WELS news

Dr Margaret Ebubedike is the overall winner of the newly launched OU Research Image Competition. Academics from across the OU submitted images which follow the theme, "impacting the world." An image has been selected by the judging panel for every month of the year.

The Open University's Open Societal Challenges has provided funding to a team of academics including some based at the Faculty of WELS to collaborate on a challenge with the charity YSS.

The winners of the 2024 WELS Student and Tutor Awards were recently announced in a virtual awards ceremony. In total, 24 awards were made across the two categories, which recognise the achievements of some of the OU’s outstanding students, and the tutors who support them to succeed.

We are delighted that Dr. Alison Buckler, CSGD Co-Deputy Director, has been elected Chair of the British Association for International & Comparative Education (BAICE).

Over the past six years, the Learning Generation Initiative and CSGD members, Prof. Freda Wolfenden and Dr. Alison Buckler, have worked on 'learning teams' initiatives. Their latest report explores how learning teams can improve education systems by fostering collaboration among educators, communities, and other sectors. Through case studies from Nepal and Kenya developed by Kathmandu University and Education Design Unlimited, the report examines the origins, practices, and impact of these teams.

Dr Séverine Hubscher-Davidson has been promoted to Professor of Translation Psychology and Wellbeing. Holding a PhD and MA from the University of Bath and a BA from The University of Kent, Séverine’s key areas of research and teaching are translation and psychology. She is the academic lead for the OU’s MA in Translation, and a consultant with professional translation associations and organisations such as the United Nations for whom she has delivered many workshops on the affective side of translating and issues of psychological sustainability.

A new toolkit has been launched to promote positive wellbeing across generations. Based on both previous research into ageing and the online campaign to take the Take Five to Age Well Pledge, the Live Well Together toolkit provides various activities for all ages to complete together

This year marks 20 years of the Children’s Research Centre (CRC), a pioneering centre that positions children as leaders of research. To celebrate 20 years of this innovative work, researchers came together at a conference in October.

Professor Freda Wolfenden, Strategic Advisor to the Centre for the Study of Global Development, features on the latest podcast series of The Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX).  Working with Teachers and School Leaders is now available.

Congratulations to Dr Jennifer Jomafuvwe Agbaire and Dr Margaret Ebubedike, both members of the Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD)!  Jennifer is joint winner of the Outstanding Early Career Researcher award for her work looking at inclusion, and how we can make research processes more inclusive.