Dr Chelsea Sellers
Profile
Biography
I joined the department as an Associate Lecturer in Education (T&S) in 2018. From 2017-18 I worked at Liverpool Hope University as a Lecturer in Education, teaching on programmes in both Education Studies and Early Childhood. Prior to that, I was a research associate at Lancaster University, working on projects related to access to HE and research ethics, whilst also lecturing in the sociology of education at York St John University.
I completed my PhD in the Department of Education at the University of York in 2016, focusing on young people’s development of a reading habitus (their ways of reading/ being a reader and whether or not they view reading as being for ‘someone like me’). The research sought to contribute to socio-cultural conceptions of reading and what it means to be a ‘reader’ and explored the social justice implications of this. I also completed a BA in Language and Literature in Education in the same department.
Departmental roles
- Education Ethics Committee (Deputy Chair)
- Deputy Programme Leader MA Education
Teaching
Undergraduate
- Researching Education
- Key Concepts of Education
- Perspectives on Education
- What is Education?
- Education, Policy and Society
- Perspectives on Literacy
- Education and International Development
- Dissertation
Postgraduate
- Research Methods
- Social Justice and Education
Research
Overview
I am interested in exploring issues related to literacy and social justice; social constructions of literacy, reading and what it means to be a reader; and reading for pleasure. In addition to this, I also have a keen interest in research ethics and issues of power in social research.
Sellers, C. (2019). 'Fitting in’ and ‘standing out’: the peer group and young people’s development of reader identity. British Journal of Sociology of Education, doi:10.1080/01425692.2019.1622407
Sellers, C. (2019). Literacy, Media, Technology: Past, Present and Future, edited by Becky Parry, Cathy Burnett & Guy Merchant 2017 London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 1350075035 264pp. Literacy, https://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12204
Sellers, C., Samuel, G., & Derrick, G. (2020). Reasoning “uncharted territory”: Notions of expertise within ethics review panels assessing research use of social media. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1556264619837088
Research group(s)
Available PhD research projects
I am keen to supervise PhD projects with a social justice theme, with a specific focus on literacy and reading. I am also interested in working with students exploring various aspects of children’s/ adolescent literature and literacy, and projects which seek to unpack understandings of literacy, reading (including reading for pleasure) and what it means to be a reader.
Supervision
I am currently co-supervising a PhD on scientific literacy and its relationship to practical work in secondary school science. I am also a TAP member for a student researching English teachers’ personal and professional reading habits. I previously co-supervised on projects related to global citizenship education and perceptions and understandings of character and citizenship education.