The Department of Educational and Professional Studies was created in 2004 from existing departments and has more than 70 staff, visiting professors and lecturers who contribute their expertise to most of the courses provided by the Faculty of Education.
Many of the staff are internationally recognised for their research, attracting funding from bodies such as The Economic and Social Research Council, The Learning and Skills Development Agency, The Home Office and The Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) as well as charities. Staff also act as consultants on national educational and professional bodies to inform policy, improve practice and contribute to the improvement of standards. Research output has application in academic, educational and professional practice in the statutory as well as voluntary sectors.
Research activities in the department reflect the three research themes of the Faculty of Education:
- Development of Professional Practice
- Equity and Social Justice
- Physical, Cultural, Psychological and Emotional Wellbeing
Examples of research topics being actively followed by members of the Department are given below:
Development of Professional Practice
- Professional practice issues for speech and language therapists.
- Role of universities in professional education
- The issue of engagement in learning, and the associated perspectives of teachers and young people.
- Workplace learning.
- Informal Learning.
- Teacher education.
- Teacher professionalism.
- Continuing professional development.
- The links between assessment practices and lifelong learning in Higher Education.
- Teacher research and inquiry, and communities of teachers as learners
- Promoting effective learning and assessment.
- Numerical competence in children.
- Interventions for children with language impairment.
- Teachers as lifelong learners.
- Approaches to learning and teaching in higher education.
- The Chartered Teacher Programme
Equity and Social Justice
- The processes by which groups are marginalised in contemporary industrial societies.
- The education of looked after children
- The changing nature of ethnic and gender inequalities.
- The educational experiences of young people on the margins of education.
- Conflict and conciliation, particularly in the form of racism and "sectarianism" in Scotland and Ireland.
- The pragmatics of communication, related, in particular, to inappropriate behaviour in classrooms.
- The citizenship agenda and pupils in marginalised groups.
- The future of youth, young people and public space, and community development with young people.
- Migration and its impact on children and family relationships.
- Child poverty and children as service users.
Physical, Cultural, Psychological and Emotional Wellbeing
- Nonverbal communication in children with complex learning difficulties.
- Motor speech disorders.
- Communication disorders subsequent to stroke, and other neurological disorders.
- The influences of age and education on adult communication skills.
- Counselling in schools, existential therapy, person-centred/experiential therapy, pluralistic approaches, relational depth.
- The implications of the brain architecture research on our understanding of young people.
- Mental Health of Children and Young People
The principal groupings of researchers are:
- At Home Abroad: The Life Experiences of Children of Eastern European Migrant Workers in Scotland
- Cognitively Guided Instruction: Developing teachers' pedagogical knowledge in mathematics to support all pupils
- Efficacy of counselling in schools: Pilot phase of a randomised controlled trial
We have a strong commitment to postgraduate studies and currently have over 100 postgraduate students completing MPhil, EdD or PhD degrees. The Department offers a wide range of exciting and interesting opportunities for research, which can be linked to the work of particular centres or to the specific expertise of individual members of staff. Applications for study by research, leading to the degrees of EdD, MPhil or PhD are welcomed.
The research activity of the department is coordinated by the research committee. Enquiries can be directed to members within their respective fields of study, or more generally to the chair of the committee, Dr. Ian Finlay.
- Professor Stephen Baron (AERS Programme)
- Dr Ian Finlay (Educational Policy)
- Ann Grieve (Educational Support)
- Dr Anja Lowit (Speech and Language Therapy)
- Professor Gerry Finn (Educational Studies)
- Professor Howard Sercombe (Community Education Studies)
The Faculty of Education has a clear vision of research excellence and is committed to rigorous investigation in the interests of scholarship and evidence-based teaching and learning. Central to effective research is the application of sound ethical principles that are provided in the University Code of Practice and which detail the role of both University and Departmental Ethics Committees.
If you are preparing a research investigation you should firstly be familiar with the requirements of the University of Strathclyde Code of Practice on Investigations on Human Beings. The code of practice provides guidance on standards of conduct for staff and students who are conducting investigations under the auspices of the University. It is these protocols that inform the deliberations of ethics committees.
The University Ethics Committee ApplicationForm is used for ethics applications to either Departmental or University Ethics Committees and can be found, with further details, at the University's Ethics Committee page. Each investigator must decide on the basis of the code of practice the most appropriate destination for their application.
The deadlines for submission to the Departmental Ethics Committee are:
- 1st of each month (Feedback by the 14th)
- 15th of each month (Feedback by the 30th)
