WELS news

'Inside Our Autistic Minds', An Open University/BBC co-production, supported by academics from the OU’s Faculty of WELS has been honoured at the prestigious Grierson Awards, which recognise innovative and exciting documentary films.

OU alumna Jane Green recently received her MBE, awarded for her work as founder of SEDSConnective, a volunteer and user-led neurodivergent and symptomatic hypermobility health charity.

Professor Emeritus Alan Tait, former Pro-Vice Chancellor of The Open University, has been awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership of the ICDE (International Council for Open and Distance Education), one of only 13 honorary memberships granted during the organisation’s 85-year history.

The Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) has partnered with the Luminos Fund on a studentship, and Portia Dery has been selected.

The first learners from the FIFA Guardians Safeguarding in Sport Diploma graduated in October, celebrated at a FIFA Safeguarding Summit in Zurich. The Diploma aims to strengthen and professionalise safeguarding standards in football and was developed with experts including academics from The Open University.

In October, the Ibali team conducted its final storytelling workshop in Cape Town. A group of teachers from the Western Cape region attended the workshop to share their experiences and perspectives on inclusive education. With support from Ibali facilitators, the teachers created fictional stories that convey important messages about inclusive and exclusionary practices.

Two Nursing Graduates from the OU’s School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care have received the well-respected Northern Ireland Practice Education Council for Nursing (NIPEC) Student Excellence Award. 

The Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) is pleased to announce the launch of three new initiatives for the academic year 2023/24 to support and enhance the doctoral journeys of CSGD member students. The initiatives include research enhancement grants, an incubator programme and a writing circle programme.

Over 150 people attended the International Conference on Education Research for Development in Africa (ICERDA) in Ghana in September 2023, organised as a collaboration between The Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) and the University of Cape Coast.

From the emerging field of Raciolinguistics, new research from the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics will investigate the relationship between language, race and cultural appropriation through the use of Jamaican Patois.