FACULTY OF EDUCATION
FURTHER PARTICULARS
RESEARCH FELLOW IN EDUCATION
Closing Date:
MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
RESEARCH FELLOW IN EDUCATION
The Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI), located within the MMU Faculty of Education, is looking to appoint a Research Fellow from October 2013. The appointment will be fixed term for two years in the first instance. Applications are sought in any area which will strengthen our current research portfolio. Specifically, we are looking to extend our research in children and childhood; home, school and community engagement; ICT, pedagogy and learning; social justice and educational futures; and STEM education.
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
The Faculty of Education at Manchester Metropolitan University is a leading UK centre for educational research and study: it is the major provider of initial teacher education and training and continuing professional development in the North West and is one of largest teacher education establishments in the country. It is rated ‘Outstanding’ by OfSTED for training provision
The Faculty is based on two campuses, Didsbury (Manchester) and Crewe (Cheshire). Didsbury-based staff will be moving to a new building on the main city centre campus in August 2014.
Provision also includes an extensive range of Masters level Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses; and undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Educational Studies, Early Childhood Studies including training for Early Years Professionals, and Youth and Community Studies.
The Faculty has an excellent reputation for delivering training and professional education of the highest quality, producing outstanding teachers and other professionals as well as conducting cutting-edge research.
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The Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Research activity is organised at MMU in eight cross disciplinary Research Institutes. One of these is the Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which is largely based within the Faculty of Education but also involves staff from other departments including psychology, sociology and sports science. The Institute is one of the leading UK centres for applied educational research and evaluation, and a thriving research community. We were rated in the top ten departments in the UK for educational research in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, with the majority of our work being rated as ‘internationally excellent’ (3*) or ‘world leading’ (4*). The Institute holds an outstanding portfolio of research grants and publications; we regularly organise national and international seminars and workshops and other services to research; and hold several ESRC CASE studentship awards.
Our aims are:
· to lead in debate, nationally and internationally, on the nature and future of education and educational research;
· to contribute to the development of theory and methodology in applied social research;
· to promote research-based understandings of policy and practice in education and the professions;
· to work closely with the users of social research at all stages of the research process;
· to support practitioners and professionals in researching their own practice and contexts of work;
· to provide first-class research training and support for new and developing researchers.
The Institute's research is led by a professorial team of international distinction including Tony Brown, Liz Jones, Maggie MacLure, Heather Piper, John Schostak, Yvette Solomon and Harry Torrance (Director of ESRI and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Education). Bridget Somekh and Nigel Hall are Emeritus Professors who still work closely with us.
Our research groups comprise:
Building Research in Teacher Education (BRITE – led by Tony Brown)
Cultural Studies of Children and Childhood (Liz Jones)
Difference, Diversity and Social Justice (Heather Piper & John Schostak)
Maths and Science Education (Tony Brown & Yvette Solomon)
Technology, Innovation, Play and Learning (TIPL: Cathy Lewin & Nicola Whitton)
Theory, Methodology and Knowledge Production (Maggie MacLure)
Each group holds a portfolio of externally-funded research projects. Significant continuing research includes an ESRC project on “The role of celebrity in young people's classed and gendered aspirations” (Allen with Brunel). Other ESRC funded projects include research on the problem of ‘touch’ in sports coaching (Piper & Taylor) - this builds on earlier ESRC research investigating ‘The Problematics of Touching between professionals and children’ (Piper, MacLure & Stronach 2008); an investigation of behaviour and identity in the early years of schooling (Holmes, Jones & MacLure), plus ESRC follow-on funding and an associated seminar series. A very large ESRC project designed to build knowledge transfer and research capacity with the voluntary sector includes several linked CASE studentships (Packham, with Lincoln and Goldsmiths). ESRC seminar series include ‘Un-easy childhoods: innovating theory, practices and ethics through interdisciplinary research’ (Holmes, Jones & MacLure).
Other significant grants include EU-funded research on 'Innovative Technologies for an Engaging Classroom' (iTEC: Haldane & Lewin); 'Breaking New Ground In the Science Education Realm' (ENGINEER: Solomon & Heywood) and ‘Making Games in Collaboration for Learning’ (MAGICAL: Whitton). Other research on technology and creativity includes a JISC-funded higher education project: investigating alternative reality games (Whitton). Other early years work includes local evaluation studies of Sure Start (Holmes & Jones) and a series of projects on children’s understandings of art and museums (Esmee Fairbairn/Manchester Museum, Holmes & Jones; ESRC/Museum of Science & Industry, Heywood & Rowlands). Significant work in the area of professionalism has included the College of Emergency Medicine funding an evaluation of their CPD provision (Brown and Schostak).
In addition to our substantive research groups, we share an over-arching interest in the development of theory and methodology in applied social research. We are committed to developing ways of researching that are critically attuned to the social and political conditions governing the production and use of research knowledge. Our methodological and theoretical interests span action research, evaluation theory, poststructuralism, hermeneutics, critical realism, discourse analysis, and socio-cultural approaches to inquiry. Our reputation for methodological innovation is evident in the internationally-recognised monographs and advanced texts produced by our members, and in national and international events hosted by the Institute, including the Summer Institute in Qualitative Research (SIQR) which attracts participants from all over the world.
Research active staff serve on a range of editorial boards including Assessment in Education, Cambridge Journal of Education, Cultural Studies-Critical Methodologies, Educational Research (the journal of the NFER), International Journal of Early Years Education, International Journal of Educational Research, International Review of Qualitative Research, Pedagogy, Culture and Society and Power and Education. In recent years staff have acted as editors of Educational Action Research, Journal of Education for Teaching, Learning, Media and Technology, Power and Education, Research in Education and British Educational Research Journal.
Research excellence includes teaching and supervision. We hold several ESRC CASE studentships and offer 1 or 2 internally funded PhD studentships per year; current research degree enrolments total c.100. The Institute offers an innovative Education Doctorate (EdD) focussing on professionalism and research-based practice. MMU students are regular contributors to BERA and other research conferences.
The Institute has strong research links with regional and national policy-makers as exemplified by major DfES-funded programmes including, Birth to Three Matters and Communicating Matters; the national evaluations of the ICT Test Bed and Primary School Whiteboard projects; and Piper’s work changing the understanding of risk in professional touch. Increasingly links are being made with Europe-wide policymaking, especially in the field of ICT and education.
DEFINITION OF THE POST
The Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI) located within the MMU Faculty of Education is looking to appoint a Research Fellow from September 2013. The appointment will be fixed term for two years in the first instance. Applications are sought in any area which will strengthen our current research portfolio. Specifically, we are looking to extend our research in children and childhood; home, school and community engagement; ICT, pedagogy and learning; social justice and educational futures; and STEM education. Above all we are looking to appoint someone with intellectual ambition and enthusiasm to help further develop our very successful research profile.
The successful applicant will have an established research reputation, experience of funded empirical research and consultancy projects and be able to make a full contribution to our 2013 REF return.
Location
The successful candidate will be appointed within the Faculty of Education. The Faculty works across two campuses at Crewe and Didsbury (south Manchester). It is likely that the post will be based at Didsbury, but the expectation is that the successful applicant will work across both sites as necessary, and be prepared to travel within the UK and overseas for fieldwork and to attend meetings and conferences. Didsbury-based staff will be moving to a new building on the main city centre campus in August 2014.
Reporting to
The successful candidate will report to Professor Harry Torrance, Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Education and Director of the Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI).