Doctoral Poster Conference 2017

Jeffery HallThursday 2

March5 pm – 7.30 pm

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Welcome from the Head of the Centre for DoctoralEducation

Welcome to the 2017 Doctoral Poster Conference. Each year, we organize a series ofevents to bring doctoral students together and to celebrate their work. The posterconference is one of our annual highlights; it’s a showcase of the diversity and depthof research that our students are undertaking.

This is also an opportunity for students to practice sharing their research. This is animportant part of the doctoral process; it’s also something that our students two yearsago told us that they wanted more of. The 2015 Postgraduate Research ExperienceSurvey (PRES) has shaped the way we have developed our priorities over the last twoyears, and is an important point of reference in redesigning the research trainingprogramme that we offer. The 2017 PRES has just been launched; this new surveywill shape our priorities for the next few years, and is an important chance for each ofour students to tell us about what has worked well for them, and what hasn’t.

As part of this development process, we have also added new opportunities forstudents to share their work in different formats. As well as the poster conference, wealso run a summer conference, which this year will be held on June 16th. IOE studentscan also take part in UCL’s poster competition, which takes place on the 7th and 8th ofMarch. We are also hosting an IOE heat of the “3 minute thesis” competition, fromwhich a shortlist of presenters will be put forward to take part in UCL’s competition.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who’s been involved in making this poster conferencepossible – particularly Richard Freeman for leading on it, Asad Saleemi, ColletteDonne and all of the CDE’s professional staff team, but also to everyone whocontributes to the success of the event by submitting a poster or taking part on theday.

Prof. Martin OliverHead of the Centre for Doctoral EducationFaculty Graduate Tutor

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Culture, Communication and Media

Awatif AlshamareInvestigating the role of social media in supporting parents and teachersof students with Down Syndrome: Focus on early intervention services inSaudi Arabia

Abdullah CiftciThe use of ICT for pupils with ADHD in inclusive Key Stage 2classrooms in supporting their academic and social development.

Jenny ClementsThe Higher Project Qualification: Do Research Projects Add Value ForSecondary School Students?

Eileen LaffanPre-sessional English Courses: The acculturative and academictransition of international students to the UK

Ali SimsekA Study of the Cornerstone Maths Project Teachers’ ClassroomPractices: Geometric Similarity Using Cornerstone Maths Software

Naoko UchiyamaAn Itinerant Artist in Critical Multiculturalism: Nation-Based Identificationand Reimagined Nations

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Curriculum, Pedagogy andAssessment

K.M. Nabiul AlamChildren’s participation in higher mathematics optional course in ruralsecondary Islamic schools in Bangladesh: what are the affectingfactors?

Ngoc BuiA Critical Examination of the National CEFR-based English Curriculumat Tertiary level in Vietnam

John ConnollyUtilising the Social Cognitive Career Theory to compose an instrumentto predict choice of Physics for post-compulsory education and careerchoice.

Mahmudul HasanImpacts of Supplementary Islamic Education on mainstream education:Perception of Bangladeshi young Muslims in Essex

Tomoaki MiyazakiLearning Democracy in a Time of Turmoil

Cheong Micheong StellaBecoming a bridge figure: Reinterpreting cosmopolitan identities forNorth Korean migrant youth in South Korea

Ka Wan Calvin TseTime to talk: Students’ Mathematical thinking when solving IB DPChemical Kinetics problems

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Victor SalinasTerritories of Expertise

Education, Practice and Society

Annette BambergerInternational Undergraduate Study in Israel: A Study of French JewishStudents at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC)

Piers von BergYoung people, citizenship and the university

Jay DerrickHow do high-performing knowledge-intensive organisations use informalmodes of learning and team-working to support innovation?

Xaviera Gonzalez-WegenerHow do teachers develop, interpret and mark differentiated classroomassessment?

Brendan KingWhat influence(s) do family, physical education and peers have on lowsocioeconomic students’ extracurricular sport socialisation

Tomoya SonodaPower and myth of evidence: Educational marginalisation of children incross-line areas in Syria

Mario SylvanderPop & Fizz in University Admissions Interviews

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Learning and Leadership

Ghadah AlGhamdiJob satisfaction among female head teachers in Saudi Arabia schools

Amaal AlmigalMeet Mark: A pilot Study to test the Effectiveness of Proloqu2Go app toHelp Children with Autism to Ask Questions.

Saba AlqasabiWhat are the factors in schools that influence the implementation of aninclusive approach to employment transition processes in preparingstudents with Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) to move intoemployment in England?

Mike CollinsResponding to Complexity: Exploring the role of Executive Leaders inEnglish Schools

Aly ColmanSchool leadership and the impact of the school inspection regime: anexamination of a coastal area of deprivation.

Anthony DimmerIt’s a Matter of TrustA Case Study of Collaboration within a Newly Formed Group of PrimaryAcademies

Hazel DorringtonAn investigation into the relationship between trainee teachers' auto-biographies, their values and beliefs, and their perceptions of childrenfrom low socio-economic status groups

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Sandra El GemayelThe impact of armed conflict and displacement on the play of young Iraqiand Syrian child refugees in Lebanon

Ikuyo MiyamuraThe values of school leaders transforming crises into development -through life stories of headteachers in Japan

Eva SakellaridiInside the black box: an investigation into the school businessmanagement of a sponsored academy chain

Psychology and Human Development

Stephanie GibbWhat role does an understanding of competition play in the developmentof children’s intergroup attitudes?

Su MorrisLocal and global processing in maths and science achievement atprimary school

Derek ZhengExploring the role of Educational Psychologists in primary level pupils atrisk of/ who have been permanently excluded in a London borough

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Social Science

Claire StansfieldDesigning search strategies for systematic reviews using diverseresearch literature

Doctoral Training Centre:

Wendy DixonMaking a move: why do teaching assistants choose to becometeachers?

Jessica MassonnieThe effect of noise on learning in primary school

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Name Page

Alam, K.M. Nabiul 19

AlGhamdi, Ghadah 20

Almigal, Amaal 21

Alqasabi, Saba 22

Alshamre, Awatif 23

Bamberger, Annette 24

Bui, Ngoc 25

Ciftci, Abdullah 26

Clements, Jenny 27

Collins, Mike 28

Colman, Aly 29

Connolly, John 30

Derrick, Jay 31

Dimmer, Anthony 32

Dixon, Wendy 33

Dorrington, Hazel 34

El Gemayel, Sandra 35

Gibb, Stephanie 36

Gonzalez-Wegener, Xaviera 37

Hasan, Mahmudul 38

King, Brendan 39

Laffan, Eileen 40

Massonnié, Jessica 41

Micheong Stella, Cheong 42

Miyamura, Ikuyu 43

Miyazaki, Tomoaki 44

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Name Page

Morris, Su 45

Sakellaridi, Eva 46

Salinas, Victor 47

Simsek, Ali 48

Sonoda, Tomoya 49

Stansfield, Claire 50

Sylvander, Mario 51

Tse, Ka Wan Calvin 52

Uchiyama, Naoko 53

Von Berg, Piers 54

Zheng, Derek 55

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K.M. Nabiul AlamCurriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment

Children’s participation in higher mathematics optional course inrural secondary Islamic schools in Bangladesh: what are theaffecting factors?

Recent field study for my PhD research project reveals that a very smallnumber of children in rural secondary Islamic schools (Madrasas) inBangladesh choose to study ‘Higher Mathematics’ as an optional subjectbeyond the compulsory mathematics. Children of both genders, girls inparticular have less interest about ‘Higher Mathematics’ due to manyreasons. The preliminary analysis of six focus group discussions withGrades 9 and 10 children across three rural secondary madrasas inBangladesh suggests that parent’s socio-economic status, their religiousbeliefs, children’s gender, mathematics curriculum, mathematics teacher,anxiety about mathematics, success in mathematics, private tuitionculture, and children’s future ambitions all play a role in making theirchoice about studying a higher mathematics optional course. The ongoinganalysis of additional qualitative data collected through interviews withparents, mathematics teachers and principals will contribute to explainingthe reasons of children’s low level of participation and interest about in‘Higher Mathematics’ in a rural Bangladeshi context. Moreover, theanalysis of quantitative data on children’s attitudes to mathematics wouldalso help to identify possible reasons behind their decision to study or notto study a ‘Higher Mathematics’ course.

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Ghadah AlGhamdiLearning & Leadership

Job satisfaction among female head teachers in Saudi Arabiaschools

The research aim is to investigate the factors that influence jobsatisfaction among female headteachers at girls’ schools in the easternprovince of Saudi Arabia, assessing the level of satisfaction amongheadteachers within the context of an educational environment. Havingwork experience myself in the Saudi educational system, as both ateacher and a headteacher, I have dealt with various challenges in thisarea that can have a negative impact on the job satisfaction of femaleheadteachers. For example, a lack of relevant experience, work overloadand salary issues among many others.

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Amaal AlmigalLearning & Leadership

Meet Mark: A pilot Study to Test the Effectiveness of Proloqu2GoiPad App to Help Children with Autism to Ask Questions.

Mark is a nine year-old boy diagnosed with autism. He is verbal, but hascomplex communication needs. Although he has the ability to ask simplequestions, he does so very rarely. Augmentative and alternativecommunication systems, such as Picture Exchange CommunicationSystem (PECS), are used to enhance his communication skills. Thisincludes the use of latest technologies to provide for the ability tocommunicate. iPad applications, such as Proloqu2Go, is being used tohelp children with autism to communicate, but this pilot study is aimedspecifically to examine the effectiveness of this application incomparison with PECS to help Mark to ask questions. Mark wasobserved for three days and his teacher and mother were interviewed.Then, twenty sessions using both iPad and PECS were conducted withMark to help him to ask questions more frequently. Interviews withMark's teachers also took place after the sessions. Initial resultsshow that Mark is highly motivated when using the iPad app to askquestions, however PECS can be just as effective to help him to achievethe same results. What influence the application might have on Mark'sverbal communication in relation to his ability to ask questions will also beanalysed.

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Saba AlqasabiLearning & Leadership

“Factors that influence the implementation of an inclusive approachto the employment transition process in preparing students withMLD to move into employment in England”

The process of transitioning to employment is essential for students withMLD, by providing them with suitable training and activities that can leadto achieving their future employment. However, the literature indicatespotential gaps in effective inclusive practice in relation to this process.Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate this process tounderstand the gaps related to it, and to find out about inclusive practisesthat may improve this process. In this study, I decided to use case studiesto illustrate a broad range of transition processes to employment inpractise. I will use a multiple-case design in six school, in which eachschool is the subject of an individual case study, and several schools arecovered in the study as a whole. I will interview 2-3 students with MLD ineach school, and one of their family members and 2-3 schoolprofessionals (transition team members) in each school. I will also look atstudents’ documents related to the transition process. A cross-caseanalysis will be conducted in this study, where each individual case studyis considered as a distinct study to compare the variations in practisearound the six schools’ transition processes.

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Awatif AlshamreCulture, Communication & Media

Investigating the role of social media in supporting parents andteachers of students with Down Syndrome: Focus on earlyintervention services in Saudi Arabia

The number of social media users amongst special education teachersand parents of children with Down syndrome is increasing annually. Mirza(2013) confirmed that the increase in the number of families with disabledmembers using social networking sites and other types of media topressure the government for an expansion of early intervention servicesin all regions of Saudi Arabia. However, there are no qualitative studieswhich testify to the true nature of the interaction between teachers andparents when using social media, nor the role of social media insupporting and assisting parents and teachers when using for specialeducation. Current studies on media in Saudi Arabia are limited and donot go beyond working papers, such as (AlMagushi, 2007; Alkhamis &Asalawi, 2007; Fadil, 2007) which focus on the relevance of social mediato serve individuals with hearing and visual disabilities, while it disregardsthe role of parents of children with Down syndrome and teachers.Therefore, the aim of this research is an investigation of the role of socialmedia in support of parents and teachers of students with Downsyndrome: Focus on early intervention services in Saudi Arabia.

