News and Events
Monday 28 May 2012, 14.00 - 16.30, Cathcart Room School of Education, 69 University Street
Please note that the date of this event has changed
Children’s Voices: Visual and Participatory Research Methods with Children
Professor Anita Rampal, Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Delhi, India with Professor Ruth Leitch, School of Education, Queen’s University
This workshop is open to students (and staff) who are interested in learning more about creative possibilities for engaging children and young people in research. Professor Rampal has had extensive experience of researching with children (e.g. literacy campaigns) in India using creative verbal and visual methods and Professor Leitch will share her experience of analysing visual images and children’s narratives. Cross-cultural differences will be discussed. Students may bring children's writings/recordings/drawings and activities and commentary will be provided on possibilities for understanding/analysing such data with children.
Places limited: please contact Stewart McKibbin to secure a place.
Tuesday 29 May 2012, 17.00 - 18.30, Canada Room, Lanyon Building
The School of Education in conjunction with the Research Forum for Child present an Open Lecture -
The Right to Education: A Historic Moment in India
By Professor Anita Rampal, Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of New Delhi, India
Please RSVP to Stewart McKibbin
Summer Graduation - Schedule Announced
The University has announced the dates for Summer Graduations, commencing on Monday 2nd July, please click here for full schedule.
Graduation is one of the most exciting and prestigious events in the University's calendar. We would like to wish all our Final Year students 'Good Luck' as their hard work comes together.
The closing date for PGCE applications for entry in September 2012 was the 1st November 2011. Late applications are still being accepted but will only be considered if vacancies exist when all applications received by the closing date have been processed. Normally ‘late’ applications are not considered before June at the earliest.
If you wish to make a late application, the form can be found here.
Children and Young People participating in Project 500 enjoy an event such as science show or talk by a leading scientist in their local library, take part in a book-based or ICT-facilitated activity and then undertake a reading challenge.
Speaking about the visit, Dr Jarman said: "At Queen’s we are committed to the STEM agenda, so we are delighted today to have been joined by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal. Her visit highlights the importance of ensuring our children have access to today’s fascinating and captivating science books. Such books open up exciting new worlds, and through Project 500, with the help of Libraries NI, we are encouraging our children to visit their local library and discover for themselves just how enjoyable reading about science can be." Our hope is that those who participate in the project will develop the interest and confidence to become life-long readers of science books and, perhaps, some may even be inspired by what they read to continue to study science beyond school. Many practising scientists report that their interest in the subject was kindled by books they read as a child.
Irene Knox, Chief Executive, Libraries NI, added: “It is a great privilege for us to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to our recently refurbished Holywood Library. Libraries NI staff, in collaboration with the School of Education at Queen’s University Belfast, have been working hard to ensure the success of this programme ‘Project 500: Public Libraries as Science Learning Environments’ so it has made their efforts all the more worthwhile to have been acknowledged by this special VIP guest”
Peace Schools Surrounded By Conflict
Teachers from Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia and Cyprus gather in Belfast this week to look at the model of integrated education in Northern Ireland and to discuss their experiences and challenges in developing integrated education in their own regions. First Minister Peter Robinson has spoken about his wish to end the “benign apartheid” of the Northern Ireland education system; now an international spotlight is turned on Belfast as campaigners evaluate what progress has been made.
A conference for integrated peace education, running in Belfast from 6-8 March 2012, looks at the importance and the difficulty of bringing cultures together in an environment of openness and understanding. How does a teacher achieve this in a school operating in a society with a history of conflict and division? Delegates will bring experiences from some of the most discordant regions in the world, where they are working to bring children together to learn and grow across cultural and political barriers.
The teachers, academics and visitors from NGOs will visit Belfast integrated schools and tour sites in the city connected with the Troubles. They will also attend a dinner at which the guest speaker is Baroness May Blood, Campaign Chair of the Integrated Education Fund, trade unionist and member of the House of Lords.
Dr Claire McGlynn, of Queen’s University School of Education, describes the event as “...a unique opportunity to bring together the pioneers of integrated education from a number of troubled societies in order to share their knowledge and experiences. Building on work by Queen’s University, we hope to establish an international network for practice and research in integrated education that will provide support for each other and for societies planning integrated education initiatives.’’
