Month: March 2025

Why I stayed at the University of Bristol for my PhD after my Masters

Posted on by cu19879

University of Bristol graduate Jasrael Stokes recently completed her doctorate, earning a PhD from the School of Education. We caught up with her to discover what encouraged her to continue studying for her PhD at Bristol after completing her Masters in Psychology of Education with us, and where she hopes her academic achievements will take her next.

Jasrael on her graduation day, celebrating her MSc in Psychology of Education.

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

My name is Jasrael. I’m from Seattle, Washington, in the United States, but have now lived in Bristol for eight years with my two lovely cats. Before coming to Bristol for my Master’s, I taught English in public elementary and junior high schools in Osaka, Japan for four years. I’m passionate about language learning and teaching, and I am constantly learning languages as a hobby. I am fluent in Japanese, have a pretty good understanding of Spanish, and can comprehend Korean, Mandarin, and German to varying degrees!

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Doctoral Student Spotlight: Timothy Lai, Doctorate in Education (EdD) graduate

Posted on by cu19879

What is studying at the School of Education like when you live abroad? Our recent Doctorate in Education (EdD) graduate, Dr Timothy Lai, reveals what studying for his degree while living in Hong Kong was like, and dives into his groundbreaking research into how virtual reality (VR) can impact the learning of nursing students.

Timothy Lai celebrating on his graduation day in 2024.

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

I am a nurse by profession in Hong Kong and have been an educator of nurses for over 10 years at a university here. I am interested in technology and would like to apply it in teaching.

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From academic publications to transforming dialogues: Professor Diane Reay in Bristol

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

By Rodolfo Benites, School of Education, University of Bristol

On November 8th, 2024, the University of Bristol hosted two events to celebrate Professor Diane Reay, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge, for her trajectory. This blog post shares insights about both spaces and why learning about her legacy might be essential to new education researchers. (more…)

Engaging with research – the magic bullet?

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Helen Aberdeen, Senior Lecturer in Education, PGCE Subject Lead, Modern Foreign Languages, School of Education

Background and context

Recent policy documents and reforms in teacher education have led to an ever stronger imperative for teachers and trainee teachers to engage with research. The most recent Ofsted inspection handbook (2020) for initial teacher education (ITE) describes a good curriculum as one which ‘is designed to ensure that trainees engage with up to date or pertinent research findings’.

This aspiration is reflected in the Core Content Framework (CCF) for ITE, published as part of the wide-ranging reforms to teacher education in 2020. The CCF lays out a minimum level of core knowledge and skills which all trainees should acquire during their training. It consists of a series of ‘know that’ and ‘know how to’ statements, aligned to the 8 Teachers’ Standards. The ‘know that’ statements purport to be based on the ‘best available evidence’, and the foreword to the CFF (2019) encourages trainee teachers and their mentors to engage more deeply with the detailed bibliography ‘to support their critical engagement with research.’ (more…)