Month: April 2018

The Institute of Education has confirmed its national and international standing through its excellent results in the Complete University Guide 2019 league table, published on 25^th April 2018. It is ranked 16^th in the country, once again among the top 20 UK Universities in the field of Education, according to the Complete University Guide 2019 league table. 

The result echoes the IoE’s very strong position in the main UK league tables, being ranked 3^rd in subject in the country by the Guardian University League Table 2018.

Professor Cathy Tissot, Head of the IoE, commented: “This significant position on the table demonstrates how hard we are working to ensure our students are successful, secure excellent jobs and are studying in truly supportive and exciting environment.”

The Complete University Guide, published since 2007, uses nine criteria in its assessment, including:

• Academic services spend
• Completion rate of students
• Average UCAS tariff score of new students under the age of 21
• Expenditure per student on staff and student facilities
• Proportion of firsts and upper seconds
• Graduate prospects – or the employability of graduates
• Average quality of research
• Student satisfaction (from the National Student Survey)
• Student to staff ratio.

Research by Professor Suzanne Graham of the Institute of Education (IoE) to improve modern foreign language teaching in schools was recognised at the 2018 O²RB Excellence in Impact awards in Oxford this April.

Professor Graham, Research Division Leader for the IoE, was highly commended for excellence in impact for her work to improve foreign language teaching in schools. Over many years she has conducted research into some of the factors that influence motivation for, and attainment in, language learning.  She is currently working on the Creative Multilingualism project to look at the way in which modern foreign languages are taught and is considering creative alternative approaches.

The O2RB Excellence in Impact Awards are an opportunity for members of the University of Reading, the University of Oxford, the Open University and Oxford Brookes (together the O2RB) to come together to recognise and reward the successes of social sciences researchers who have achieved, or are currently achieving, excellent economic and societal impacts. 

Professor Graham, a Professor of Language and Education at the IoE, said of the award:

“I’m thrilled that my work with language learners and teachers over the last decade or more has been recognised in this way.  It will be a great boost for my current projects in modern languages classrooms, where colleagues and I are collaborating with amazing practitioners to bring about improved motivation for and attainment in learning another language.”

Chair of the O²RB Excellence in Impact Awards panel, Professor Mark Pollard of the University of Oxford (Associate Head of Division (Research), Social Sciences) said:

“The awards have been a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the exceptional impacts on society being made by social scientists from the four partner institutions. The panel has been impressed with the diversity and depth of the projects recognised, and hope that this will inspire even more social scientists to explore what impact might look like for their research, and the ways in which it might be achieved.”

The O²RB collaboration is designed to build and strengthen regional partnerships for research impact via Oxford’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).

 

 

We know that if you work with children and young people, you are a member of a vibrant, busy and vital group. We want to support you in your amazing work by providing a professional twilight event solely for you. This free event, which is on 24th April 6.30 – 8pm at our London Road campus, warmly invites all professionals working in the early years, education and play sectors to come and network, share practice and sample free lectures from our renowned academics at the University of Reading. 

Come and join us! Here’s how: fill in this form to ask a question or receive your free ticket.

Further booking information will be placed on our events page, news feed and social media soon, so bookmark and follow if you haven’t reserved yet.

All trainee teachers, including those applying for Early Years Teacher Status and School Direct, have to pass the professional skills tests in numeracy before enrolling onto their teacher training programme. For some, this may seem daunting; they may feel rusty, a little unconfident or perhaps insecure on certain maths topics.

The University of Reading has stepped in to support these applicants with a scheme to tackle this confidence gap. By offering free mathematics workshops that are specifically designed to help candidates prepare for the skills test, they hope to boost confidence and also demonstrate their commitment to their trainees.  

Teaching staff at Reading’s Institute of Education (IoE) are enthusiastic about the scheme. They strongly believe in their trainees’ abilities and have assembled a friendly and approachable team to support them in this essential part of their journey towards becoming a teacher.

The professional numeracy skills test is key for trainee teachers because it is designed to ensure they have the core skills needed to fulfil their professional role in schools. This includes having a good grasp of mental and written arithmetic and written data, alongside topics such as time, fractions, percentages, money and averages.

The free workshops have the added bonus of being held in the beautiful setting of the University’s historic London Road campus. Participants will be able to develop their skills in a welcoming, supportive environment, whilst enjoying the lovely setting of the University’s first home, which is a short walk to the town centre and station.

