Elizabeth’s research interests focus on mathematics classroom language. Her doctoral research involves using systemic functional linguistics to analyse classroom discourse on functions and graphs.
Elizabeth has taught mathematics at school and university level, including teaching undergraduate mathematics to prospective teachers. She was also a resource designer for the Underground Mathematics project.
Elizabeth has been involved in mathematics outreach for many years, including running Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclasses and volunteering for the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust.
Zak Devey is a passionate advocate for youth-led educational advocacy and equity – both within academia and in his work as co-founder of charitable trust Youth Arts New Zealand. In 2024, Zak continues to explore community conceptualisations of educational equity and their intersections with present and historic educational policy.
Zak also holds a deep care for youth-wellbeing, and its systemic determinants in the 21st century. His first publication, in the New Zealand Journal of Sociology, interrogates the ‘2021 World Happiness Report’ and that ways in which it constructs what it means to be happy.
Zak would be happy to hear from anyone looking to undertake a research journey in the Department, as well as scholars interested in educational equity, community-based participatory research, sociologies of well-being, and education in the political context of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Pippa is a first-year DPhil student, whose research interests focus on vulnerable students’ outcomes and experiences of secondary school English education.
In 2023, Pippa completed an MSc in Learning and Teaching at the University of Oxford, researching pedagogical strategies for the teaching of emotionally challenging literature to students with experiences of trauma. Her DPhil research will build on this project, exploring looked after children’s engagement with English education, and their outcomes in the subject.
Alongside her research, Pippa continues to teach English in a secondary school; she is therefore passionate about collaborations between practice and research. Her project seeks to develop our understanding of looked after children’s experiences in English classrooms, in order to facilitate the development of strategies to support these vulnerable learners.
Supervisors
Nicole Dingwall and Julie Selwyn
Thomas Procter-Legg is a DPhil Student in the Department of Education and is researching restorative practice within the context of special educational needs and disabilities.
His previous experience includes five years as the Head Teacher of a special academy in Oxfordshire UK, specialising in education for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. He has also worked as a SEND Reviewer for Whole School SEND; a Teaching School Director; and as the Principal Designate on a successful Free School bid.
Thomas is passionate about restorative practice and is involved in many communities of practice, such as the Global Alliance for Restorative Justice and Social Justice, where he is a member of the research sub-group exploring the interactions between restorative justice and social justice.
Thomas is also a strong advocate for creativity in education; having previously gained a Fine Art degree from Chelsea College of Art. This heavily influenced his educational leadership and during his time as a Head Teacher, he became the co-founder of a co-constructed initiative between the academy and the University of Oxford Gardens Libraries and Museums. This work placed cultural learning opportunities and relationships at the heart of the curriculum and is the longest standing project between a special school and The University of Oxford. This sustainable partnership champions marginalised voices and has been highly celebrated e.g., inclusion in the Durham Commission for Creativity in Education; recent dissemination at the Museum Ideas Conference 2022; highly commended award at the Museum and Heritage Awards 2021; and awarded Platinum ArtsMark in 2021.
Whilst this creative work may seem to be separate from restorative practice, Thomas subscribes to the idea that there are significant overlaps, both within pedagogical practice and wider school culture, topics which his current research touch on within the context of special education.
Publications
Procter-Legg. (2022). A Discourse on Restorative Practice—Participants’ Views of a Divergent Ideology. Laws, 11(6), 86–. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws11060086
Procter-Legg. (2022). Practitioner Perspectives on a Restorative Community: An Inductive Evaluative Study of Conceptual, Pedagogical, and Routine Practice. Laws, 11(1), 4–. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws11010004
Supervisors
Ian Thompson and Jason Todd
Penny is a DPhil student whose research interests centre on classroom talk and international collaborations between secondary English classrooms.
Penny completed Oxford’s MSc in Learning and Teaching with distinction in 2019, focusing on methods for mitigating the impact of mind-wandering and misunderstanding as a means of enhancing student engagement in small-group and whole-class debates of interpretations of literature. She has since won SHINE research funding to explore the impact of her methodology on students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Her DPhil continues her interest in student discussions of literature, exploring the impact on identity of online discussions between English classrooms in different countries.
Penny began her career as a secondary English Language Arts and journalism teacher in the USA but has taught secondary English predominantly in the UK in a career spanning 25 years. She has overseen development of the global dimension and international collaboration at her current school for 14 years.
Supervisors
Victoria Elliott and Steven Puttick
Sarah has a background in Biodiversity and Natural Resources Management and Rural Community Development.
She has been working for the past 8 years in the sustainable development sector. Aware of the importance of educating students about biodiversity, natural resources, and environmental issues to promote the sustainability of the environment and our societies, Sarah is currently conducting her DPhil in environmental education. She will be assessing the integration of environmental education in the Lebanese curriculum, assessing the status of students’ environmental awareness, and identifying ways to enhance environmental education via the Threshold Concepts framework and via partnerships between the developmental and educational sectors.
Supervisors
Jenny Wynn and Steve Puttick
Publications
- Karam, S., Kreidy, C., Bechara, N., Bou Harb, C., Abu Nasr, Y., and Hamadeh, S. (2022) Promoting Innovative Alternatives – The Urban Oasis Case Study, The Blessed Tree Magazine November 2022
- Abi Said M., Bou Shroush J., Karam S., Shaib H. 2022. Intestinal parasites of Apodemus mystacinus along altitudinal stratification of Ibrahim River – Mount Lebanon. Annals of Parasitology, 68(2): 227-239.
- Karam, S., Martiniello, G., Chalak, A., Abi-Said, M., & Hamadeh, S. K. (2021). Biosphere Reserves in Lebanon: Rifts between Conservation Discourse and Practice. Sustainability, 13(22), 12411.
- Tawk, S. T., Chedid, M., Chalak, A., Karam, S., & Hamadeh, S. K. (2019). Challenges and Sustainability of Wheat Production in a Levantine Breadbasket. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8(4), 1-17.
- Chedid, M., Tawk, S. T., Chalak, A., Karam, S., & Hamadeh, S. K. (2018). The Lebanese Kishk: A Traditional Dairy Product in a Changing Local Food System. Journal of Food Research, 7: 16.
- Abi-Said, M.R. and S. Karam. 2017. Morphological, cranial study and habitat preference of Mus macedonicus (Petrov & Ruzic, 1983) (Mammalia: Rodentia) in Lebanon. Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences 10(4): 235-237.
- Karam, S. & Issa, D. (2015). Évaluation de la biodiversité sur deux sections du LMT. The Magazine of the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association, 4.