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SCHOOL OF Education

Investigating Educational Inequalities p 3

Children and young people’s participation in advocacy p 4

Improving Children’s Lives Conference p 7

Education for Transformation

Education at Queen’s

Summer 2014

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School of Education, 69/71 University Street, Belfast BT7 1HL www.qub.ac.uk/edu

ContentsWelcome!

I am delighted to bring you the summer 2014 issue of the School of Education newsletter Education at Queen’s. Staff and students have been involved in a wide range of innovative research and education activities at a national and international level and this issue highlights just some of the key points.

Through our engagement with schools, students, practitioners and policy makers, we continue to share with the international academic community the expertise of the Northern Ireland education colleagues and that of our own academics, many of whom are acknowledged leaders in their respective fields. These links support our commitment to improving education regionally and linking Northern Ireland to the global education community.

In addition, this issue updates readers on new books by School of Education colleagues and highlights some of the activities underway in our four research centres.

I hope you find something of interest amongst the projects, research and courses covered in this issue. If you would like to find out more about our research or courses or have any suggestions about items you would like Education at Queen’s to cover, please do get in touch.

Professor Paul Connolly Head of School

Investigating Educational Inequalities 3

Child Rights Education International Survey 3

Staff Profile Lee Jerome 4

Children and young people’s participation in advocacy 4

Education for pleasure and progress 5

PGCE students’ experience of MIME 6

Supporting the languages curriculum 6

Corpus Linguistics for Education Research 6

Doctoral students lead the way 7

New books 7

Helping children with autism across Europe 7

Research Centres 8

Annual Doctoral Conference in Education 9

International Interdisciplinary Conference 9

Shared Education collaboration 10

Supporting the Autism Strategy 10

Poor vision - poor reading development 10

Bulletin Board 11

Student Profile Philip Ramsey 11

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Investigating Educational Inequalities

In January this year, colleagues from the School’s Centre for Shared Education presented the interim findings of research which is being undertaken on behalf of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI). The study is investigating current educational inequalities in Northern Ireland across the equality grounds listed in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (gender, disability, age, dependant status, sexual orientation, racial group, marital status, religious belief and political opinion) with consideration to levels of access, attainment, progression and destination.

At the conference, Stephanie Burns (front left) outlined to a group of key stakeholders the main inequalities that have been identified from a secondary analysis of significant datasets, as well as the barriers and enablers to education that have been identified for each equality ground from a review of the literature and qualitative interviews. Joanne Hughes (right) and Ruth Leitch (left) facilitated roundtable discussions with the stakeholders present and Dan Sweeney, Senior Policy Officer at ECNI (second right, back row), gave feedback on the discussions for the plenary session. These discussions served to highlight the factors that might explain the key inequalities for each ground, further barriers and enablers to educational access, attainment, progression and destinations, and the issues that should be brought forward to policymakers upon completion of the research. The final report on the research will be published by the Equality Commission later in 2014.

For more information contact Dr Stephanie Burns at +44 (0)28 9097 3809 or [email protected]

Child Rights Education International Survey

The Centre for Children’s Rights in the School of Education has been awarded a contract to investigate the extent to which children’s rights education (CRE) is being implemented across a range of 36 countries. The project, funded by UNICEF, will be led by Lee Jerome (School of Education). Other research team members include Lesley Emerson, Laura Lundy and Karen Orr. The research project has three aims:

• To explore and analyse the extent to which CRE in formal education settings is being implemented in countries with a UNICEF National Committee presence.

• To identify across a range of country contexts: the factors and processes that support or inhibit progress in CRE implementation in formal education settings; good practice; lessons learned; and recurrent ‘bottlenecks’.

• To provide baseline data and benchmarks which can be used to advocate for, and measure progress in, CRE implementation in formal education settings.

The project will use an online survey tool to establish a baseline for each country in relation to the implementation of children’s rights education. A series of countries will then be identified for more in-depth case studies, to explore specific strengths and weaknesses in relation to children’s rights education. The final report will indicate potential key performance indicators that could be used to track progress in children’s rights education in these countries and to inform further research within and across education systems.

