Educational Research

Researcher and Writer, The Learning Passport Research and Recommendations Report

I wrote a large amount of content for a literature review submitted to UNICEF on language issues affecting refugees, IDPs and migrants. A summary of this publication is available here, and the full report here. Specifically, I addressed the following questions:

• What are the content, characteristics and conditions of a curriculum framework that supports effective learning for displaced learners?

• What curriculum mapping methods can be used to relate curricula in different systems to one another (touch points) to support future learning? What are the challenges with using these methods in EiE/displacement contexts?

• What curriculum mapping methods can be used to relate curricula in different systems to one another (touch points) to support future learning? What are the challenges with using and operationalising these methods in EiE/displacement contexts? 

Research Consultant, Language for Resilience Research Hub, British Council Jordan

Focusing on refugee and host community youth (18-35) in Jordan, this piece of British Council research took place over three weeks in February 2019. The final report can be downloaded here. This report had two main purposes. The first was to better understand these groups’ perceptions, abilities and usage of language, and the relationship of language to accessing pathways and psychosocial support. The second is to better understand how language learning takes place in these communities. The research was qualitative in nature, and based predominantly around focus groups, individual interviews and lesson observations. The research participants were from the Jordanian host community and refugees, of both Syrian and non-Syrian background. The fieldwork for data collection took place mainly in Amman and urban / peri-urban areas of northern Jordan.

Academic lead: Language for Resilience Research Hub

In 2016 the British Council published its initial 'Language for Resilience' report, which identified five principles for planning language education responses for displaced people and the host communities who welcome them, namely: 1. Home language and literacy development; 2. Access to education, training and employment; 3. Language and social cohesion; 4. Addressing the effect of trauma on learning; 5. Building the capacity of teachers and strengthening educational systems.

 

Two years' later, I was one of a team of academics and practitioners who created a follow-up publication, Cross-disciplinary perspectives on the role of language in enhancing the resilience of refugees and host communities under the editorship of one of the original report's co-authors, Dr. Tony Capstick. My particular area of focus was Prinicple 2, i.e. access to education, training and employment. I summarised my key findings in this short blog for the British Council's Teaching English website.

Report writer, British Council Rwanda

I analysed a large volume of qualitative data about Radio Education (for English and Mathematics) and writing a report focusing on key recommendations. This programme had been developed during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Curriculum Researcher, British Council Worldwide

I mapped several lower secondary curriculums from a range of countries (including Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Nepal, Morocco and Rwanda) against each other and identifying commonalities. This document was subsequently used to inform other British Council work in the post-COVID era.

Researcher and Writer: Online and F2F Networks in MENA

Teachers groups and networks (both online and offline) are crucially important for creating shared identities, building capacity and sharing good practice. I was commissioned by the British Council Egypt to write a paper (falling somewhere between a report and an academic paper) which could provide a knowledge-based framework to inform empirical quantitative and qualitative findings from a sample of teacher group members in the MENA region, with a view to making a series of recommendations for practical initiatives. The research focused primarily on members of English language teacher groups and networks.

 

I addressed three specific questions in this paper, namely:

 

1. What impact does the governance and management of teachers’ groups in the MENA region have on their ability to create positive change?

2. What are the main activities of teachers’ groups in the MENA region, and are they meeting the educational needs of those countries and territories?

3. To what extent do teachers’ groups use technology effectively to support teachers in their professional development?

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My report can be downloaded here.