Sheffield Hallam University

Speakers: Gill Adams and Cathy Burnett

Time: 3rd July 2024, from 1pm-2pm

Location:  Room 12.2.20, Charles St Building, City Campus @ SHU (& online via Teams TBC)

The Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project (2022- 2024) investigated the kinds of literacy research that teachers encounter and how literacy research moves to, among and around teachers. Researchers used a blend of corpus linguistics, sociomaterial tracings and teacher lifelogging to explore how research moves ‘in the wild’, beyond planned dissemination strategies. In this presentation, we focus on teachers’ encounters, drawing on data from interviews, focus groups and lifelogging with teachers working in a variety of settings.

The presentation will focus on key findings from the project, including:

• The multiple and complex ways in which research moves to, among and around primary teachers
• The diversification of channels, forms, technologies, individuals and organisations involved in research mobilisation
• Shifts in the meanings of research findings as they move

The findings and recommendations from the project are relevant to other phases, curricular subjects and aspects of teaching. Using insights from the project we argue for expansive approaches to research that support engagement that is professionally empowering and encourages teachers to imagine alternatives. We suggest possibilities for nurturing these approaches.

The project was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/W000571/1) and is a collaboration between Sheffield Hallam University, Lancaster University and University of Stirling.