For more information contact Dr Lee Jerome at +44 (0)28 9097 3220 or [email protected]

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Staff Profile Lee Jerome

Lee Jerome joined the School of Education in June 2013 to take up a new lectureship associated with the MSc in Children’s Rights. He is particularly interested in citizenship and children’s rights education and the implications of both for initial teacher education.

The Centre for Children’s Rights and the Improving Children’s Lives initiative stood out as distinctive reasons for coming to the School of Education at Queen’s University. My post was created to support the introduction of the MSc in Children’s Rights, which is an interdisciplinary course exploring the challenges and opportunities of implementing children’s rights in a range of settings. I have been helping with the course design since I arrived and have enjoyed working with philosophers, social workers, lawyers, criminologists, psychologists and health experts to put together an innovative programme. I created a module on ‘Children’s Rights and Pedagogy’ as part of the new programme and am looking forward to teaching that next academic year.

I am working on a research project investigating the implementation of children’s rights education in countries which have significant fund-raising programmes for UNICEF. This is part of the work of the School’s Centre for Children’s Rights, which has an international reputation and an impressive track record. Given that so many wealthy countries are still routinely criticised by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for their shortcomings in education, it is an area where there is a real need to clarify what works and what can facilitate improvement. We are optimistic that we can help UNICEF develop performance indicators and baseline data to use in their advocacy work with governments.

I have been working in the area of citizenship education for 14 years and recently published a book ‘England’s Citizenship Education Experiment’ exploring the complex (dis)connections between the official curriculum and what children learn. Now I’m at Queen’s I would welcome the opportunity to connect with schools interested in citizenship education. I’m looking for some primary and post-primary colleagues to join a project with Edinburgh University to examine how children learn citizenship knowledge and skills and would be happy to email information to interested educators. I’m also working with colleagues to promote networking between teachers who are interested in citizenship in Northern Ireland. I hope people will drop me a line so we can start to build up a network.

[email protected]

Children and young people’s participation in advocacy

Delegates from across Ireland and Northern Ireland attended the ‘Children and Young People’s Participation in Advocacy’ conference, hosted in January by the School’s Centre for Children’s Rights. Gerison Lansdown, international children’s rights expert, delivered the keynote address, followed by a video presentation entitled ‘Participation: What Really Matters to Children and Young People’. Voluntary sector organisations across the island brought staff, children and young people to present to thematic workshops held on day two some diverse and rich examples of participation in advocacy by children and young people. The workshops were participant-led and created opportunities for delegates to reflect on themes emerging from the initial Advancing Children’s Rights research.

Nearly half the 90 delegates were children and young people (aged 10-23), who participated in all aspects of the conference. One conference delegate commented: ‘The most engaging presentations were the ones given by the young people themselves. We need to pass the baton as much as we can.’

This event was the first in a series of five conferences to be hosted by a research project entitled Advancing Children’s Rights in Ireland: North and South, funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies. The project is led by Laura Lundy of the Centre for Children’s Rights at the School of Education, Queen’s University Belfast and Ursula Kilkelly from the Child Law Clinic at University College Cork.

For more information contact Dr Chelsea Marshall at +44(0)28 9097 5939 or [email protected]

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Open Learning - Education for pleasure and progress

Throughout its history, Queen’s University Belfast has been committed to offering flexible learning opportunities to the community it serves. During the 1850s it held lectures at 7.00am for the local citizens of Belfast, marking the beginnings of a tradition that now places the University at the forefront of lifelong learning provision.

This is very much reflected in the Open Learning Programme at the School of Education. It provides opportunities to study a range of short, part-time courses. The Programme is a valuable resource for the whole community and offers opportunities for individual career development or personal growth or simply to satisfy the need for learning for its own sake.

The success of our flexible teaching format, offering courses during the day, evenings and at weekends, in attracting 6,000 part-time student enrolments every academic year from a student population ranging in age from 18 to 90, proves that the Open Learning Programme has something for everyone. Our courses are informative and academically rigorous but, ultimately, enjoyable and delivered in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. Subject categories range from European Languages to Wine Tasting, Creative Writing to History and Politics, World Literature to Visual Arts and Complementary Therapies to Personal Finance.