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Annette BambergerEducation, Practice & Society

International Undergraduate Study in Israel: A Study of FrenchJewish Students at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC)

In recent years, many Israeli universities have extended their traditionalstudy abroad programmes to encompass award-bearing programmes,which are principally conducted in English and targeted at foreignstudents. Competition for foreign students is high and has led to anincreased institutional focus on marketing and recruitment activities,however, little research is available to guide Israeli higher educationprofessionals in their efforts. In particular French Jewish students, asignificant and growing population in Israel, are underrepresented in theliterature on foreign students in Israel. This study explores the motivationand decision-making process of French Jewish undergraduate students,studying in Israel in English. The goal is to gain insight into this keydemographic and provide actionable recommendations for internationalmarketing and recruitment professionals, programme designers, andservice providers. The study employs a qualitative case study approachand uses the concepts of push-pull motivation and Foskett and Hemsely-Brown's (2001) subjective decision-making model. Findings indicate thatmotivations are composed of a "package" of four interconnected factors:Israel (destination country), English (language of study), IDC (institution),and academic programme. Stages in the decision-making process andimplications for practice are presented and limitations to the study arehighlighted.

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Ngoc BuiCurriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment

A Critical Examination of the National CEFR-based EnglishCurriculum at Tertiary level in Vietnam

This study explores the implementation of the mandatory CEFR-basedEnglish curriculum in the National Language Teaching and LearningReform within a Vietnamese tertiary context to figure out a discrepancybetween policymakers’ intentions and teachers’ implementation. Using amixed methods approach, I interview policymakers to identify the intendedcurriculum, departmental administrators to determine their perceptions ofthe national language policies and their roles in the implementation ofthese policies. I conduct surveys to discover teachers’ perceptions of theintended curriculum and uncover the factors affecting theirimplementation activities. By observing teachers’ classrooms and throughfollow-up interviews, I also examine how the language policies are beinginterpreted and implemented. The findings discuss the guiding roles ofpolicymakers, mediating roles of administrators, implementing roles ofteachers, and then explore factors which may have facilitated or hinderedteachers’ curriculum implementation efforts. The findings will thereforeinform the stakeholders of useful information which can determine whatfurther changes are required, what problems need to be anticipated, andwhat measures can be taken to solve the problems to ensure theachievement of the curriculum goals. The study, in this way, will contributeto the common knowledge of innovation management as well ascurriculum development policy and enactment.

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Abdullah CiftciCulture, Communication & Media

The use of ICT for pupils with ADHD in inclusive Key Stage 2classrooms in supporting their academic and social development.

ADHD causes behavioural and cognitive difficulties: inattention,hyperactivity and impulsivity that bring the need to use needs-specificinterventions. ICT is commonly applied in classrooms to diversify teachingand learning experiences. The aim is to analyse how ICT-based activitiessupport the social and academic development of pupils with ADHD thatwill lead an understanding of how teachers, pupils, teaching methods,materials and environmental factors interact together. Understanding therole of ICT in fostering the development of pupils with ADHD requiresvisiting classrooms and analysis of educational activities to evaluate theeffectiveness of ICT. Therefore, a qualitative case study approach will beemployed to analyse comprehensively all components of educationalactivities together in the real environment - the classroom - employingobservation of classrooms and interviews with teachers. Four inclusiveclassrooms will be observed weekly for four months and interviews withteachers and teaching assistants will be conducted in the middle and atthe end of this four-month period. Thematic analysis of data will be usedto produce a theoretical framework for ICT-based classroom activities. Itwill lead to understanding and evaluation of creative ways of using ICTand engaging pupils with ADHD in learning.

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Jenny ClementsCulture, Communication & Media

The Higher Project Qualification: Do Research Projects Add ValueFor Secondary School Students?

The Higher Project Qualification is a research qualification that secondaryschool students can take part in at either Key Stage 3 or 4. It is theequivalent of half a GCSE grade, where the students must submit aresearch project containing a minimum of 2,500 words. The process ofstudent selection, and the question as to who should or should not takepart in this research process, and against which criteria, is problematic,as students are normally chosen to take part based on abilitycategorisation. This research concerns itself with investigating theproblems with ability categorisation; the nature of research projectsthemselves, and what students, of all abilities, might gain from being partof such programmes; the idea that there is nothing particularly ‘gifted’about taking part in research projects will be considered. Students whotake part in these research projects must complete Project Activity Logson how they experienced the process of sustained independent research,which is currently not shared beyond the confines of the projectsthemselves. This research will start to explore what students value whentaking part in independent research, and problematize the process ofdefining what value actually means and the subjective nature of this.

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Mike CollinsLearning & Leadership

Responding to Complexity: Exploring the role of Executive Leadersin English Schools

Executive Leadership is a new feature of school organisation in Englandthat has emerged over the last decade or so. It is exercised in a widevariety of contexts and for anyone taking on an executive role, respondingto and dealing with complexity is unavoidable. This developing researchaims to explore how leaders are performing these roles. A starting pointis to draw on complexity theories as an underpinning assumption aboutthe nature of the social world and to see leadership as taking place inmultiple overlapping and nested networks of interactions in which bothleaders and researcher are embedded. This leads to a case-basedapproach, focusing on individuals in executive leaderships roles and theirparticular context. A type of social network analysis is being used toexplore leaders’ perceived networks of interactions alongside interviewsand documents to gather further evidence of how these new roles arecarried out. Piloting has tested both the approach and a provisionalanalytical framework, offering useful initial insights. The research will beextended by gathering similar data from other key people in the leaders'organisations and by comparing cases.

