Our Department’s flagship event series is the Public Seminar Series. In the 2024/25 academic year, we will be hosting six seminars with high-profile speakers from across the field of education.

All events will be hybrid with the option to attend in-person in Seminar Room A at 15 Norham Gardens, or online via MS Teams.

Michaelmas Term 2024

Inaugural Lecture: Addressing global teacher shortages through research and innovation

Professor Robert Klassen, Professor of Education, University of Oxford

21 October, 5pm-6pm

Registration

Abstract

Teachers are the backbone of education, with around 90 million educators shaping the futures of nearly 2 billion students worldwide. However, a serious and growing crisis has emerged as countries face persistent shortages of both current and aspiring teachers. Conventional interventions, primarily financial incentives, have proven to be ineffective, offering only short-term relief without addressing the underlying motivations that attract and alienate potential teachers.

This presentation explores how we can integrate research and theory from education and psychology to develop new and effective approaches to address local and global teacher shortages. Robert will discuss ongoing research that explores the motivations underlying the attraction and retention of teachers, and then demonstrate how we are leveraging these insights to develop new technologies aimed at tackling this persistent global challenge.

About the speaker  

Robert Klassen is Statutory Professor of Education at the University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow at Harris Manchester College. From 2012 to 2023, he was Professor and Chair at the University of York in the UK, where he founded and led the Psychology in Education Research Centre. His academic career began at the University of Alberta, where he worked in the Department of Educational Psychology between 2004 and 2012. Prior to his academic tenure, Robert served as an educational psychologist and high school teacher in Vancouver, his hometown. His research focuses on motivation, educational technologies, and teacher workforce issues.

 

The Wider Implications of Funding Challenges in Higher Education

Professor Anna Vignoles FBA CBE, Director of the Leverhulme Trust

18 November, 5pm-6.30pm

Registration

Abstract

The Leverhulme Trust has played a significant role in supporting blue-skies research in the UK for nearly 100 years, and its success relies on the health of UK universities, which are currently navigating a challenging and unsustainable funding system. It is clear that the UK’s ability to continue producing world-leading research—and to translate that into sustainable growth—depends heavily on universities, especially due to their role in developing a highly skilled workforce. However, with numerous demands on the public purse, the case for strong state support for education, skills, and research—critical for economic growth, health, and social cohesion—must be made more clearly, posing challenges for both universities and funders.

About the speaker  

Anna Vignoles is Director of the Leverhulme Trust: one of the largest, all-subject providers of research funding in the UK. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, Council Member of the Royal Economic Society and on the advisory board of the Centre for Education Systems. She was previously a Professor of Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. Professor Vignoles’ research has focused on issues of equity and value in education – in particular the relationship between educational achievement and social mobility and the role played by education and skills attainment in the economy and society. She has advised numerous government departments, including the Department for Education, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, and HM Treasury. She has also acted as a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation, Member of Council of the Economic and Social Research Council, and Member of the Advisory Board of the Sutton Trust.