Education (Comparative and International Education) from the University of Oxford (UK), Honours in Education from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and Bachelor of Education from Chuka University (Kenya). His research interests are in the areas of teacher education and professional learning, teacher beliefs and practices, teacher identity and professionalism.
Laura is Co-Director of the University of Oxford Education Deanery and subject lead for the PGCE in Modern Languages. She also supervises higher degrees in the fields of instructed second language learning and language teacher education.
Before working with the department, Laura taught French and German at secondary school level. She became interested in teacher education whilst mentoring beginning languages teachers during their school placements. Her doctoral research focussed on in-service languages teachers’ professional learning experiences and needs.
Laura is currently working on a project to compare the nature of instructed second/foreign language learning at secondary school in England, Norway and France.
Reem is DPhil student from Saudi Arabia.
Prior to coming to Oxford, she worked as a Teacher, Professional Developer, then, became a Supervisor and Researcher in the Ministry of Education where she received a scholarship to pursue her DPhil education at the University of Oxford. Her research interests lie in the area of Teacher Education and Professional Learning Policy and Practice.
Publications
- Alqahtani, Reem (2020). Saudi Universities Role in Developing Teacher Professional Development Programs: Elite Universities Experience. Journal of Educational Sciences. King Saud University.
- Alqahtani, Reem. (2020). The effect of implementing UDL-based activities in improving EFL learners’ academic achievement and attitudes towards L2. In L. Salas, & E. Ager, Creating Quiet reflective Spaces: Language Teacher Researches Professional Development (pp. 61-62). IATEFL publications.
As a mathematics teacher who believes that anyone can understand mathematics, Ashley is keenly interested in developing interventions and resources for learners who struggle with the subject. More specifically, she is focusing on the transitionary moment in the classroom when discussions have ceased, and practice begins and how this transition can become more fluid for learners.
By drawing on research from education, psychology and cognitive neuroscience, Ashley hopes to gain insights into how the brain and mind process information and how this knowledge can inform teacher practice and, ultimately, help learners understand mathematics.
After having taught for over ten years, Ashley completed her MSc, with Distinction, at the Department of Education, and her dissertation was “Highly Commended” by the British Educational Research Association (BERA). She is committed to making mathematics more accessible for all learners and strives for research that is not only impactful but also directly applicable to the classroom.
Kyla is a D.Phil. student and Doctoral Teaching Fellow in the Department of Education, teaching as a Science Curriculum Tutor on the PGCE programme. Her doctoral research focuses on science and mathematics teachers, their knowledge, and their teacher self-efficacy.
Kyla has worked as a Research Assistant on the OECD TALIS Video Study in the Oxford Department of Education and the Mindsets and Diversity in Undergraduate Mathematics project in the Oxford Mathematical Institute. In the 2020/21 academic year, Kyla is also the Chair of the Department of Education’s Joint Consultative Committee.
Outside the department, Kyla is a Junior Dean at Queen’s College and the Editorial Assistant for the Research in Mathematics Education journal. She is also on the board of the Canadian Association of Physicists Foundation.
Kyla holds a Master of Science in physics, a Bachelor of Education with a specialisation in classroom diversity, and a Bachelor of Science with double majors in physics and English. Before starting her D.Phil.in Education, Kyla designed magnets for low-field MRI machines. Before that, she was a high school physics, mathematics, and English teacher at Canadian offshore schools in China and the United Arab Emirates.