Category: Research

Children’s Voice versus Children’s Voices

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

By Debbie Williams, School of Education, University of Bristol

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is an international human rights treaty that encompasses fifty-four articles that advocate the rights of each child (CRC, 1989). The most influential (and contentious) of these children’s rights — in accord to much literature (Freeman, 2009; Lundy et al., 2019; Archard, 2020) — is Article 12 (respect for the views of the child):

‘1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.’                                                   (CRC, 1989, p.5)

This Article somewhat advocates regard for each child’s views and their right to be heard (Archard, 2004). There is no stipulation as to how these views ought to be expressed. Though ‘views’ are implicitly synonymous to ‘voice’ and ‘voice’ is contentious (Alexander, 2010). I implore that we consider ‘children’s voice’ not as a singular but rather a plurality of ‘children’s voices’ to advocate a more inclusive and informed implementation of this instrumental children’s right. (more…)

Female students for political leadership in Nigeria: mirroring possibilities?

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

By Zibah Nwako and Oluwadamilola Akintewe

Our society exists in such a way that a small unit can be a mirror to the whole. For instance, the family is one of the smallest units of society and the composition of what makes a family is the representation of, to a certain extent, the larger society. In the same vein, we can deduce that leadership and governance across student unions in Nigerian universities, replicate governance at State and Federal levels.

A student union is the apex body of students in a higher institution of learning, created for the purpose of promoting and guarding the interest of its members[1]. The Student Union Government (popularly termed SUG) is the middle body between the university administration and the whole student population. It is also the first point of contact for vital information disseminated from the top administrative hierarchies to the students. (more…)

A ‘race and education’ film club: New reflexive possibilities

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Blog by Lucy Wenham, Senior Lecturer in Education at University of Bristol  Janet Orchard, Associate Professor at University of Bristol  Alexandra Brown, Philosophy and Religious Studies Secondary School Teacher  Phyllis Curtis-Tweed, Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs at Bermuda College  Merryn Evans, Head of Religion and Worldviews at Redland Green School  Saima Saleh, Head of RE/Religion and Worldviews at Ravenscote Junior School

In England, as with so many settings around the globe, researchers have long-debated how concepts of racism interplay with education, whether at the systemic or classroom level (see for example Gillborn, 1995). Race and purported levels of racism remain a contentious issue, causing governments to commission reports and researchers to scrutinise their limitations and implications of racism for education (Tikly, 2022). These issues are as pertinent as ever, perhaps even more so, given heightened xenophobia following the Brexit campaigns, and schools accused by government ministers of ignoring their duty to be politically impartial by supporting the ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) movement. Teachers sit in the thick of it.

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Her Time, Her Rights, Her Future

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Her time her rights her future Blog post by Dr Zibah Nwako, School of Education, University of Bristol

Today, 11th October 2022, is the International Day of the Girl Child.

Decades ago, girls had few rights in society and vague futures to look forward to. As time passed and with the advancement of women’s rights, it became clear that girls deserve equal chances in life as boys. We now know that the girl child should have the same rights to education, a successful future, a lifetime free from violence and discrimination, and the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. To an extent, these rights are being protected. Many girls, particularly those born in African patriarchal societies, have been able to access education. (more…)

What can prehistoric preschool teach us about climate change education in the present?

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Blog by Professor Paul Howard-Jones, School of Education, University of Bristol

Several years ago in Turkey, an archaeologist invited me to descend into a pit where one of the first urban settlements was being unearthed. There was a hearth, holes for holding pots and the remains of plaster on the walls, still bearing traces of decoration.

The layers of development exposed by this excavation revealed a continuous period of innovation since around 6000BC. Over its lifetime – around 1,200 years – the site hosted the first “urbanites”, who had left their nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle behind and begun a journey of creativity and invention. Among their ideas were novel building techniques, cooking methods, and ways to create and use pottery. (more…)

Another Year, Another Baseline: the case against ‘schoolification’ in the Early Years

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

By Maxime Perrott BA, MSc, MRes  PhD Researcher in the School of Education, University of Bristol

What is it?

The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) is a new assessment of the early literacy and numeracy skills of 4-year-old children, administered by teachers, teaching assistants and other early years practitioners within the first 6 weeks of the child joining reception class. The cohort’s attainment scores will be used as the new starting point for which progress will be measured at the end of Key Stage 2 (Standards Agency 2020). The RBA and Key Stage 2 SATS will be compared across the cohort, regardless of whether the cohort in Year 6 is made up of the same pupils from the original reception class. (more…)

Latest Climate Action at the School of Education, University of Bristol

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Blog post by Lauren Hennessy, Research Associate on the Climate Change Education Research Network

Since the launch of the Climate Change Education Research Network (CCERN) in November 2020, numerous new research projects and initiatives have been developed at the University of Bristol’s School of Education. Some have come out of CCERN’s work, others exist quite separately. This blog post highlights just a small selection of those initiatives. (more…)

Four Black women who have advanced human rights: IWD2022 special

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Blog by Zibah Nwako, University of Bristol and Afua Twum-Danso Imoh, University of Bristol

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Michael Buholzer/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Around the world, the activism of Black women has been instrumental in shaping social justice agendas and promoting human rights. Their work has improved the health and welfare of women and girls, protected the environment and elevated the voices of the oppressed, both in their communities and further afield.

As researchers who focus on women and children’s wellbeing and rights, we have come across the work of many such Black women. The four introduced here are inspirational – for the changes they brought about, for their work ethic, and for their passion to improve the everyday lives of marginalised or oppressed groups. (more…)

Creative methods unlocked my lockdown research

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

By Sarah McLaughlin, BA(Hons), MSC. PGCE, School of Education, University of Bristol (Doctorate in Education student)

I commenced my Doctorate in Education journey in September 2018 – pre Covid! Little did I know that a pandemic would join me along the way and threaten to hinder my research.

When Covid rules put a halt on face-to-face data collection, I had big decisions to make. Should I wait it out until restrictions lift? After all, this would blow over after a few months, right?! Or do I change my methods? I needed to find a way of giving my participants a voice and allowing them to tell me their stories and reflections so that I could ask questions and understand how they constructed their return to education as mature students. (more…)

Open Autism Research – thinking about the steps forward

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Blog by Dr Felicity Sedgewick, Masters Level Psychology Programme Director, School of Education, University of Bristol

The best way to start the new year (in my opinion) is spending a day with interesting people talking about interesting ideas. In early January, that is exactly what a group of autism researchers (autistic and non-autistic, from a range of career stages), autistic people, and charity and journal representatives did. (more…)