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Professor Liz Chamberlain
Profile summary
- Visiting Formal Academic
- Emeritus Professor
- Faculty of Wellbeing, Education & Language Studies
- liz.chamberlain
Professional biography
Dr. Liz Chamberlain (BEd, Brighton; MA, Sussex; EdD, The Open University) is an Emerita Professor of Primary Education (Knowledge Exchange) at The Open University.
Prior to working in HE, Liz was a practising teacher and taught in a number of primary schools in London, Devon, Southampton, and in Malaysia. She held a variety of positions including English Subject Leader, Leading Literacy Teacher, and Assistant Headteacher. From 2018-2024, she was the OU's Academic Director for the Leave No Girl Behind project, Strengthening Adolescent Girls' Education (SAGE), in partnership with the NGO, Plan International, working with over 15,000 girls and young women across Zimbabwe. She is one of the past directors of the OU's Children's Research Centre (2017-2020).
Research interests
Liz's contributions are predicated on her expertise of complex professional contexts exploring the knowledge intersection between educational practice, learner and practitioner, through the lens of literacy education. Liz’s internationally recognized literacy research focuses on capturing what it means for children to be writers. Her main expertise is as a literacy case study researcher with a focus on developing writers’ experiences of writing both in and out-of-school. Liz's publications, including Inspiring Writing in Primary Schools, articulates for teachers how to bridge the gap between the broader theoretical positioning of writing with the often narrow demands of the English curriculum.
Teaching interests
Liz brings together her substantial experience of primary education through her successful management for three years as Programme Leader for the Education Studies (Primary) qualifications (2015-2018). She led a team of seven academics on the new Comparative Studies in Primary Education module (E309), which launched in October 2018, and is underpinned by the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 Quality Education for All. She authored the free OU course Global Perspectives on Primary Education and the E309 Reader Teaching and Learning Around the World and she is the academic consultant on the new BBC programme Don't Exclude Me. To support grassroots practitioners during the pandemic she curated the two OpenLearn Resources for Teaching Assistants and Primary Teachers hubs. Futhermore, she has co-authored and supported module design for a number of free OU courses including: TESSA: Making teacher education relevant for 21st century Africa; TESSA: Teaching early reading in Africa – with African Storybook; and, the Future Learn course Becoming a Teacher.
Publications
Journal articles
Supporting literacy skills and community cohesion for transnational young people (2023-07)
Chamberlain, Liz; Flynn, Naomi; Hafeez, Imran; Twitchen, Alex and Sells, Jim
EAL Journal(21) (pp. 32-34)
Professional development in the digital age: supporting improvements in teacher education through MOOCs (2023)
Stutchbury, Kris; Ebubedike, Margaret; Chamberlain, Liz and Amos, Sandra
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-learning ((Early access))
Disrupting language of instruction policy at a classroom level: oracy examples from South Africa and Zambia (2022-09-05)
Chamberlain, Liz; Rodriguez-Leon, Lucy and Woodward, Clare
Literacy, 56(3) (pp. 264-274)
Out-of-school girls’ lives in Zimbabwe: what can we learn from a storytelling research approach? (2022)
Buckler, Alison; Chamberlain, Liz; Mkwananzi, Faith; Chigodora, Obert and Dean, Caroline
Cambridge Journal of Education, 52(2) (pp. 195-215)
Ugandan Teachers Epistemological Beliefs and Child-Led Research: Implications for Developing Inclusive Educational Practice (2021)
Sheehy, Kieron; Kasule, George Wilson and Chamberlain, Liz
International Journal of Disability, Development and Education., 68(4) (pp. 600-615)
Literacy in lockdown: learning and teaching in COVID-19 school closures (2020-11)
Chamberlain, Liz; Lacina, Jan; Bintz, William P.; Jimerson, JoBeth; Payne, Kim and Zingale, Remy
The Reading Teacher, 74(3) (pp. 243-253)
Representing children’s rights from discussion through to illustration and interpretation (2019-05-09)
Chamberlain, Liz and Cooper, Victoria
Research Intelligence(139) (pp. 13-14)
Places, spaces and local customs: honouring the private worlds of out-of-school text creation (2019-01-18)
Chamberlain, Liz
Literacy, 53(1) (pp. 39-45)
Chatterbooks: creating a culture of reading for pleasure (2016-09-16)
Chamberlain, Liz
English 4 - 11
Choosing The Write Book (2016-04)
Chamberlain, Liz
Primary First (pp. 5-10)
Authored books
Inspiring Writing in Primary School (2019-01)
Chamberlain, Liz
ISBN : 1526460181 | Publisher : Learning Matters | Published : Exeter
Inspiring Writing in Primary Schools (2017-04-15)
Chamberlain, Liz
ISBN : 9781925132359 | Publisher : Primary English Teaching Association Australia | Published : Sydney, Australia
Teaching Writing Effectively: Reviewing Practice (2nd edition) (2016-12-01)
Bearne, Eve; Chamberlain, Liz; Cremin, Teresa and Mottram, Marilyn
Ideas in practice
ISBN : 9781910543764 | Publisher : UKLA | Published : Leicester
Jumpstart! Apps: Creative learning, ideas and activities for ages 7-11 (2016-08)
Kurcikova, Natalia; Audain, Jon and Chamberlain, Liz
Jumpstart!