Through its short, accredited programmes the Open Learning Programme can also provide tailor made, specialist staff training and development opportunities for community organisations, businesses, schools and a range of other employers. These can include options such as Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder, first aid, providing careers advice, computing, internet security, financial management and health and safety in the workplace.

For more information contact Dr Cathal McManus on +44 (0)28 9097 5914 or [email protected] www.qub.ac.uk/edu/ol

Writing for Profit and Pleasure

A one-day workshop on Saturday 31 May

Course code OLE0452

Fee £31.00

Tutor Alf McCreary, BA

Award-winning journalist, Alf McCreary, shares his experience and outlines how people with limited or no background in writing can be helped to turn their ideas into print. This is an informative, enjoyable and successful course by a professional writer with over 40 years’ experience, who will cover the major aspects of creative writing, editing and publishing.

Sol Martin Open Learning tutor and student (see front cover)

How did you become involved with Open Learning?

I am originally from Argentina, and in 2006 I came to Northern Ireland as part of the British Council’s Language Assistants exchange programme. I had been teaching English in Argentina for seven years already, and settling here for a year and giving Spanish conversation classes was a welcome change. At the end of that year, I went back to Argentina but in the end decided to return to Belfast because, as it turns out, I had met my husband here.

How long have you been teaching on the programme?

Since 2008 I have been living and working in Northern Ireland, and having a chance to teach in the School of Education has been one of the best parts of my experience here.

What do you enjoy most about being a tutor?

I get to teach, which is an activity that I love. It allows me to meet lots of interesting people from all walks of life and to constantly improve my practice through their advice and ideas. As a tutor, the relationships you build with Open Learning students are fun and relaxed and the learning is always going both ways.

Why did you decide to study other Open Learning courses?

Because of my experiences as a tutor I decided to ‘dip my toes’ into other courses as a student myself. From Ceili dancing to philosophy and creative writing, my experience has always been the same: outgoing, friendly tutors and classmates who are pleasant and who share my interests and passions.

So no matter what my role has been, as a tutor or as a student, Open Learning has always provided for an enjoyable and rewarding time.

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PGCE students’ experience of MIME

The Postgraduate Certificate in Education students in the School of Education have been enhancing their skills and creativity through cross-curricular technology workshops with specialists from Northern Ireland Screen and at a short course on Moving Image Arts (MIA) held at Nerve Belfast.

Bernard McCloskey and his team from Northern Ireland Screen led the students through a fun-filled but reflective session on the use of Moving Image Media Education (MIME) across the curriculum. Shots, genres, laptops, tripods, cameras and film-making processes captured the students’ attention as the groups storyboarded their movie before moving outdoors to begin filming. The trainee teachers excelled at all aspects of MIME using iMovie. They showed flair and originality in their movies and some students even uploaded them to YouTube to share with friends!

Due to the success of the Digital Storytelling sessions in the PGCE course, a group of 25 PGCE students enrolled in a four week twilight course in Moving Image Arts (MIA) held at Nerve Belfast. Thanks to Ken Armstrong and the trainers, the students practised Stop-Go animation techniques and were introduced to video editing using Final Cut. Self-study materials were provided for the advanced group who wished to teach some MIA during their school-based placement.

Thanks to the colleagues at Northern Ireland Screen and Nerve Belfast, a new cohort of qualified young teachers will be entering the profession enthused and well equipped to utilise the latest MIME technologies on Macs and PCs. By focusing on multimodal literacies across subject areas, the student teachers aim to empower the young people of the future and enhance their employability.

Applications of Corpus Linguistics for Research in Education

The School of Education hosted the Inter-Varietal Applied Corpus Studies Symposium in January. Addressed by presenters from the UK, Ireland, Spain and Malta, the theme was ‘Applications of Corpus Linguistics for Research in Education’. Ivor Timmis discussed the investigation of historical data and the social category of ‘working class’. In their individual papers on academic writing, James Binchy highlighted the role of corpora in research on unique responses to tasks and Megan Bruce discussed the use of corpora to support confidence in academic writing.

Discussions on methodological issues were included in Odette Vassallo’s presentation, which noted the development of a learner corpus as a response to concern over bilingual language standards. On vocabulary teaching, Michael McCarthy presented evidence from an error coded learner corpus and highlighted persistent problem areas, even at high levels of proficiency.

Research using native and non-native speaker corpora was also presented. Margaret Healy, Kristin Horan and Anne O’Keeffe compared language use in the Cambridge Limerick and Shannon Corpus and discussed identities which belie what is said. Oscar Bladas and Aisling O’Boyle presented a quantitative and qualitative study of pragmatic markers in native and non-native spoken discourse. Focussing on the experiences of language learners, Róisín Ní Mhocháin discussed the impact of language classes on participation in conversational situations.

For more information contact Dr Aisling O’Boyle at +44 (0)28 9097 5935 or [email protected]

Supporting the languages curriculum

The Northern Ireland Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (NICILT), located in the School of Education, provides high quality support to primary and post-primary schools across the region by organising events and courses for pupils and teachers and by acting as a hub for research and resources on teaching and learning a modern language, plus language-specific resources for all languages taught in school.

NICILT has organised two courses in June for teachers of modern languages. See the NICILT website www.qub.ac.uk/edu/nicilt for full details and booking forms.

Monday 16 June at Aquinas Grammar School, Belfast, for teachers of Irish:

Course will provide ideas and strategies for motivating and teaching Irish at Key Stages 3 and 4, including GCSE, the use of ICT and introducing new resources. Input from various presenters and teachers.

Friday 20 June at the School of Education, for teachers of French:

Morning sessions will cover a range of GCSE issues including preparation for controlled assessment tasks and the use of ICT. Afternoon sessions will cover transition to A-level including preparation for the AS essay and preparing A2 pupils for the cultural paper – literary texts and films. Facilitated by Steve Glover, independent consultant, author and former teacher of French and German.

For more information contact Wendy Phipps at +44 (0)28 9097 5955 or [email protected]

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Helping children with autism across Europe

Children with autism across Europe are benefitting from the expertise of the School’s Centre for Behaviour Analysis. Deputy Director of the Centre, Katerina Dounavi has completed her supervisor training with the Behaviour Analyst Certification Board (BACB) and travels regularly to a number of countries where she serves as clinical director and consultant to national Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) centres. During her visits she supervises behaviour analytic programmes for children and young people with autism and other developmental and intellectual disabilities. She also conducts research and staff training events.

Examples of her recent work include regular supervision of an ABA centre in Paris, conducting research to support the inclusion of students with Autistic Spectrum Disorder in mainstream classrooms in Spain, leading the translation of a behaviour analysis glossary for professionals in Germany and delivering the keynote address at the first conference of the Hellenic Society for Behaviour Analysis in Greece.

At the School of Education, Katerina leads the MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis, a programme entailing a course sequence that is approved by the Behaviour Analyst Certification Board (BACB), to which students from all over the world apply to become Board Certified Behaviour Analysts (BCBA). With internationally recognised expertise and a wealth of experience, the Centre for Behaviour Analysis is fast becoming a hub for international activity, impact and excellence.

For more information contact Dr Katerina Dounavi at +44 (0)28 9097 5951 or [email protected]

Doctoral students lead the way

The School of Education, through its Centre for Shared Education, was delighted to welcome the annual British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE) Student Conference to Queen’s University in March this year. PhD student Helen Hanna is a Student Representative for BAICE and she, along with fellow School of Education PhD student Gareth Robinson, was involved in organising the postgraduate research student BAICE conference in conjunction with the University’s Postgraduate Office.

The theme of the conference was ‘Education in Plural Societies: Conflict and Comparison’, and the keynote speech was provided by Professor Tony Gallagher, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Queen’s University. The conference attracted both home and international students from universities across the UK in order to discuss current issues relating to the role of education in plural or divided societies such as Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Macedonia, Myanmar, Bosnia-Herzegovina and others. The BAICE event was an important opportunity for a new generation of researchers in this field to share their work, receive constructive feedback and build networks. It resulted in a proposal for a student-led symposium to showcase students’ research at the main BAICE Conference 2014 later this year.