Ljuljjeta Brkic of Nansen Dialogue Sarajevo comments “I will come to the conference bringing my experience from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where education is segregated in three parts. I’m looking forward to gaining insight into integration processes in other places from other delegates”.
Dr Zvi Bekerman of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem says “Paradoxically there is something nice about knowing that others might have similar problems. If you share your story you realize it is not so unique; gaining knowledge about others facing similar issues gains you perspective and - even more important - knowledge of other people’s problems and solutions. Add to all this a serious attempt to learn and recognize historical and contextual differences and you get a basic idea of why our conference might be of significance…”
The conference is hosted by Queen’s University Belfast, the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education and the Open Society in conjunction with the Hebrew University Jerusalem and the Open University of Cyprus. The main venue is the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast, with the conference dinner on Wednesday night held in the Great Hall at Queen’s.
For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact Maddy Bridgman, Press Officer, Integrated Education Fund (44) 28 9033 0031/07841 927724/maddy@ief.org.uk
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: organisers would like to help the Open Society for their major contribution; without funding from the Open Society this event could not have happened. Thanks also to the Integrated Education Fund and the Belfast Trust for Integrated Education for their support.
A further word of thanks to the Comparative and International Education Society [CIES] who awarded the first ever Jackie Kirk Outstanding Book Award to the book Peace Education in Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies: Comparative Perspectives edited by Claire McGlynn, Michalinos Zembylas, Zvi Bekerman and Tony Gallagher. The prize money from this award was donated to this conference.
The Foyle Contested Space programme was officially launched on Wednesday 29th February at Lisnagelvin Primary School. The project is managed by the Sharing Education Programme based in the School of Education. A video and further information can be found here.
The Foyle Contested Space programme is a schools based initiative made up of 3 post-primary and 5 primary schools in Derry/Londonderry. The schools are Lisneal College, St. Cecilia's College, St. Mary's College, Ballougry Primary School, Ebrington Primary School, Lisnagelvin Primary School, Holy Child Primary School and St. John's Primary School.
The core aims of the programme involve offering sustained shared classes, focusing on a number of key areas which impact both on pupils and the community at large. The eight schools are now sharing expertise, resources, space, pupils, energy and ideas. This is significant because as a collaborative network they represent the city as a whole and demonstrate what can be achieved by working together.
The programme is funded by OFMDFM and Atlantic Philanthropies. The launch was attended by Junior Ministers Bell and Anderson. Speaking at the event Junior Minister Bell said:
“The contacts made in the course of this Programme will, we all hope, not only lead to sustained collaboration between the schools in the Foyle contested space but will also leave a legacy characterised by lasting and constructive relationships between the young people.”
For further information on the Sharing Education Programme please contact Mark Baker - m.baker@qub.ac.uk.
As a leading educationalist, Professor Tony Gallagher was invited to contribute to an important and influential report on the future of education compiled by the UK’s first independent, cross party, education think tank – The Education Foundation.
The report, ‘Education Britain: The journey to education reform’, details the thinking of an inspiring, influential mix of 35 teachers, policymakers and other practitioners and the areas covered include educational reform, redressing the academic vocational divide and visions for the future of education in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
As well an inspiring range of views and opinions the report also includes a catalogue of the achievements of key organisations, schools, colleges and universities at the cutting edge of education reform.
In his contribution – Education in Northern Ireland – Professor Gallagher focuses on ‘recognising and realising the ambition of education in Northern Ireland in helping to prepare young people to live and work and become architects of a shared and better future.’
The report can be downloaded from The Education Foundation’s website by clicking here
The report identifies a range of barriers to the development and implementation of policies and strategies for children and young people in Northern Ireland. It highlights that while there are a number of positive gains in respect of government delivery for children in Northern Ireland, a number of significant barriers remain with respect to: commitment to children’s rights; coordination and joined up government, delays in policy development and implementation; translating strategic visions into specific and measurable outcomes; training and awareness around children’s rights; data collection and disaggregation; child impact assessment and evaluation; resourcing; and engagement with children in the development and implementation of policies and strategies.
