Duties

• Doctoral College Board
• School of Education Research Strategy Group
• School of Education Research Initiatives Group

Teaching

• Course leader for the Professional Doctorate in Education at the School of Education and the Mauritius Institute of Education
• MPhil/PhD
• MA

I am the Research Student Division Leader for the Education Research Centre which involves overseeing the academic well-being and progress of all research students within Education.

Cambridge Primary Review

• Carol is the Cambridge Primary Review Regional Centre Coordinator

Research interests

• Children and young peoples' rights, voices and experiences.
• Empowerment of children and young people.
• The theorisation of student voice
• Teaching and learning at doctoral level 
• The development of professional knowledge through doctoral study and its enactment in practice

Biography

My research interests combine theoretical and empirical work and focus on two main areas: the voices, experiences, rights and empowerment of children and young people; and the development of learning and professional knowledge through doctoral study and its enactment in practice. These interests developed from my experience as a classroom teacher in a range of secondary and special schools and from my experience of teaching on doctoral programmes.

I have been involved in a number of research projects both locally and nationally and have led several Pupil Voice projects in primary, secondary and special schools, helping staff to develop ways of listening to the voices of the young people in their schools. I also led the 'Pupils' Voices' strand of the University of Cambridge Primary Review of Education in England. I am currently a principal researcher on a project investigating how young people with low aspirations can be supported to raise their aspirations and self esteem and I am involved in a Building Communities Through Dialogue (BCTD) project exploring children's, parents' and teachers' perceptions of dialogic learning approaches in the classroom.

I am also on the steering group for the development of UNICEF UK's school based Rights, Respecting Schools Programme and I am the Cambridge Primary Review regional centre coordinator for the south east region. My methodological interests focus on constructivist approaches to research and within this I particularly favour narrative approaches.

Prior to joining the Education Research Centre at the University of Brighton, I was a Research Fellow at the University of Sussex. I have given keynote addresses both nationally and internationally. I am co-leader of national Network for Directors of UK EdD Programmes and Director of research for the International Association of Practice-led and Professional Doctorates. I am on the editorial board of the international Journal of Education Research member of BERA.

Current and recent research projects

• Feb 2012 - Feb 2013
  Co-principal investigator on a Brighton and Hove County Council funded project: Raising Aspirations.

• Sept 2011 - July 2014
  Co-principal investigator on a Development Education Centre South Yorkshire funded project: Building Communities through Dialogue project

• Sept 2011 - July 2012
  Principal investigator on Cambridge Primary Review (CPR) funded project: Exploring the potential to incorporate aims of the (CPR) into the curriculum, teaching and assessment of pupils in year 7 and 8 at secondary school.

• Aug 2011 - April 2012
  Co-principal investigator on Unicef UK funded project: Best Practice review of UNICEF UK's Rights Respecting Schools Award

• June 2009 - May 2011                   
  Project manager on a Youth Sector Development Fund funded project: An evaluation of the
  Hangleton and Knoll project

• January 2010 - August 2010        
  Project manager on a DCFS funded project: An evaluation of the Brighton and Hove Community
  Action Pilot Project

• April 2007 - June 2010                    
  Co-Principal investigator on a UNICEF funded project: An evaluation of the UNICEF RRSA scheme

• June 2009 - May 2010                   
  Co-Principal Investigator on Beatbullying funded project: An evaluation of BeatBullying’s Peer
  Mentoring programme

• September 2007 - April 2008     
  Principal Investigator on Becta funded project: ‘Personalising Learning: the learner perspective and
  their influence on demand’

• June 2008 - December 2008       
  Researcher on a NESTA funded project: Youth-led innovation

• April 2007 - October 2007             
  Project manager for Students as Researchers element of Pupil Voice project. Funded by Durham LA

• September 2004 - September 2007            
  Project manager for Students as Researchers element of University of Sussex and Portsmouth LA
  Student Voice programme. Funded by Portsmouth LA

• July 2006 - July 2007                       
   Project manager for evaluation of schools based Rights, Respect and Responsibility programme.
  Funded by Hampshire LA

• August 2006 - July 2007                
  Co-Principal Investigator on HEFCE funded project Improving the experiences of disabled students in
  Higher Education

• September 2006 - March 2007  
  Principal investigator for the ‘Children and their primary schools: Pupils’ voices’ strand of The Primary Review of Education in England. University of Cambridge

• January 2006 - October 2006     
  Led research with students for the Consultant on the Review of the Information and Guidance
  available for young people aged 14-19. Funded by East Sussex LA

• January 2006 - July 2006             
   Researcher on an Innovations Unit funded project Less is More? The development of a Schools
  within-schools approach to Education on a Human Scale.