For more information contact Helen Hanna at [email protected]

New books by School of Education colleagues

Laura Lundy, Director of the Centre for Children’s Rights, is one of the editors of a new collection entitled Children’s Rights and Education: International Perspectives published by Peter Lang. It includes a chapter by Lesley Emerson and Laura Lundy (both School of Education) which examines the education rights

of children in conflict affected societies. Authors in the collection draw from a variety of disciplines, including critical and cultural studies of childhood, and bring international comparative policy perspectives to share nuanced and contrasting examples of ways in which a rights-based approach to education might empower children and youth. ISBN 978-1-4331-2121-0

Safeguarding children is a key function of education. Child neglect causes untold damage not only at the time but in the long-term as children grow into adults. Karola Dillenburger, Director of the Centre for Behaviour Analysis, is the co-author of a new book entitled Child Neglect and Behavioural Parent Education: Research

and Practice, published by Russell House. It addresses the issue of child neglect by explaining how behaviour analytic parent education can be used to develop individualised programmes to help vulnerable families care for their babies or young children. This approach fits well with the ethos of evidence-based practice within the context of anti-oppressive and culturally sensitive practice. ISBN 978-1905541911

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Research CentresThe School of Education is one of the leading centres for educational research in the UK and Ireland. We lead and/or contribute to a wide range of collaborative networks, locally, nationally and internationally. We are an innovative School with nearly 200 doctoral students, who are supported by a varied range of activities and training managed through our Doctoral Research Centre. In recent years colleagues have attracted more than £10.5 million in external research income.

Our wide range of research falls into two broad themes: pedagogy, learning and curriculum; and human rights, equality and social cohesion in education. Underpinning all of our research is a commitment to achieving a real impact in the lives of educators, learners and the wider community. We are home to four globally recognised research centres. See below for some recent centre activity or check their respective web pages more information on their projects and achievements.

Centre for Shared Education

Joanne Hughes and Ruth Leitch visited Macedonia in April to deliver a workshop on promoting diversity at primary school. Workshop participants included senior educational policy makers, teachers and other educational practitioners involved in curriculum planning and delivery in Macedonia. The workshop is a further demonstration of the international profile of the Centre and the international impact of its research.

On the basis of their work in Sharing Education in Northern Ireland, Mark Baker and Dani Blaylock were invited to deliver a series of presentations on Shared Education at Elizabethtown University, Pennsylvania, in April. The Centre will host student teachers from Elizabethtown in May for a schedule of visits to shared education sites in Northern Ireland. The purpose of their visit is to engage in knowledge exchange around the concept and practice of shared education as a mechanism for reconciliation. www.qub.ac.uk/cse

Centre for Behaviour Analysis

A large scale secondary data analysis report was submitted by CBA colleagues Karola Dillenburger, Julie-Ann Jordan and Lyn McKerr to the funder, the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, as part of the BASE project (Benchmarking Autism Services Efficacy). It included a secondary data analysis of all relevant Northern Ireland governmental and related departmental datasets, as well as the Millennium Cohort Study, focussing on education, employment and poverty regarding autism.

The Evaluation Report of Project ABLE (Autism Building Links to Employment) was submitted by CBA colleagues to the The Orchardville Society, who have been running the project over the past five years. Project ABLE was funded by Big Lottery and the report includes a service user evaluation, adult autism prevalence predictions and an overview of good practice recommendations for employment of adults with autism. www.qub.ac.uk/cba

Centre for Children’s Rights

Laura Lundy, Centre Director, was an invited speaker at the 6th Annual A. David Kline Symposium on Public Philosophy: Exploring the Synergy Between Paediatric Bioethics and Child Rights. The international symposium in Florida aimed to explore the relevance and potential rationale to support and advance the integration of the theory and practice of child rights and medical ethics. Laura presented on the influence of the principles and norms of human rights on public policy in Europe.