Based on these findings, the report makes a number of recommendations for Government and for NICCY, including the need for a more consistent application of a children’s rights framework to policy development and implementation and that consideration be given to a statutory duty to co-operate at both central government and intra agency level.
Dr Byrne said: “The research has identified concrete examples of good practice which must be encouraged; however it is crucial that the issues identified in the report are addressed so that the rights to which children and young people are entitled can become reality.“
Ms Lewsley-Mooney, Commissioner for Children and Young People concluded: “Some good practice has been identified in this report, but on the whole it does not paint a positive picture of government delivery for children. However, although it clearly identifies the barriers to effective delivery for children, it also provides advice on how to break through those barriers.”
The report can be downloaded here. For more information on the report, please contact Dr Bronagh Byrne, b.byrne@qub.ac.uk
The Queen’s Interdisciplinary Linguistics Group (ILinG) is a joint initiative of doctoral students in the Schools of Education, English, and Modern Languages. While Queen’s does not have a linguistics department, there are staff and students working on linguistics or language-related studies within their own schools. However, the school boundaries may restrict broader interaction among students and researchers in language-related studies, and information of relevant events does not always reach those who might be interested. ILinG was then conceived with the aim to facilitate continuous academic exchange among students and researchers on linguistics and language related studies at Queen’s.
The group is supported by the School of Education as a student-driven platform for sharing and communication across disciplinary boundaries. Two EdD TESOL students are involved in the organising committee of the group. Dr Caroline Linse, EdD TESOL coordinator, indicates that ‘this is an outstanding opportunity for students to be introduced and professionalized into the exciting and dynamic world of TESOL’.
Starting with the first Interdisciplinary Linguistics Conference (ILinC) on 14th-15th October 2011, this group intends to present a year-long programme, including seminars, workshops, reading group, film screening, round-table discussions and an Internet forum, with its first member meeting to be held in late November. It welcomes and encourages participation within Queen’s and beyond.
For more information about ILinG, please visit the website, or follow it on Facebook ilingqub and qubiling.
A new research initiative that involves the design, delivery and rigorous evaluation of a suite of volunteer tutoring programmes has been launched by PhD students at the Centre for Effective Education.
The initiative, "Learn-a-Long", involves university students volunteering two hours of their time to work on a one-to-one basis with young children (aged 4-8) from primary schools across Northern Ireland who are struggling to achieve academically. The initiative currently includes three programmes that focus on boosting early skills in reading, maths and language (for those whose first language is not English) respectively. The three programmes are being devised by PhD students Pauline Connolly, Nicole Craig and Naoimh Fox respectively. Volunteer students are currently being recruited to deliver the three programmes in the Spring term 2012. A huge incentive for students is the fact that participating in the Learn-a-Long programme is accredited of the award of Degree Plus (Route A).
Speaking of the initiative, CEE Director Professor Paul Connolly said: "we are delighted to be launching this major new research initiative. This is a truly innovative programme that: provides an important service for local schools and young children; gives hundreds of our students the opportunity to gain invaluable volunteering experience that is also accredited; and also enables our PhD students to conduct doctoral research that is cutting edge. It is a truly win-win situation for everyone."
Over the coming years, the Centre aims to recruit more PhD students to add more tutoring programmes to the initiative. With a commitment to providing full details of each programme along with the findings of the evaluations of their effectiveness, the Learn-a-Long initiative aims to make an important contribution to the evidence base of effective educational programmes in Northern Ireland.
For more information please visit the website: http://learn-a-long.info
"When schools work together, principals and teachers benefit, pupils and young people benefit, and the wider community benefits. Resources are used more effectively, and the quality of learning for all in the school community, teachers and pupils alike, is improved. Most important, young people learn together and they learn from each other, and this will help them build a shared and better future, together."
The Sharing Education Programme is managed by a team within the School of Education at Queen’s. Further information on the conference including videos and materials can be found. Further information on the conference including videos and materials can be found here.
