Dr Edward Sosu

Senior Lecturer

Education

Personal statement

Dr Sosu is a Senior Lecturer, and currently Research Director in the School of Education. He has a strong interest in quantitative methods and in addressing educational issues from a psychological perspective. His current research is predominantly focused on exploring how socioeconomic disadvantage influences educational and psychological trajectories from childhood.

Dr Sosu received his PhD from the University of Strathclyde in 2008, and studied for an MSc degree at Lund University, Sweden. His first degree is a BEd (Hons) Psychology (1^st class honours) from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, followed by a one and half year experience as trainee clinical psychologist. In addition he obtained a postgraduate diploma in psychology (distinction) from the Open University in 2011.

Between 2008 and 2013, he worked for the University of Aberdeen, first as a research fellow on the Scottish Teachers for a New Era (STNE) project and subsequently as a lecturer in Education. During this period, Dr Sosu examined the impact of initial teacher education experiences on students’ cognitive dispositions and the extent to which these dispositions influence their classroom competence.

Dr Sosu is the lead author of the influential Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on Closing The Attainment Gap In Scottish Education (http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/education-attainment-scotland-full.pdf), and the research on Widening Access to Higher Education for Students from Economically Disadvantaged Backgrounds: What Works and Why? (https://pure.strath.ac.uk/portal/files/55895221/Sosu_etal_2016_widening_access_to_higher_education_for_students_from_economically_disadvantaged_backgrounds.pdf ) funded by the Scottish Funding Council.

Dr Sosu is a Centre for Health Policy Fellow in the Centre for Health Policy at Strathclyde University.

Publications

Trajectory of university dropout : investigating the cumulative effect of academic vulnerability and proximity to family support: Sosu Edward M, Pheunpha Pichyada; Frontiers in Education Vol 4 (2019); https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00006
Addressing socioeconomic inequality in access to university education : an analysis of synergies and tensions in Scottish policy: Sosu Edward M, Smith Lauren N, Santoro Ninetta, McKendry Stephanie; Palgrave Communications Vol 4 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-018-0206-5
Poverty, class and inter-generational disadvantage: Sosu Edward; Scottish Education (2018) (2018)
Renaturing science : the role of childhoodnature in science for the anthropocene: Gray Donald, Sosu Edward M; Research Handbook on Childhoodnature (2018) (2018); https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51949-4_38-1
Reducing the poverty-attainment gap at the earliest opportunity : what should staff in the early years focus on?: Sosu Edward; Autumn/Winter (2017)
Economic deprivation and its effects on childhood conduct problems : the mediating role of family stress and investment factors: Sosu Edward M, Schmidt Peter; Frontiers in Psychology, pp. 1-12 (2017); https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01580

more publications

Teaching

As well as supervising PhD and Masters students, I teach on the BA in Education, PGDE, MSc Early Years Pedagogue and MEd Inclusive Education programmes. My contributions cover the following areas:

Poverty, Social Class and Educational Achievement

Learning Theories

Memory

The Role of Social and Emotional Interaction in Child Development

Collaborative Learning

Development of Scientific and Mathematical Knowledge in Childhood

Educational Policy

Social Issues in Education

Research Methods

Research interests

My primary research focus is on the relationship between poverty and developmental outcomes. I am interested in understanding the mechanisms by which socioeconomic circumstances and experiences of poverty influence educational attainment and psychological outcomes across the lifespan. I harness the power of large longitudinal datasets to aid our understanding of these mechanisms. My goal is to undertake research that drives policies and practices which can improve outcomes for those experiencing adversity nationally and internationally.

Specific Research Interests:

Childhood and Family–poverty and its effects on developmental outcomes; social mobility; parental beliefs (inc. aspirations)
Methodology – quantitative methods; structural equation modelling; secondary data analysis; longitudinal designs; psychometrics; mixed methods
Teacher Education –teacher effectiveness; teacher expertise; pedagogical innovations

Professional activities

Poverty and developmental outcomes: Understanding and supporting families to thrive: Speaker; 24/1/2018
Poverty and children’s educational outcomes: What do psychological theories have to offer? - Presentation of ‘Psychology in the Pub’ event: Speaker; 26/10/2017
British Psychological Society Psychology of Education Annual Conference: Participant; 26/10/2017
Child Development (Journal): Peer reviewer; 1/7/2017
External Examiner (Ph.D.), Trinity College Dublin: Examiner; 17/3/2017
Scottish Funding Council, Access and Inclusison Commitee (External organisation): Advisor; 2017

more professional activities

Projects

Family background and educational attainment: An investigation into the mediating role of school absenteeism: Klein, Markus (Principal Investigator) Sosu, Edward (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2018 - 30-Jan-2019
Evidence into Action: Promoting Equitable Access to Quality (PEAQ) Educational Experiences in Sub-Saharan Africa: Sosu, Edward (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2018
Nurturing School Ethos to Improve Educational Attainment: Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator) Holmes, Joanna (Co-investigator) Klein, Markus (Co-investigator) Sosu, Edward (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2019
School and University Research Enquiry: Sosu, Edward (Co-investigator) Firth, Jonathan William (Co-investigator) Beck, Anna (Co-investigator) Klein, Markus (Co-investigator) Donohoe, Claire (Co-investigator) McGavigan, Hilary (Co-investigator) Martin, Phil (Co-investigator); The School and University Research Enquiry project (SURE) aims to bridge the gap between education research and practice. It will investigate the Scottish Attainment Challenge and the ‘what works’ agenda in terms of specific school interventions. In April 2017, the Scottish Government published their Research Strategy for Scottish Education, which stressed the need for a focus on “increasing the levels of collaboration and communication between all actors within the education system". SURE is contributing to this goal via a school-university collaborative study exploring Headteachers’ relationship with
research and gaining an understanding of their choices of interventions employed in their schools, with reference to PEF funding. Researchers on the project represent two Glasgow schools as well as the University of Strathclyde.; 01-Jan-2017
Widening Access to Higher Education -Research Dissemination Conference: Sosu, Edward (Principal Investigator) Smith, Lauren (Researcher) Mckendry, Stephanie (Co-investigator) Santoro, Ninetta (Co-investigator) Ellis, Susan (Co-investigator); 22-Jan-2016 - 22-Jan-2016
Cognitively Guided Instruction: Moscardini, Lio (Principal Investigator) Sosu, Edward (Co-investigator); 16-Jan-2016 - 30-Jan-2016

more projects

Address

Education
Lord Hope Building

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