Centre colleagues presented at the international Improving Children’s Lives conference in February (see page 9). Papers were presented by Lesley Emerson and Karen Orr on the legal needs of children and young people and by Lesley Emerson and Katrina Lloyd on the development of a measure of children’s enjoyment of their participation rights in school and the community. Doctoral students Triona Stokes and Michelle Templeton presented a paper on the right to play and a poster on young people’s sexual competence respectively. www.qub.ac.uk/ccr

Centre for Effective Education

Final preparations are under way to welcome an international audience of distinguished researchers to Belfast as they attend the Campbell Collaboration Colloquium, being hosted by the Centre for Effective Education (CEE) in June this year.

CEE has completed pilot work on developing mathematics learning resources for Irish medium primary schools, developed in collaboration with the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment in Northern Ireland and six Irish medium schools.

CEE is working on a number of projects, funded by Educational Endowment Foundation, evaluating the effects of: a reading intervention in secondary school; speech and language therapy on reading in primary school; multimedia learning on reading at school transition; and the role of physical exercise in promoting achievement in academic subjects in primary school. www.qub.ac.uk/cee

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Improving Children’s Lives: An International Interdisciplinary Conference

Over 200 leading researchers, policy makers and practitioners met at Queen’s University Belfast in February to consider how best to improve services for children and young people. The conference was organised by the Improving Children’s Lives initiative at Queen’s University Belfast, which is chaired by Paul Connolly (pictured on right) and managed by Liam O’Hare (both School of Education).

The conference was opened by Jennifer McCann and Jonathan Bell, Junior Ministers of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (pictured second and third left with Professor James McElnay, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Queen’s University, third right). Alongside more than 80 presentations, four leading international scholars gave

keynote addresses on: School-Based Prevention (Professor Mark Greenberg, left, Penn State University); Integrating Outcomes into Planning and Evaluation (Dr Ellen Taylor-Powell); Monitoring and Evaluating Children’s Participation (Gerison Lansdown); and Using Implementation Science (Dr Karen Blase, second right, University of North Carolina).

Speaking of the conference, Liam O’Hare said: ‘The wide range of topics under discussion represents our commitment to ensuring a collaborative approach to improving services for children and young people. The conference has provided an important space for discussing children’s rights and outcomes informed by the research evidence.’

Conference videos and presentations are available on the Improving Children’s Lives website http://go.qub.ac.uk/QKbbc

For more information contact Dr Liam O’Hare on 028 9097 5973 or [email protected]

Annual Doctoral Conference in Education

Doctoral students in the School of Education continue to generate activities and events that show clear leadership within the doctoral community of education scholars in Ireland and which support their own personal training and development. Their flagship event is the Annual Doctoral Conference in Education where they build on the excellent experience of previous conferences, in collaboration with University College Dublin, as well as sustain and lead a vibrant and growing doctoral network of students across the island of Ireland.

This year’s conference is a one day event, on 30 May, supported by the School of Education’s Doctoral Research Centre and the Queen’s University Postgraduate Office. The theme is Participating, Inspiring and Discovering in the World of Educational Research. Hosted at Queen’s University, the conference aims to provide all educational doctoral research students with opportunities to present ongoing research and develop formal presentation skills, engage in networking and debate to inspire new thinking among peers, as well as broaden knowledge in the education field as a whole.

The conference will consist of lectures, workshops, networking opportunities and a poster session. The keynote address will be given by Dr Anne Looney, Chief Executive of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Ireland, who is known for her continuing strong support of education doctoral students throughout Ireland.

For more conference information contact Dayna Jost [email protected]

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Poor vision linked to poor reading development

New research by Allen Thurston in the School’s Centre for Effective Education highlights the need for eye care to be paramount in the minds of children, teachers and parents. The work, to be published in the International Journal of Disability, Development and Education [issue 61(2]), suggests that undiagnosed and untreated vision impairment may be having a negative impact on reading development in the early years of primary school.

