PhD students presented at largest UK educational research conference
Posted on 26 September 2014
PhD scholarship student Chelsea Swift joined Dr Vanita Sundaram and Dr Gill Hampden-Thompson in presenting at this year’s British Education Research Association conference.
Chelsea’s research focuses on the impact of the various contexts for reading in which an individual is situated on their development of a reading identity, with a view to exploring how such identities are differentially produced. In particular, she is interested in the role that the school context plays in this dynamic and its potential to foster positive reading identities.
The title of Chelsea’s BERA presentation was, 'An exploration of the factors shaping the reading identities of KS4 pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds in England.' Chelsea received a BERA bursary to attend the conference, which took place from 23-25 September.
PhD student, Helen Saddler, also gave a presentation at the Early Career Researcher conference, on her work on the role of teaching assistants in facilitating the social inclusion of children with SENs.
Dr Hampden-Thompson also presented on ‘The Role of Poverty on Educational Persistence and Family Structure’ and Dr Sundaram on ‘Discursive silences: A content and critical linguistic analysis of the 2014 SRE guidance for England and Wales’.
Earlier this summer Chelsea also gave a talk at the National Association for the Teaching of English conference in Bristol and worked at the 2013 ESRC Research Festival. Chelsea said, “Presenting my research to audiences which have included both practitioners and researchers in my field has been a valuable experience, providing me new perspectives on my project. Answering their questions and engaging in discussion has increased my confidence in my own research in addition to encouraging me to think about certain issues I had been struggling with in new and interesting ways.”
She added, “I would strongly advise other students to make the most of these kinds of opportunities to generate discussion around your research and learn from others in their field.”