• January 2005 - January 2006      
   Researcher on a NCSL funded project  Investigation into ‘The footprints of   practice’ 

• August 2004 - August 2005         
  Researcher on a TLDF funded project Developing a team approach to Student Support

• March 2004 - June 2004                
  Researcher on a TTA funded project to evaluate and inform the Development of the New
  Postgraduate professional development programme

• May 2003 - December 2004       
  Researchers on a DfES funded project Factors Influencing the Transfer of Good Practice.

Consultancy

• Children and young peoples' rights, voices and experiences.
• Empowerment of children and young people.
• The theorisation of student voice
• Teaching and learning at doctoral level
• The development of professional knowledge through doctoral study and its enactment in practice

Selected Publications

Books

2006                                      

• Beginning Primary Teaching: Moving beyond Survival (with Angela Jacklin and Viv Griffiths) Buckingham: O.U.Press ISBN 0-335-21908-X

2003                                      

• Becoming a Teaching Assistant: a research-based guide for teaching assistants and those working with them.  (with J. Thorp, A. Jacklin and P. Drake)  London: Sage (length approx 65 000 words).

Chapters in Books

2010

• Learners’ voices and the personalisation of learning, in Learning to Teach in the Primary School, second edition,  Authur, J., Cremin. T. and Wray, D., London: Routledge
• Learning about journal publication: the pedagogies of editing a ‘special issue’ (with P. Thomson, Byrom and L. Russell) in Publishing pedagogies for the doctorate and beyond. Eds: C. Aitchison, B.Kamler and A Lee, London: Routledge

2009                                      

• Children and their primary schools: Pupils’ voices, in The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys. London: Routledge

Journal Articles (peer reviewed)

2012

• Student Engagement: what does this mean in practice in the context of Higher Education Institutions? Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 94-108

2011

• Children’s rights in student voice projects: where does the power lie? Education inquiry, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp437 - 451

2010

• Personalising learning through the use of technology, (with J. Sebba) in Computers & Education 54, 767-775

2009      

• Engaging with Learners in the International Journal of Learning, Vol 6, Issue 8
• Student Voice: Theorising power and Participation (with C. Taylor) in Pedagogy, Culture and Society Volume 17 (2) pp161 - 175

2007                      

• Theorising Student Voice: Values and perspectives (with C. Taylor) in Improving Schools Sage Volume 10 pp. 5-17
• What is meant by ‘support’ in Higher Education? Towards a model of academic and welfare support (with Angela Jacklin) in JORSEN Volume 7 pp. 114-123
• Students’ views of support in higher education: a study of current practice and future directions (with P. LeRiche and A. Jacklin)  The Higher Education Review Volume 40. No 1, pp 2-17

2006                      

• Terms of Engagement: Understanding Key Concept, in Curriculum Briefing Volume 4 pp. 12-14
• When Lack of Data is Data: Do We Really Know who our Looked After Children are? (with Angela Jacklin and Torrance, H.) in European Journal of Special Needs Education Volume 21 pp. 1 - 20

2005                      

• (with M. Fielding; S. Bragg, J Craig, I Cunningham, M. Eraut, S. Gillinson, M. Horne and J. Thorp.)  Factors Influencing the Transfer of Good Practice  (length, 107 pages)

Research reports for external bodies

2010                      

• Evaluation of Unicef UK’s Rights Respecting Schools award, Final report (with J. Sebba) London: UNICEF (length 48 pages)
• Evaluation of the Beatbullying Peer Mentoring Programme (with R. Banerjee and D. Smalley (length 97 pages)
  

2009                      

• Evaluation of UNICEF’s RRSA scheme: second year interim report (with J. Sebba): London: UNICEF