Despite pre-school screening programmes, it is still possible for children to enter school with undiagnosed, uncorrected vision impairments. This can be due to health care access issues for children. The research reviewed 72 previously published studies. Data reviewed indicated that around one in six children in primary school is likely to have a vision impairment that requires further exploration and treatment with either spectacles or some other form of intervention. Children with an undiagnosed and untreated vision impairment tended to have reading development that was about a year behind their peers by the end of the third year of school. However, the relationships reported remained complex, with myopic vision being reported to correlate to high reading ability in some studies. In addition, correlation does not necessarily imply causation. The report recommends that teachers, schools and parents explore whether vision impairment is the cause of poor reading development for some children in school.

For more information contact Professor Allen Thurston at +44 (0)28 9097 5169 or [email protected]

Shared Education supports California school collaboration

In March this year, Gavin Duffy and Mark Baker from the Centre for Shared Education in the School of Education visited Loyola and Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles. Both had travelled to Los Angeles in October 2013 to present the context of shared education in Northern Ireland to both the Education Faculty at LMU and at the Education Success Project (TESP) Autumn Colloquium. During the more recent visit, they attended the TESP Spring Colloquium, where the major focus was, again, on school collaboration.

Gavin (second right) also presented a paper on educational disengagement from a UK perspective and sat on a discussion panel exploring this theme with Professor Dan Solorzano and Joaquin Nogeura, both from the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA, and the Californian Superintendent of Public Education, Tom Torlakson. Dan explored disengagement using elements of his research into critical race theory, while Joaquin highlighted socio-cultural aspects of disengagement. The panel presentations and discussion were chaired by Professor Shane Martin, Dean of LMU.

The trip provided Mark and Gavin with opportunities to disseminate the work of the Centre’s Sharing Education Programme and to further develop working relationships with school leaders, teachers and academics involved in TESP. They also had the opportunity to visit collaborating schools in LA and met with staff from a community support centre in Hollywood which is funded by the Youth Policy Institute.

For more information contact Dr Gavin Duffy on +44 (0)28 9097 5260 or [email protected]

Supporting the Autism Strategy

The MSc Autism Spectrum Disorder (MSc ASD) is a well-established course that has been offered by the School of Education since 2002. In line with the needs identified in the Northern Ireland Executive’s Autism Strategy (2013-2020) and associated Action Plan, the course is attuned to raising awareness, addressing issues specifically related to children and adults on the autism spectrum, and increasing knowledge of concepts and models of evidence-based interventions. Now offered through the School’s Centre for Behaviour Analysis, the MSc ASD provides up-to-date post-qualifying training for education, social and health care professionals, and other frontline staff. Modules are short and succinct (20CATS points) and delivered in blended format, with in-class teaching supported by online content delivery. Modules can be taken individually for interest or professional development or taken as part of the School’s Advanced Certificate in Education, DASE or MSc ASD.

Modules offered in Term 1 (Winter 2014)

• Understanding Children with ASD

• Understanding Adults with ASD

• Fundamentals of Behaviour Change

Modules offered in Term 2 (Spring 2015)

• Concepts and Models of Intervention for ASD

• Research Methods in Education

• Optional module from the menu of modules

For more information contact Professor Karola Dillenburger at +44 028 9097 5985 or [email protected]

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Bulletin Board

Gavin Duffy attended the Carnegie Foundation Summit on Educational Improvement in San Francisco in March 2014 where he explored the context of collaboration, partnership and networking in the United States. Keynote speakers at the conference included international leaders and researchers in the fields of educational improvement and reform, including Anthony Bryk, Ted Mitchell, Hayagreeva Rao, Dan Heath and Clay Shirky.

Children’s Rights at Queen’s (CRAQ) is a new initiative established by PhD students in the Centre for Children’s Rights at the School of Education. It aims to recruit and train undergraduate and postgraduate Queen’s University students to deliver sessions to young people in schools in order to raise their awareness of their rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

A workshop in Behaviour Analysis for Effective Teaching was delivered to teachers, parents and health and social care staff by Katerina Dounavi (School of Education) in collaboration with the charity Parents’ Education as Autism Therapists. The workshop was part of a large-scale project aiming to prevent exclusion and promote inclusion in education of young people with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Chinese student Yini Liao has joined the School’s Centre for Behaviour Analysis on a Queen’s University/China Council PhD Scholarship. Yini’s research is a comparative study of ‘Early Intensive Behavioural Interventions (EIBI) in China and the UK’. She will explore how policies and practices differ across countries.

