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  5. Research development and expertise

Research development and expertise

Members of the Centre have expertise in a range of qualitative and quantitative methods and diverse theoretical orientations. We value observations and group interviews alongside experimental design, and we conduct research at the forefront of children’s literacy.  With the social justice agenda underpinning our work, we have experience in a broad spectrum of research themes.

Digital Literacies

Pedagogy and
Educational Practice

Broadening Literacy

Children's Experiences
and Agency

  • Reading in the digital age 

  • The organisation, collection and use of digital collections of children’s literature, and preserving digital comics  

  • The educational use technologies in education 

  • Teacher experiences with online courses 

  • Extracurricular book groups 

  • Teacher reader and writer identities and knowledge  

  • Student teacher training in writing programmes

  • Understanding local and international literacy programmes and resources 

  • Creativity and creative teaching and learning, of language and literacy across the curriculum 

  • Strengthening adolescent girls’ education

  • Professional writers' engagement with teachers and children

  • Experiences of reading illustrated novels 

  • Understanding of school reading for pleasure schemes  

  • Struggling boy readers 

  • Understanding Boys’ (Dis)engagement with Reading for Pleasure 

  • Representing children’s rights

  • Children’s conceptions of play and learning  

  • Immersive theatre/ drama and writing 

  • Literacy through classroom role-play 

  • Talk in education 

  • Outdoor provision in baby rooms 

  • Learner agency in urban primary schools in disadvantaged areas 

  • Literacy experiences, young children’s intentions, identities and affective relations with text 

Members’ research

The visual summaries below provide an overview of some of the key research projects led by Centre members.

For more information on a specific project, please contact the highlighted lead.

Reading Illustrated Novels

Reading illustrated novels

Project lead: Dr Jen Aggleton

Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils

Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils

Project lead: Prof Teresa Cremin

Teachers as Writers

Teachers as Writers

Project lead: Prof Teresa Cremin

An intersectionality approach to understanding boys’ engagements with reading

An intersectionality approach to understanding boys’ engagements with reading

Project lead: Dr Amelia Hempel-Jorgensen

Poetry Train

Poetry Train

Project lead: Dr Helen Hendry

New Purposes, New Practices, New Pedagogy

New Purposes, New Practices, New Pedagogy

Project lead: Dr Fiona Henry

Filiorum

Filiorum

Project lead: Prof Natalia Kucirkova

 Making sense of emotions through dance

Dancemotion: Making sense of emotions through dance

Project lead: Dr Alison Twiner