2009                      

• Youth-led innovation: Enhancing the skills and capacity of the next generation of innovators (with J. Sebba, V. Griffiths, B. Luckock, F. Hunt, and S. Flowers) London: NESTA (length 41 pages)
  

2008                      

• Personalising learning: the learner perspective and their influence on demand Final Research Report  (with J. Sebba, D, Mackrill and S. Higgins) Coventry: BECTA (length 57 pages)
• (Personalising Learning: the learner perspective and their influence on demand Review Report (with S. Higgins, J. Sebba and D.Mackrill) Coventry: BECTA (length 17 pages)

2007                      

• Children and their primary schools: Pupils’ voices (Primary Review Research Survey 5/3) (with M. Fielding), Cambridge: University of Cambridge Faculty of Education (length 33 pages)
• Improving the experiences of disabled students in Higher Education (with A. Jacklin, L. O’Meara and A. Harris), The Higher Education Academy (length 53 pages)

Conferences

Recent Keynote Presentations

• 2012: Student Voice: What does this mean in practice in the context of Higher Educational Institutions? 'Pedagogic Research' conference, Centre for Learning and Teaching, University of Brighton
• 2011: Power and participation in Student Voice projects. 'Transforming Practices' Postgraduate conference (Mauritius Institute of Education)
• March 2008: Guest speaker on Students as Researchers for East Sussex Learner Voice Network
• September 2007: Guest speaker on The Learner Voice at BECTA Harnessing Technology: Research Forum 2007
• November 2006: Pupil Voice and Participation.  Personalised Learning Conference (Wandsworth LA)
• July 2006: Engaging with Pupil Voice.  Small Schools Conference ‘Tuning into Children’ (Kent LA)
• July 2005: Pupil Voice.  Pupil Involvement in Assessment and Learning Conference (Nottingham CC)

Recent conference paper presentations

• Sept 2012: Children’s Rights in Education: Who has the power to have a voice in school? Paper presented as part of a Symposium, ‘Conundrums of Freedom’ ECER Conference, Cadiz
• Sept 2011: Empowering pupils through increasing their understanding of their rights: Evidence from an evaluation of UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting Schools Award  ECER Conference, Berlin
• Sept 2011: Pupils’ involvement in decision making within schools: evidence from the evaluation of the UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting Schools Award paper presented as part of a symposium ‘Evidence on the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a values framework for schooling and Children and Young People's Services’, BERA, London
• August 2010: Student Voice as a Contested Practice: Power and Participation in Two  Student Voice Projects  ECER Conference, Helsinki
• July 2009: Engaging with learners: learners influence on the use of technology to personalise learning 16th International conference on Learning, Barcelona
• March 2009: Personalising learning through the use of technology CAL ’09 Learning in Digital Worlds Conference
• March 2008: Students as Researchers Guest speaker on for East Sussex Learner Voice Network
• Sept 2008: Personalising Learning: learner perspectives and their influence on demand BERA conference
• Sept 2007: The learner voice. Guest speaker at BECTA Harnessing Technology: Research Forum 2007
• July 2007: Engaging with pupil voice.  Personalised Learning Network, Conference (Exeter LA)
• February 2007:Pupils’ perspectives on learning.  Primary Schools Learning Network Milestones conference (run by Nottingham University
• December 2006: Becoming and being a disabled student in higher education. SRHE conference
• Sept 2006: Listening to pupils.  Professional Development Conference (Exeter LA)
• Sept 2006: Tracing the footprints of practice in Networked Learning Communities  BERA conference (with M. Fielding and J. McGregor).
• Sept 2006: Improving the experiences of disabled students in higher education.  BERA conference
• July 2006: Improving the experiences of disabled students in higher education: exploring links between research, policy and practice in higher education  HE Academy Conference
• July 2006: Pupils as researchers  Consulting Pupils conference, (Durham LA)
• March 2006: Listening to pupils.  Primary Schools Learning Network Milestones Conference (run by Nottingham University)
• February 2006: What is meant by ‘support’ in higher education? Towards a model of academic and welfare support.  JORSEN conference
• Nov 2005: Factors influencing the transfer of good practice.  Advanced Skills Teachers conference (West Sussex LA)
• Sept 2005: Why do some teachers cope with professional demands more easily than others?  BERA conference
Developing a model of support for students in higher education: what is important to students.  BERA conference