A three day workshop in February on Aggression Replacement Training (ART®) was facilitated by Dr Børge Strømgren (Akershus University College, Norway). ART is a behavioural programme which aims to improve social skills and reduce anger and aggression. It is empirically supported and has proved successful in reducing antisocial behaviour in youths and young adults.

Student Profile Philip Ramsey Course MEd Inclusion and Special Needs Education

Why did you decide to study at the School of Education?

Queen’s University has always had a fantastic reputation of delivering outstanding and state of the art facilities. When I first thought about applying for this course, I emailed a few of the lecturers in the School of Education to give them my

background experience of teaching and enquired about my suitability. They were quick to respond and seemed very enthusiastic to have me on board.

I felt that this course would provide me with opportunities to further my teaching career. As an ICT teacher working in a secondary school environment, I feel that I can use the knowledge and skills that I am developing in this course to incorporate an inclusive classroom community.

Is the course what you expected?

My attitude and outlook on education has changed dramatically through this Masters course. The School of Education has helped me to re-evaluate and critically analyze how we as educators are responsible for delivering an inclusive pedagogy that caters for all learning types.

What have you found most interesting or useful about the course so far?

The course has made me become a much more reflective practitioner and has really helped me to establish ideas about how I need to be more inclusive in my own classroom. I really enjoy being able to discuss ideas with colleagues and share experiences from different school settings. I have also appreciated the constructive criticism that I have received to help improve my written work.

What is your experience of the teaching support and student facilities at Queen’s?

The support that I have received has been outstanding. The lecturers and administrative staff are always at hand to point me in the right direction. As an avid fan of technology, I have found it very easy to communicate via the Queen’s Online discussion forum to ask any relevant questions.

Any advice to future students?

Have an open mind before beginning the course. Everyone will have their own story to tell and this can only be seen as a positive step forward towards inclusion.

The production team for this issue of the newsletter was:

• Alastair Edwards• Barbara Lynagh• Angela McMenamy

Modular Masters Programme

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

SCHOOL OF Education

Education for Transformation

• Politics

• Religious Education

• Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)

• Sociology

Research Programmes

Short Courses

Need to know

• Masters programmes and research programmes (MPhil/PhD/EdD) can be taken in full-time or part-time mode. Applications should be made using the Direct Applications Portal (go.qub.ac.uk/pgapply)

• The EdD comprises nine taught Doctoral modules (of which four must be research modules) and a research dissertation.

• The deadline for PGCE applications is 1 November each year. Applications are accepted after that date but are processed as late applications. Applications should be made using the Direct Applications Portal (go.qub.ac.uk/pgapply)

• If you’re interested in studying for a Masters module as a short course for personal or professional development then please contact the Education Secretary (tel: 028 9097 5923/5032, [email protected]).

• English

• Information Technology/Computing

• Mathematics

• Modern Languages

• Doctor of Philosophy in Education (MPhil/PhD)

• Professional Doctorates

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Doctor of Education in TESOL (EdD TESOL)

• Applied Behaviour Analysis (MSc/PGDip)

• Autism Spectrum Disorders (MSc/DASE/AdvCert)

• Children’s Rights (MSc/PGDip/PGCert)

• Educational Leadership (MSc/DASE/AdvCert)

• Educational Studies (MEd/DASE/AdvCert)

• Inclusion and Special Needs Education (MEd/DASE/AdvCert)

• Quantitative Methods and Statistical Analysis in Educational Research MSc/PGDip/PGCert)

• Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MSc/DASE/AdvCert)

Open Learning short part-time day and evening courses at Queen’s offer all adults the chance to try something new and to enjoy learning in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. We offer courses in a wide range of subjects including:

• History• Literature• Languages• Music• Philosophy• Visual artsOur Autumn classes start the week commencing 29 September.

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