ISBN : 978-1138940161 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London
Inspiring Writing in Primary Schools (2016-06-11)
Chamberlain, Liz
ISBN : 978-1473916104 | Publisher : Sage Publications | Published : Exeter
Teaching Writing Effectively: Reviewing Practice (2011)
Bearne, Eve; Chamberlain, Liz; Cremin, Teresa and Mottram, Marilyn
ISBN : 9781897638583 | Publisher : UKLA | Published : Leicester
Book chapters
Vignette: The role of home language in supporting adolescent girls’ learning in rural Zimbabwe (2024)
Chamberlain, Liz
In: Reilly, Colin; Chimbutane, Feliciano; Clegg, John; Rubagumya, Casmir and Erling, Elizabeth J. eds. Multilingual Learning: Assessment, Ideologies and Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa.. Routledge Series in Language and Content Integrated Teaching & Plurilingual Education (pp. 92-98)
ISBN : 9781003311553 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Overcoming adversity for marginalised adolescent girls in Zimbabwe (2023)
Chamberlain, Liz; Buckler, Alison; Worwood, Kelly; Chigodora, Obert; Chishava, Charlotte and Hedges, Claire
In: Holliman, Andrew and Sheehy, Kieron eds. Overcoming Adversity in Education (pp. 223-233)
ISBN : 978-1-032-01778-5 | Publisher : Taylor and Francis | Published : London
Building a case for inclusive ways of knowing through a case study of a cross-cultural research project of out-of-school girls in Zimbabwe: practitioners’ perspectives (2021)
Chamberlain, Liz; Buckler, Alison and Mkwananzi, Faith
In: Fox, Alison; Busher, Hugh and Capewell, Carmel eds. Thinking critically and ethically about research for education (pp. 27-39)
ISBN : 9780367556914 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London
Congratulations, you’re the English subject leader! (2018-10-23)
Baldwin, Lisa and Chamberlain, Liz
In: Baldwin, Lisa ed. Leading English in the Primary School: A Subject Leader's Guide (pp. 5-21)
ISBN : 9781138304918 | Publisher : Routledge
Pedagogical choices in primary English (2018-10-23)
Chamberlain, Liz
In: Baldwin, Lisa ed. Leading English in the Primary School: A Subject Leader's Guide (pp. 82-94)
ISBN : 978-1-138-30491-8 | Publisher : Routledge
Investigating the aims, values and purposes of primary education: The case of the Cambridge Primary Review (2018-03-14)
Chamberlain, Liz and McDonald, Roger
In: Cremin, Teresa and Burnett, Cathy eds. Learning to Teach in the Primary School (pp. 231-245)
ISBN : 9781315453729 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London
The Power of Story (2017-07-16)
Chamberlain, Liz and Harrett, Jacqueline
In: Moyles, Janet; Georgeson, Jan and Payler, Jane eds. Beginning Teaching, Beginning Learning in Early Years and Primary Education (5th edition) (pp. 180-190)
ISBN : 978-0-33-522696-2 | Publisher : Open University Press | Published : London
Creativity and literacy (2014-12)
Chamberlain, Liz
In: Wilson, Anthony ed. Creativity in Primary Education (3rd ed). Achieving QTS (pp. 85-96)
ISBN : 9781446280645 | Publisher : Sage | Published : London
The Power of Story (2011-08-01)
Chamberlain, Liz and Harrett, Jacqueline
In: Moyles, Janet; Georgeson, Jan and Payler, Jane eds. Beginning Learning, Beginning Teaching: In Early Years and Primary Education (4th ed) (pp. 191-200)
ISBN : 978-0-33-522131-8 | Publisher : Open University Press | Published : Maidenhead
Writing (2011)
Chamberlain, Liz
In: Cox, Robyn ed. Primary English Teaching: An Introduction to Language, Literacy and Learning (pp. 37-50)
ISBN : 9781446210109 | Publisher : Sage | Published : London
Edited books
Learning and Teaching Around the World: Comparative and International Studies in Primary Education (2018-06)
Safford, Kimberly and Chamberlain, Liz eds.
ISBN : 978-1-138-48521-1 | Publisher : Routledge and the Open University | Published : Oxford
Conference items
A whole school approach to the teaching of writing: Lessons learned from collaborative lesson research (2023-06)
Chamberlain, Liz and Drane, Rob
In : Writing Matters, UKLA International Conference (23-25 Jun 2023, Exeter, UK)
Exploring aspects of being and becoming writers: A symposium exploring notions of being a writer, from a sociocultural perspective (2023-06)
Cremin, Teresa; Chamberlain, Liz; Rowe, Deborah and Gardner, Paul
In : Writing Matters. UKLA International Conference (23-25 Jun 2023, Exeter, UK)
Disrupting language of instruction policy at a classroom level: oracy examples from South Africa and Zambia (2022)
Chamberlain, Liz; Rodriguez-Leon, Lucy and Woodward, Clare
In : The 57th UKLA International Conference - Reaching out through literacy: Enabling advantage for all (1-3 Jul 2022, Birmingham, UK)
Inclusive ways of knowing? Problematising the relationship between research and the design of inclusive education (2019-10-03)
Buckler, Alison; Mkwananzi, Faith; Chamberlain, Liz and Dean, Caroline
In : 2019 UKFIET Conference (17-19 Sep 2019, Oxford)
Learning Assistants in Sierra Leone: model, innovation, and impact (2019-09-12)
Chamberlain, Liz and Safford, Kimberly
In : 9th Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning - Innovations for Quality Education and Lifelong Learning (PCF9) (09-13 Sep 2019, Edinburgh)
Supporting Professional Development Through MOOCs: the TESSA Experience (2019)
Stutchbury, Kris; Chamberlain, Liz and Amos, Sandra
In : Pan Commonwealth Forum 9 (PCF9) (9-12 Sep 2019, Edinburgh, UK)
Passageways of practice: punching through domain boundaries (2016-12)
Chamberlain, Liz
In : LRA Conference: Mobilising Literacy Research for Social Transformation (30 Nov - 3 Dec 2016, Nashville, Tennessee)
Passageways of practice: punching through domain boundaries (2016-07-09)
Chamberlain, Liz
In : UKLA 52nd International Conference: Literacy, Equality and Diversity: Bringing voices together (8-10 Jul 2016, Bristol, UK)
Exploring teachers' subject knowledge for teaching English. (2014-07-07)
Chamberlain, Liz; Flynn, Naomi and Daniel, Alastair
In : UKLA International Conference. 50 Years of Literacy: Continuity and Change (4-6 Jul 2014, Brighton)
Where are we now in our approaches to the teaching of writing? (2010)
Chamberlain, Liz
In : UKLA 46th International Conference. The Changing Face of Literacy: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (9-11 Jul 2010, Winchester)
Thesis
Exploring the out-of-school writing practices of three children aged 9 - 10 years old and how these practices travel across and within the domains of home and school (2015)
Chamberlain, Elizabeth May
edd thesis The Open University
Other
Approaches to Reading and Writing for Pleasure: An Executive Summary of the Research (2023-12-06)
Cremin, Teresa; Hendry, Helen; Chamberlain, Liz and Hulston, Samantha
The Mercers' Company, London.
Reading and Writing for Pleasure: A Framework for Practice (2023-12-06)
Cremin, Teresa; Hendry, Helen and Chamberlain, Liz
The Mercers' Company, London.
Breaking the textbook gender bias: Inspiring girls and young women through providing role models they can identify with (2022-03-11)
Chamberlain, Liz and Dean, Caroline
The Education and Development Forum - UKFIET, London, UK.
How schools are getting writing wrong (2021-05-21)
Chamberlain, Liz and Drane, Rob
Times Educational Supplement
Coronavirus and my life: What children say (2021-01-20)
Chamberlain, Liz; Karlsen, May Lene; Sinitsky, Gail; Bennett, Stephanie; Plowright-Pepper, Linda and Vackova, Petra
Children's Research Centre, Milton Keynes.
Rapid Research Response: collective sensemaking around experiences and challenges of harnessing education research opportunities during a global pandemic (2021)
Ebubedike, Margaret and Chamberlain, Liz
Research Conversations, Open University Education Blog
Opportunities missed: Then the rains came down and washed the writing away (2020-05-07)
Chamberlain, Liz
British Educational Research Association
Remedying the impact of school closures: be kind, thank a teacher (2020-05)
Chamberlain, Liz
OpenLearn, Milton Keynes, UK.
Supporting the teaching of early reading: An evaluation of the TESSA: Teaching Early Reading with African Storybook Badged Online Course (BOC) (2020-04)
Stutchbury, Kris; Chamberlain, Liz and Rodriguez-Leon, Lucy
The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Findings from research: Capturing children and young people's views on rights (2020-01)
Chamberlain, Liz
Journal of Innovate Teaching School Partnership, Milton Keynes.
Minimising the ‘distance’ in distance learning during a global health crisis: Framing an international education response to Covid-19 (2020)
Buckler, Alison; Chamberlain, Liz; Stutchbury, Kris and Hedges, Claire
UKFIET The Education and Development Forum
Representing children's rights from discussion through to illustration and interpretation (2019-11)
Chamberlain, Liz; Afroze, Jiniya; Cooper, Victoria and Collins, Trevor
The Open University Children’s Research Centre and Amnesty UK International, Milton Keynes.
A review of Link Ethiopia's sponsorship programme: learning from small stories (2016-08-15)
Chamberlain, Liz
Link Ethiopia