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Aly ColmanLearning & Leadership

School leadership and the impact of the school inspection regime:an examination of a coastal area of deprivation.

The school inspection regime in England and Wales has recentlyincreased its focus on all state schools becoming 'good' or better. Schoolsdeemed by Ofsted to be performing below this standard receive intensescrutiny from the school inspection regime before a subsequent shortnotice monitoring inspection. Although all schools may receive a shortnotice inspection, the perceived autonomy afforded to schools that arejudged by the inspection regime to be good or better is in contrast to thosewho are deemed 'failing' schools and are disciplined through tighteraccountability to the inspection regime. This impacts on the wayseducation policy is enacted by school leaders. This study examined theeffect of intense scrutiny from the school inspection regime on schoolleadership and policy enactment and the impact of this on inequality. Acoastal area of deprivation provided the setting for a detailed case studyof school leadership in a state secondary school and a state primaryschool - both with recent or on-going experience of intense scrutiny fromthe school inspection regime. Interviews and observations wereundertaken to understand decision-making informing school leadership,policy enactment and approaches to school improvement. The data wasanalysed to form a thesis.

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John ConnollyCurriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment

Utilising the Social Cognitive Career Theory to compose aninstrument to predict choice of Physics for post-compulsoryeducation and career aspiration.

There have been many studies conducted that have attempted to discoverthe reasons behind the low uptake in STEM subjects, particularly physics,of secondary school students for post-compulsory education. Studieshave concluded the importance of personality, familial and environmentaltraits when students make their subject choices as well as their aspirationsfor their future careers. This poster reviews the Social Cognitive CareerTheory (SCCT) (Lent et al., 1994) as a predictive model for choice ofphysics for post compulsory education based on career choices. Theauthors of SCCT identify agency via the relationship between self-efficacyand outcome expectations as a factor underpinning interests andsubsequent aspirations for choice of career. The poster compares theSCCT model with the expectancy-value model of achievement-relatedchoices (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) which has been used to predict choiceof STEM subjects and careers among secondary school students for overthree decades. The comparison favourably demonstrates that the SCCT,with its focus on self-efficacy beliefs can be used as a framework todevelop instruments for predicting uptake of physics for post-compulsoryeducation as well as students’ aspirations for physics or STEM relatedcareers.

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Jay DerrickEducation, Practice & Society

How do high-performing knowledge-intensive organisations useinformal modes of learning and team-working to supportinnovation?

My thesis research is a qualitative study investigating the relationshipbetween innovation and informal learning at and through work, in thepractices and procedures of two successful and innovative organisationsoperating in different knowledge domains, as revealed through the workof project teams in each organisation. The study is investigating howpractitioners in each team create and/or take advantage of opportunitiesfor learning as they arise through the course of their work, and how theirteam leaders and managers support them; how learning and innovationare interrelated; how each organisation’s cultural norms, procedures andexpected behaviours support or inhibit learning and innovation (whetherthis is deliberate or not). I plan to use the following conceptual frameworksin analysing my data: Jensen et al’s distinction between ‘STI’ and ‘DUI’knowledge (2007), Felstead et al’s ‘Working as Learning’ framework(2009), Engestrom’s work on multi-disciplinary and cross-boundary team-working (2008), and Fuller and Unwin’s ‘Expansive-Restrictive’Continuum for measuring the extent to which a workplace supports orinhibits learning (2006). As a teacher educator, I want to use the study’sfindings to help develop recommendations for improved conceptual,policy and implementation frameworks for the professional learning ofteachers.

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Anthony DimmerLearning & Leadership

It’s a Matter of Trust

A Case Study of Collaboration within a Newly Formed Group ofPrimary Academies

This thesis aimed to find out the extent to which the formation of anacademy trust supported collaboration and improvement during the firstyear of its existence. It reports on a longitudinal case study, which trackedthe development of five schools as they started to develop a self-improving system of collaboration during its first two years. The studyexplores the process by considering the views of teachers about levels ofJoint Practice Development, Social Capital, Collective Moral Purpose,Evaluation and Challenge and Alliance Architecture. These are keyelements identified by David Hargreaves (2012) as the essentials of a self-improving school system. Together they are the building blocks of hisconcept of “collaborative capital”. It also takes account of the interactionsbetween heads and deputies, senior and middle leaders in creating aculture of collaboration and the extent to which communities of practicebegin to grow. The case study takes the form of surveys of teaching staffin all five schools followed by interviews with a sample of leaders andteachers to amplify the findings from the surveys carried out in Januaryand June 2014. A follow up survey took place in January 2015 withinterviews held in June 2015.

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Wendy DixonDoctoral Training Centre (UCL)

Making a move: why do teaching assistants choose to becometeachers?

Research Proposal: Driven by a personal interest this qualitative study willinvestigate the ‘told story’ and the ‘lived life’ of a cohort of TeachingAssistants (TAs) who have chosen to become teachers. Within this it ishoped that the TAs current and perceived future status and events thathave influenced their decision to become a teacher will emerge. With littleempirical evidence exploring the transition from teaching assistant toteacher, coupled with the findings proposed by Woolhouse et al (2009)that TAs are unwilling to progress to qualified teaching status, this studyhopes to produce evidence that will not only encourage TAs to considerthis move but will also reflect the findings of Fortner et al (2015, p.2) thatTAs represent ‘a quality and highly persistent workforce’. The methodsused to access this data will be a Life History Time followed by a semi-structured interview which will be analysed within a frameworkconstructed of Savickas’ career construction theory and Bourdieu’s theoryof Capital acquisition.

