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"Gregson, Margaret"
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The Importance of the Teacher–Researcher–Artist in Curriculum Design, Development and Assessment in Vocational Education in England
Set in the vocational education and training sector in England, this article draws attention to how top-down, centre–periphery approaches to curriculum design and development in vocational education fail for at least three reasons. First, they misconstrue the nature of knowledge. Second, they lead to perfunctory and fragmented approaches to curriculum design, coupled with mechanistic measures of quality and achievement, which often require little more than “one-off” and superficially assessed demonstrations of performance. Finally, they underplay the role and importance of the teacher as researcher and artist in putting the cultural resources of society to work in creative curriculum design and pedagogy. Teacher artistry is pivotal in animating and heightening the vitality of vocational curricula. It is through this artistry that teachers make theories, ideas and concepts in vocational subjects and disciplines accessible and meaningful to all learners in coherent ways in the contexts of their learning and their lives. The consequences of the epistemic faux pas underpinning centre-to-periphery models of curriculum design and development are highlighted in this article in vocational tutors’ accounts of experiences of problems and issues in curriculum design, development and assessment encountered in their practice. Participants in the research teach in a variety of vocational education settings, including Apprenticeships and Higher-Level Technical Education; English Language at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level; Health and Social Care; Information and Communications Technology; Construction (Plumbing); Digital Production, Design and Development and High-Tech Precision Engineering. Data are analysed and reported through systematic, thematic analysis This article draws upon qualitative data derived from a study funded by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) in England over a two-year period from 2021 to 2023. The research population consists of a group of eight practitioner–researchers working in three colleges of Further Education (FE) and one Industry Training Centre (ITC) in England. All of the teachers of vocational education reported here volunteered to participate in the study. Research methods include semi-structured interviews, analysis of critical incidents and case studies produced by practitioner–researchers from across the FE and Skills sector in England.
Journal Article
The Thinking Skills Deficit: What Role Does a Poetry Group Have in Developing Critical Thinking Skills for Adult Lifelong Learners in a Further Education Art College?
This article investigates Brown’s assertion that students today exhibit an unwillingness/inability to engage in critical thinking (CT). He describes this as a ‘critical thinking deficit’. The question of whether CT can be taught or whether we can only create the conditions in which CT can thrive and develop is explored through analysis of data from a pedagogical intervention of a Poetry Group; it aims to develop CT by employing Community of Inquiry as a methodology. This intervention was offered to a group of Further Education (FE) students over a period of six months with the intention of preparing them for progression into Higher Education (HE). Findings from the study lend support to the claim that sharing stories and poems is helpful in developing social and cultural capital across the group and in supporting CT and academic development. Students in the study report that they found the Poetry Group particularly valuable in encouraging both critical engagement with their Arts subject, deeper levels of learning and supporting improvements in attainment.
Journal Article
Reflections of a Practitioner—Researcher in the Field of Widening Participation in Arts Education
This article provides an auto-ethnographic narrative to offer insights into my experience as a practitioner–researcher working in widening participation (WP) in post-compulsory education (PCE). It relates how I came to join the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) Practitioner Research Programme (PRP). It provides insights into the role of WP practitioner and manager and offers a reflection upon my experiences as an early practitioner–researcher conducting research in the field of WP. Writing in the first person, I reflect upon the positionality within my professional practice as someone who is immersed in the context that is being researched. I make my story as authentic as possible in order to throw new light upon knowledge in the field of widening participation (WP) practice. This immersion has enabled me to increase my professional knowledge and to establish a stronger voice in and for WP practitioners in the profession and for learners in the WP community. This empowerment has come about as my knowledge of the factors influencing the context of my work has expanded. I hope that it will be of interest to other researchers working in the field of WP and that they will accept my invitation to contribute to this conversation and reflect upon their own journey.
Journal Article
Chromosome morphology and cytogenetics in the genus ranunculus l
lJ.'hewor-kin this thesis originated with the desire to increase the uuderstall.ding of the genus Ranunculus in Br-i tain p:t'ima.:rily by a study of the chromosomelllorpholo., of Hrit1si, species, excluding the subt;enua Batrach1um (D.C.) A.Grt , and comparison with work published on ma.teria.l from Suro • At the same time it wa.s considered that oytoe; enetic stu41ee help to elucidate the relationships between some of the taxonomically difficult speoies, particularly in tile fi.bulbosus A range of teohniques hav been used including detailed karyotyp= analysis, experimental b.;ybridlzation, induotion of polyploidy by colchioine and analysi,sot meiotic chromosome pairing. From an initial cytological 1nvestiga.tion of many species everal points of interest were found. 1116occurrence of accessory chromosomes in British material as more widespread than expected, some of the karyotypes were irregular and polyploidy was evident. lJ.1le finding of a new polyploid count of 2n - 48 for R. flammula (usually 2n ... 32) and new aneuploid eOUJ1tefor li. lingua. (2ft .. 125-132) s' eted an :I.nve ti tioD be carried out on the relationship bet\" en these morphologically Similar speoies. As uah information as possible was therefore accumulated on the occurrence and transmission of aece sory chromosomes in those species oarr,ying them and thi has be 11 presented as a first ch.apter ( ) to the thesis. Cyto ne'tio studies on the seleoted taxa tu\" pres'ented in two following chapters (B and a). The first deals with karyotype studies, experimental hybridization and eiotic behaviour in the 0106ely allied species R•. flam la and R. lingua. and the second v/ith a similar i.JIY\"'i,pu.ou of the • bulb08Ua. re t. aD of' 1ts allied species.
Dissertation