To book a place or ask any questions, please email us.

numeracyts@reading.ac.uk

 

INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS FOR CANDIDATES

Quick link to booking a workshop

GETTING STARTED ON THE NUMERACY SKILLS TESTS

This initial taster session will ease you into preparing for your skills test. You will understand the process, become familiar with the style and format of the tests, and go away confident to begin tackling your preparation with advice and guidance to get you started.

Open to: anyone applying to an ITT programme

Dates:

• Saturday 12 May 2018 10:30-12:00
• Tuesday 19 June 2018 18:30-20:00
• Wednesday 18 July 2018 18:30-20:00Venue: London Road campus
  Cost: Free

  Book your place here 
  numeracyts@reading.ac.uk

 

 

NUMERACY SKILLS TEST WORKSHOPS

These workshops are designed for those needing a little more help in passing their numeracy skills tests.

With two linked sessions you will work through tricky areas, build your fluency and increase your confidence in tackling the mental arithmetic questions.

Open to: anyone who has accepted a place on a University of Reading postgraduate ITT programme and made one attempt at the skills test

Dates:

• Thursday 24 May 2018 18:30-20:00 and Thursday 7 June 2018 18:30-20:00
• Wednesday 4 July 18:30-20:00  and Wednesday 18 July 18:30-20:00 

Venue: London Road campus
Cost: Free
Book your place here 
numeracyts@reading.ac.uk

 

For more information, please contact:

Institute of Education

University of Reading

4 Redlands Road

Reading RG1 5EX

numeracyts@reading.ac.uk

(0118) 378 2601

 

As part of the Institute of Education’s regular research features on these pages, Professor Jill Porter asks: “What makes a Difference? Exploring the Relationship between Learning and the Feeling of Belonging.”

A number of children go under the radar- at least until a crisis point is reached. This includes children who are frequently absent from school, those with mental health difficulties, children who are carers. Additionally, children sometimes find it difficult to take part in school life and this can affect their learning. 

February 2018 saw the launch of a new collaborative partnership that will aim to understand better why this happens and what schools can do to change things. The study will include the IoE’s Jill Porter at the University of Reading; Jenni Ingram and Harry Daniels at the University of Oxford; Angeles Parilla Latas at the University of Vigo and Carmen Gallego Vega at the University of Seville. The researchers will be looking at how the views of pupils can best be gathered and used by schools to make changes.

Often the approach is to identify categories of learners and match them to particular interventions; however barriers are often shared across groups. Our previous[i] research has identified that it is the social aspects of schooling that particularly impinge on children, both in relation to the barriers they encounter but also the supports they receive.  This project is therefore underpinned by recognition of the interconnectedness between learning, relating and belonging. If we can identify and remove the barriers children should be more engaged with schooling and learn better. Exclusion data reveals that ages 13 and 14 are particularly turbulent times with the highest rates of fixed and permanent exclusions occurring during these years[ii] so years 8/9 are the initial focal groups.

The research will explore the barriers that are experienced within school that contribute to children’s disengagement with learning; we will work with schools to remove these barriers and then evaluate the outcome, including the change in children’s feeling of connectedness to school.

Our research questions:

• What barriers are encountered by children who experience different levels of connectedness with school?
• How can children’s experiences best be used to inform the removal of barriers?
• How does the removal of barriers impact on the levels of connectedness within the school? Does the removal lead to higher levels among those who are disengaged?
• What does a comparison with Spain tell us about different cultures of schooling?

We are currently working with 6 secondary schools in Oxfordshire and our colleagues in Spain are carrying out parallel research. This provides a unique opportunity to examine the utility of this approach across cultures that differ in their sense of community and the public scrutiny of performance data.  Our long term purpose is to support schools in responding to the needs of diverse learners. Given the rise in school exclusions this is a timely piece of research.

[1]  Porter  J. 2015 Understanding & Responding to the Experience of Disability. London Routledge

[1] DfE 2016 Permanent & Fixed-Period Exclusions in England: 2014 to 2015 SFR26/2016

[i]  Porter  J. 2015 Understanding & Responding to the Experience of Disability. London Routledge

[ii] DfE 2016 Permanent & Fixed-Period Exclusions in England: 2014 to 2015 SFR26/2016