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Hazel DorringtonLearning and Leadership

An investigation into the relationship between trainee teachers'auto-biographies, their values and beliefs, and their perceptions ofchildren from low socio-economic status groups

Initial Teacher Training providers are required to provide opportunities fortrainee teachers to work successfully in schools in challenging socio-economic circumstances, yet there is a lack of guidance on how theymight achieve this. The proposed study will use semi-structured interviewsto collect data from a sample of trainee teachers. Drawing on Bourdieu'sthinking tools of field, habitus and capital, the study aims to understandthe auto-biographies of a sample of trainee teachers; the ways in whichtheir auto-biographies influence their values and beliefs; and the way inwhich this influences their perceptions of children from low socio-economic status groups. It is expected that this knowledge could be usedby Initial Teacher Training providers to inform their practice, not least inproviding a starting point for reflection on and discussion of traineeteachers' knowledge and understanding of children from low socio-economic status groups.

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Sandra El GemayelLearning & Leadership

The impact of armed conflict and displacement on the play of youngIraqi and Syrian child refugees in Lebanon

War and displacement have immeasurable effects on children and theirfamilies. They constrain children’s opportunities to play, to learn throughplay, and for their unique potential to flourish. Yet, there are no in-depthstudies of the effects of war and displacement on young child refugees inLebanon. My research aims to investigate what play opportunities areavailable to these children, how their experiences of war anddisplacement affect the ways they play, and what measures could betaken to improve their play opportunities. Froebelian principles lie at thecore of this study which promotes the integrity of childhood in its own right,the indispensable benefits of play, and the role of the environment in achild’s development. This research also studies childhood and play inLebanon through a Foucauldian lens, exploring diverse discourses, powerstructures, and regimes of truth. Questionnaires will be distributed to over100 parents/guardians via a local dispensary, and longitudinalethnographic case studies will be conducted with refugee families, using‘long’ conversations and observations to investigate children’s playexperiences and enable the children themselves to become activeresearchers of their own lives. Recommendations will be made regardingimproving play opportunities for refugee children.

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Stephanie GibbPsychology & Human Development

What role does an understanding of competition play in thedevelopment of children’s intergroup attitudes?

Recent research shows how investigating the development of competitiveunderstanding might advance knowledge on the development ofintergroup attitudes (i.e. how members of one group think about, andbehave towards, members of another group). Research has extensivelyexplored the role of intergroup processes within competitive contexts inadults (Sherif et al, 1961; Maxwell-Smith et al, 2016; Adachi, Hodson, &Hoffarth, 2015) and in the context of social exclusion in childhood (e.g.Abrams & Killen, 2014; Abrams, Rutland, Pelletier, & Ferrell, 2009;Richardson et al, 2014). These studies do not explore specifically howknowledge of competition may inform children’s understanding ofintergroup relations. We present a preliminary study examining thisquestion and a proposed outline of stages of future research.

In a preliminary study (Gibb & Palmer, 2016), participants (N=160) aged4-8 years old considered scenarios involving ingroup/outgroup peersinvolved in a ‘snakes and ladders’ game (Gibb & Rafetseder, 2015).Participants were asked to evaluate ingroup/outgroup peers who violateda norm to cheat, where cheating advantaged the ingroup versus theoutgroup team. As expected, children were more favourable to outgroupmembers when their cheating actions advantaged the ingroup. Social-moral reasoning was explored and will be discussed in relation to recent(e.g. Lam & Seaton, 2016) and proposed research.

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Xaviera Gonzalez-WegenerEducation, Practice & Society

How do teachers develop, interpret and mark differentiatedclassroom assessment?

Summative classroom assessment is the method by which teachersregularly assess and grade students’ learning in Chilean schools. Gradesobtained in the secondary level are highly relied upon as indicators of‘merit’. They inform decisions around year repetition, access touniversities, admission to other schools and suitability for scholarships.However, the process by which summative classroom assessmentproduces an outcome has been overlooked, and there is no evidence thatcan confirm that those numbers are reliable and valid measures ofstudents’ learning and knowledge. The system risks neglecting particularstudents identified as low performers or struggling learners, as thosestudents may need specific accommodations and adaptations to accessthe curriculum and participate in assessments to demonstrate what theyknow. The proposed study aims to explore how teachers providedifferentiated assessment for struggling learners by evaluating how theydesign their assessment instruments, judge students’ performance andproduce a grade. The contribution of this research lies in the provision ofguidelines for the public policies about suitable uses of classroomassessment and its outcomes, as well as a new insight for teacher trainingprograms on inclusive practices for educational assessment. Newapproaches to inclusive practices can lead to foster more inclusivelearning environments for all children.

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Mahmudul HasanCurriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment

Impacts of Supplementary Islamic Education on mainstreameducation: Perception of Bangladeshi young Muslims in Essex

Many Bangladeshi Muslim children between five to sixteen years oldattend mosque schools or other supplementary schools outside normalschool hours at evenings or weekends in order to receive education inIslamic beliefs and practices. Parents recognize the connection betweensuch education and the achievement of a secure religious and personalidentity for their offspring. The fact that many Muslim children attendschools as well supplementary Islamic schools has led to a debate aboutthe impact of the latter on the former. Some reports such as Open SocietyInstitute’s report (2005) claims that supplementary schooling places anadditional burden on Muslim children, in terms of both time and intellectualeffort, which might cause their low academic achievement. This issue hasnot been studied in depth and in particular we do not know how studentsetc think about this link. Therefore, this research aims to conduct aninvestigation into the perceptions of Bangladeshi young Muslims aboutthe impacts of Supplementary Islamic Education (SIE) on theirmainstream education and to find out any differences in perceptionstowards SIE between sub-groups, e.g. parents and teachers, teachersfrom the mainstream and those from SIE, current and former parents andcurrent students and former students.

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Brendan KingEducation, Practice & Society

What influence(s) do family, physical education and peers have onlow socioeconomic students’ extracurricular sport socialisation?

For renowned French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, 'habitus is an important,and class-specific, foundation for behaviour’. However, Bourdieu offerslittle explanation of how habitus is acquired at the micro-level. UsingBernstein’s elaborations of the contexts and agencies where behaviouralprinciples are formed, this study examines how Key Stage 3, low-socioeconomic students in inner-city London secondary schools acquirea habitus that underpins their long-term sport participation. Previousresearch suggests that the habitus of children from lower socioeconomicbackgrounds is influenced by the extended family, their physical educationteacher and their peers. This results in a broad range of unorderedactivities that take place in various spaces. A total of 15 low-SES studentswho participated in extracurricular sport were involved. This study utilisesthree data collection methods: (1) drawing assignments, (2) focus groupsand (3) semi-structured interviews. The data generated by these methodswas then coded and analysed using Bernstein’s contexts as an analyticalframework. Primary codes related to the contexts where socialisationtakes place. Secondary codes related to the identity of specific agentsacting in these contexts. These findings offer an important contribution toinsight into class-specific sport socialisation processes, resulting in theacquisition of a specific ‘sports habitus’.

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Eileen LaffanCulture, Communication & Media

Pre-sessional English Courses: The acculturative and academictransition of international students to the UK

For international students studying in the UK, their experience can be onethat is both positive but also fraught with challenges and issues. This studywill focus on international students'* experiences of pre-sessional Englishcourses and how they provide a transitioning space for the adaptation andacculturative process, included in this is an exploration oftheir expectations prior to coming to the UK and how they reflect on thoseexpectations. The rationale for undertaking this research is thecontribution it will provide to professional practice in pre-sessional Englishlearning and teaching, along with the improvement and provisionof services to international students. This study will follow a qualitativeresearch approach in a narrative case-study design of six case-studieswith six participants. Each case-study will comprise of two semi-structured interviews: one whilst undertaking the pre-sessional Englishcourse and a second in the first term of the students' degreecourse. This research will address the journey that international studentsundertake from home country to the studying in the UK, and the academicand acculturative challenges they face and experience.

* International student in this context refers to international students whohave an IELTS/ TOEFL requirement to study in the UK.

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Jessica MassonniéDepartment of Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London (DTC)

The effect of noise on learning in primary school

Primary school children are exposed to various types of noise. Road trafficnoise has been shown to negatively impact mathematics performance,whereas the effect of irrelevant speech depends on its meaningfulnessand saliency: babble noise has a detrimental effect, but not when it ismixed with environmental sound (Dockrell & Shield, 2006). Crucially, thismixed noise favours children’s spelling and sentence comprehension(Dockrell & Shield, 2006), and multi-talker voices at a certain levelenhances adults’ creativity (Mehta et al, 2012). When adults’ short-termmemory is tested under irrelevant speech, a high number of voicesproduces less impairment (Jones & Maken, 1995). Moreover, beside thesource of noise, individual factors explaining children’s sensitivity to noiseremain unclear. To better understand how noise affects learning inprimary school, we will investigate: The effect of traffic, verbal (singlevoice) and classroom (multi-talker) noise on mathematics, readingcomprehension and text recall; The effect of classroom noise on children’screativity; If school interventions could favour noise reduction, potentiallyenhancing children performances; The extent to which SES, inhibitorycontrol and working memory mediate the effect of noise on performance.Planned experiments and preliminary results will be presented.

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Cheong Micheong StellaCurriculum Pedagogy & Assessment

Becoming a bridge figure: Reinterpreting cosmopolitan identitiesfor North Korean migrant youth in South Korea

As the number of North Korean migrants has rapidly been growing sincethe mid-1990s in South Korea, the schools and teachers have to face withthese very intimate but also unfamiliar migrants (Ham, 2013). In thespecific context of a divided Korean history, Korean government has beenseeking to develop an educational system equipped to handle thechallenges of potential reunification and globalisation. One aspect of thiseffort has been the introduction of cosmopolitanism (Appiah, 2007) as astandard for selecting citizenship education policies (MoE, 2012; KEDI,2012).

However, most policies are founded on a basis of implied assimilationand it focuses on nationalism. In addition, there are cultural violence whichmeans collective beliefs and attitudes in the name of legitimizing enmity(Galtung, 1990). As a result, it forces young North Korean migrants toadapt and assimilate into the Korean education system, rather thanproviding them with an education that would enable them to become worldcitizens with their own identity.

The aim of study is to reinterpreting cosmopolitan identities for youngNorth Korean migrants in South Korea. The preliminary interview dataprovides insight not only into the difficulties of two different social andpolitical spheres both in public debates and in everyday encounters butalso into the possibilities as a ‘bridge figure’ (Zuckerman, 2013) in theunited Korean peninsula and the diaspora in an era of transnationalism.

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Ikuyu MiyamuraLearning & Leadership

The values of school leaders transforming crises into development- through life stories of headteachers in Japan

‘Dynamic relativism’ in ‘Theory of Human Development’ by Ueda (1964)has left a researcher fascination as well as a question if something ismissing in this theory. In Japan, experimentalism refers to John Dewey’sidea and Ueda’s unique stance was criticized as ‘creepingExperimentalism’. Without finding ‘something is missing’ in the theory ofUeda, a move to the UK in 2008 led the researcher to experience anidentity crisis. Discovering innate qualities inside and nurturing themfacilitated the overcoming of the crisis and has led to personal growth. Amodel of self-empowerment in ‘Self Managing Leadership’ (Usha n.d.)seems to answer the previous question of ‘something is missing’. As littleempirical research has been done for this model, this study would like totest this transformation model empirically. This research will explore theschool leaders’ values transforming crises into personal growth throughlife stories of headteachers in Japan. It aims to clarify 1) the headteachers’experience of having crises, 2) key elements of overcoming crisis, 3)perception of their own growth from turning crisis into personal growth,and 4) the impact of their growth on others.

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Tomoaki MiyazakiCurriculum Pedagogy & Assessment

Learning Democracy in a Time of Turmoil

After his inauguration, Donald Trump, the 45th US president, issued theexecutive order, so called Muslim ban, in January 2017. However, theorder seemed to undermine the prospective diversified society whereyoung people would live in their future. Moreover, protests during theinauguration ceremony seemed to urge the reconsideration of the goodpractice of democracy. Therefore, this project aims to explore how youngpeople accept and integrate different political opinions in the onlinediscussion forum. The project has collected and analysed data fromKidzWorld, a publicly open web forum designed for teenagers. Theanalysis showed a clear difference in the discussion style among theusers: pro-Trump teenagers supported their claim with evidence, whileanti-Trump camp did not. Moreover, the anti-Trump teenagers blamed thecounterpart based on their own views and values, which seeminglyadvocate the concept of freedom and diversity; however, it turned theentire discussion to emotional argument as users took name-callingbehaviour. The result suggests a potential and risky shift from theevidence-based neutral argument to the emotional and hostile argumentin the political discourse among young people and others.

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Su MorrisPsychology & Human Development

Local and global processing in maths and science achievement atprimary school

There is some evidence that people with autistic traits, and those whoscore highly on systemizing measures, are more likely to study or work inscience, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Evidence alsosuggests that these groups perform well on local processing tasks.However, the relationship between global and local processing, andperformance in science and maths at primary school is yet to be explored.135 children from years 1, 3 and 5 (aged 5-10 years) were tested tomeasure their maths and science abilities, their cognitive skills, and theirvisual perceptual processing preferences. The children’s systemizing andempathizing quotients were calculated from a parental questionnaire.After controlling for age, there is no association between local processingand maths and science, nor between systemizing and maths and science.The ability to separate detail from context is strongly associated withmaths and science, however most of this association is shared withvariation in IQ and EF in typically developing children.

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Eva SakellaridiLearning & Leadership

Inside the black box: an investigation into the school businessmanagement of a sponsored academy chain

Reformers and governments around the world tend to argue thatbusinesses and schools are similar and that the latter could besubstantially improved by the application of private sector businesspractices to their operations. On the other side of the coin, there are thosewho argue that such business practices may be leading to a widercorporatisation, thus constraining and reshaping the vision and practice ofschooling. With this context as a backdrop, I seek to understand theprocesses and impacts of three fundamental business practices: finance,human resources and marketing. A sponsored academy chain will beselected as a case study and interviews and observations will be carriedout. Participants will include school business managers, head teachers,teachers, parents as well as key members of the school businessmanagement staff. The aim of the study is to offer a critically-engagedanalysis of whether and how business practices lead to corporatisationand as such, a reorientation of the aims, practices and values of schools.Such a critical empirical analysis is much needed as there remains apaucity of research evidence relating to the pedagogical effects ofbusiness practices that could help policymakers, educators and parentsmake better sense of them.

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Victor SalinasCurriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment

Territories of Expertise

This poster contributes to the discussion about the role of specialistknowledge to define teachers’ professional identity. I will argue thatteachers’ subject expertise could have a positive influence in their agencyarticulating knowledge, experiences and agendas of different people(pupils, colleagues and curriculum). This has been highlighted byliterature on curriculum making as the capacity to comprehend the contextbut overlooked in its spatial dimension which is teachers’ capacity toconnect places. Previous studies have identified teachers’ efforts tomobilise the community, make use of networks or establish partnerships.But, it is unclear to what extend they recognise that expertise asprofessional. This requires a process of specialisation in the local settingcalled ‘territories of expertise’. It considers teachers’ strategies to move inand out of different professional spaces, ranging from the classroom tothe local setting. Articulating different knowledges of people involved inthose spaces. Based on a Foucauldian and geographical perspective, thisconcept will hopefully shed light on teachers’ overlapping identities relatedto different contexts. It takes into account the simultaneity of multiplelevels of teachers’ practice and considers the coexistence of dissociatedknowledges and rationalities in a single teacher e.g. specialist disciplinaryknowledge and lay knowledge.

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Ali SimsekCulture, Communication & Media

A Study of the Cornerstone Maths Project Teachers’ ClassroomPractices: Geometric Similarity Using the Cornerstone MathsSoftware

The research seeks to reveal how a new dynamic tool (the CornerstoneMaths software) interacts with various features of classroom practicewhen teaching geometric similarity in the hands of teachers with varyinglevels of experience in using digital technology to teach. The studyintegrated features of multiple case study design and involved twomathematics teachers from two secondary schools in England. The datawas collected through classroom observations and semi-structured post-lesson teacher interviews. The Structuring Features of ClassroomPractice (SFCP) framework (Ruthven, 2009) was used as a theoreticallens, which focuses on five components of classroom practice: workingenvironment, resource system, activity structure, curriculum script, andtime economy. Data analysis suggests that the varying levels of teachers’experience in using digital technology to teach have a considerableinfluence on the degree and type of their technology use.

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Tomoya SonodaEducation, Practice & Society

Power and myth of evidence: Educational marginalisation ofchildren in cross-line areas in Syria

The research focuses on the interplay between power and evidence indecision-making processes within international aid. It seeks to unpack thepatterns of educational marginalisation of children in opposition-controlledcross-line areas of Syria. Whilst critically questioning theHabermasian/substantialist assumptions of an evidence base, I explorethe Foucauldian/relationalism viewpoints in order to understand the formsof power that come into play in evidence generation and use, and how thepractice of power shapes decisions about who is in and who is out of aidopportunities.

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Claire StansfieldSocial Science

Designing search strategies for systematic reviews using diverseresearch literature

Background: Many systematic reviews undertaken to inform social policyin the areas of public health, social care and education rely on diverseliterature. Identifying the literature for these reviews involves decision-making on appropriate sources and methods to seek out the literature,and is particularly challenging. Guidance is largely limited to generalprinciples on utilising resources effectively. Research aims: to explore thecandidate’s published work on designing search strategies, and relate toother empirical research, theoretical literature and guidance, to provide adeeper understanding of the process. Methods: 1) Build upon thedimensions of difference of systematic reviews developed by Gough et al(2012) to formulate dimensions of differences in searching, using tensystematic reviews. This is used to situate the challenges of searchstrategy design for diverse topics. 2) Explore key themes from thesereviews and the candidate’s published case studies, on designing searchstrategies. Results: Twelve dimensions of searching were developed, ofwhich eight demonstrate distinct characteristics for diverse literature. Fiveinfluences on designing the search strategy are: evidence, process,people, resources and technology. Further work will compare specificthemes with theoretical perspectives on searching, and place this incontext with current guidance on systematic searching.

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Mario SylvanderEducation, Practice & Society

Pop & Fizz in University Admissions Interviews

In the context of US and international private independent schools and mywork in university guidance for application and admission, I have focusedmy studies on off-transcript behaviours and attitudes. Having progressedthrough studies of measurement and development of personal learninginitiative--what I term “self-entrepreneurial [self-e] learning”--I will begin agrounded theory study of university admissions interviews. I have beenpresented with the opportunity to study a large cache of video interviewsfrom a prominent commercial interview platform that employs 60interviewers, all carefully trained in conducting interviews that by designwill not allow an interviewee to stay on [a prepared] script. First temptedto examine interview differences between successful and unsuccessfulapplicants to elite universities, I subsequently learned that the ‘top’interviewees may or may not be applying to elite universities. The studyto be undertaken, therefore, will compare and contrast thematic analysesof interviews that are judged to be exceptional and those not. By using agrounded theory approach, I will seek to identify ‘pop & fizz’ factors thatdistinguish an especially successful interview from a less-successful one,open to many categories of factors--from words, to gestures, to tones, etc.

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Ka Wan Calvin TseCurriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment

Time to talk: Students’ Mathematical thinking when solving IB DPChemical Kinetics problems

This study explores students’ mathematical thinking when solving IB DPChemical kinetics problems. It attempts to answer the research question“How do students use mathematical concepts when solving IB DPChemical kinetics problems?”. Data was first collected through aresearcher-designed, paper-and-pencil test in which five first-year IB DPChemistry HL students were asked to solve six problems. This wasfollowed by semi-structured interview in which each student was asked tojustify the interpretation of his / her written responses. The findings clearlyindicate that these five students have difficulties in handling mathematicalconcepts that are relevant to Chemical kinetics. The assumptions thatprior mathematics learning facilitates transfer do not seems to hold.Mathematics has its discipline rules and Chemistry has its discipline rulesand certain conventions are used only in chemistry because to use themathematical conventions would actually not display the chemistrymeaning properly. Some possible implications for teaching practice andareas for future research are proposed.

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Naoko UchiyamaCulture, Communication & Media

An Itinerant Artist in Critical Multiculturalism: Nation-BasedIdentification and Reimagined Nations

The past three decades saw the rise of multiculturalism as a criticalcounterpart to universalism or Euro-American centrism. It has beencriticised from the beginning, however, as it has risks of confirming, underthe name of egalitarianism, the essentialist definition of non-Westernpeople and culture, of concealing the centripetal impact of thepredominant culture, or of even thoroughly abandoning the engagementswith others to search for ways to discuss their cultures (Araeen 1994;Brooker 1999; Buck-Morss 2009). Persons of itinerancy have criticalaptitudes in this context, rather than being merely appraised asembodying their expected diversity. Their (mis)interpretations bringhybridity to what is believed authentic, and their itinerancy often revealswhat enables their movements (their age, class, gender, nationality, race,etc., depending on each socio-political context). In the case of Japanese-American artist and designer, Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), who hadtravelled extensively around the world throughout his career, the presentstudy considers the potentials of travelling individuals in art historicalstudies in the time of post-multiculturalism. Challenging the stereotypicalgaze towards his family background, Noguchi’s mid-20th centuryexperiments reveal how complexity, rather than diversity, underpinned theinternational expansion of the modernist art movements.

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Piers von BergEducation, Practice & Society

Young people, citizenship and the university

This is a research project into how undergraduate students understandand learn citizenship whilst at the University of Birmingham. TheUniversity’s Education Strategy 2015-2020 identifies responsible andethical citizenship as a graduate attribute that all Birmingham graduateswill attain by graduation. There is however no up to date empirical data onwhat kinds of citizens emerge from UK universities. What is knownappears contradictory: over the past 20 years the numbers attendinguniversity in the UK and of young people not voting have both increased(Furlong and Cartmel 2007; Electoral Commission 2005). Studies of late1990s cohorts describe UK students as ‘quiescent’ (Ahier et al 2003) andmore recent larger studies show a marked decline in positive attitudestowards democracy among young people (Foa and Mounk 2016). Thisstudy will collect and analyse evidence on how students are developingcitizenship at the University. It will also give students the opportunity todescribe what kind of civic education they would like that is currently notprovided. This is a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews andfocus groups. It employs elements of a participatory approach wherestudents and recent alumni will help design interview schedules andanalyse data.

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Derek ZhengPsychology & Human Development

Exploring the role of Educational Psychologists in primary levelpupils at risk of/ who have been permanently excluded in a Londonborough

This study aims to explore the role of Educational Psychologists in primarylevel pupils at risk of/ who have been permanently excluded in a Londonborough. A qualitative, single case study design was used and semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with 2 Local Authority(LA) officers, 2 LA EPs and 2 Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) staff. Findingswere evaluated using thematic analysis. LA EPs were highlighted as beinguniquely positioned within the LA, home and school contexts. LA EPsprovide a distinctive contribution, as they work at both individual and/ orsystemic levels by bringing in their psychological skillset and expertise intherapeutic approaches, standardised psychological assessments,consultation and multi-agency working, all which contribute to theeducational and psychological well-being of the pupil. However, EPinvolvement by LA EPs is largely reactive, as the LA EPS operates as afully-traded service. Schools/ PRU have to buy in EP services for LA EPsto be involved with a child at risk of/ who have been permanently excluded.Findings suggest that there is scope for EPs to look into these concernsto bring about better outcomes for pupils at risk of/ who have beenpermanently excluded with their unique expertise and skillset.

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