Professor Kate Wall
Education
Personal statement
Personal statement
My work focuses on the development of innovative pedagogies and research methodologies (including visual approaches) that facilitate effective talk about learning (metacognition). I am interested in the development and exploration of democratic spaces where learners can talk about their experiences of learning.
I have worked extensively in partnership with teachers of all ages and stages, using practitioner enquiry approachesand have a growing interest in how tools with pedagogic and methodological origins can be used to support theorised practice. I have used the same ideas when working under a 'students as researchers' or student voice heading with children as young as 4. I am interested in methodologies for gathering learners’ views on experience, curriculum and learning. I am particularly interested in how visual approaches can facilitate voice with young children – I often think we have not been asking children their opinion or to participate in appropriate ways. I am interested in generating knowledge of ethical practice for eliciting voice within a democratic community and to do this, particularly with young children, then I think we need to look to more creative methods and practices for supporting the level of participation and ensuring authentic voice.
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Publications
- Starting from pedagogy : supporting children’s ethical and playful involvement in early childhood research
- Arnott Lorna, Mevawalla Zinnia, Wall Kate
- International Journal of Early Years Education Vol 32, pp. 791-795 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2024.2440234
- Detective mystery play : play-based research methods for facilitating young children's critical thinking
- Martinez-lejarreta Loreain, Arnott Lorna, Wall Kate
- International Journal of Early Years Education Vol 32, pp. 871-884 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2024.2407471
- What can creative data analysis using word clouds tell us about student views of learning something new?
- Gascoine Louise, Wall Kate, Higgins Steve
- The Handbook of Creative Data Analysis (2024) (2024)
- An exploration of practices for rights-based education through promoting voice in the early years : building a spider’s web
- Robinson Carol, Wall Kate, Murray Jane, Evans Erica, Grogan Deirdre, Bowes Charlotte
- Children’s Voice and Agency in Diverse Settings International Research and Perspectives (2024) (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003360995-4
- Scottish Ballet Safe to Be Me Research Evaluation Report
- Mevawalla Zinnia, Molyneaux Kate, Taylor Yvette, Wall Kate
- (2024)
- "Learning about research was confusing until we started creating our own questions and research" : enacting student voice through a 'Students as Enquirers' project
- Wall Kate, Hanna Amy, McCrorie Kath, Quirke William, Lauder-Scott Nova, Sims Rebekah, Ross Lorna, Elizabeth , Marysia , Brooke , Amy , Freya , Sophie
- Curriculum Journal Vol 35, pp. 137-140 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.237
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Professional Activities
- Developing quality democratic spaces
- Speaker
- 14/9/2023
- Applied Educational Research Conference
- Participant
- 15/4/2023
- The Theory and Practice of Voice in Early Childhood
- Interviewee
- 13/1/2023
- International Journal of Early Years Education (Journal)
- Guest editor
- 2023
- Maynooth University
- Visiting researcher
- 1/1/2021
- The power of arts-based research methods in early years
- Blogger
- 10/2/2020
Projects
- An exploration of the Home Room Model for S1 students at Preston Lodge High School
- Wall, Kate (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2024
- Safe to Be Me - Evaluation
- Mevawalla, Zinnia (Principal Investigator) Taylor, Yvette (Co-investigator) Wall, Kate (Co-investigator) Molyneaux, Kate (Researcher)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 15-Jan-2024
- Wee People, Big Feelings Research and KE Grant
- Wall, Kate (Co-investigator) Arnott, Lorna (Co-investigator)
- £6000 funding
- 01-Jan-2021 - 01-Jan-2022
- Renfrewshire Council Research Academy for Teacher Practitioners
- Wall, Kate (Co-investigator) Arnott, Lorna (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 01-Jan-2022
- Practitioner enquiry support in East Renfrewshire (Woodfarm and Cross Arthurlie)
- Wall, Kate (Principal Investigator) Beck, Anna (Academic) Firth, Jonathan William (Academic) Moore, Iain (Academic)
- Tailored practitioner enquiry support to develop whole school approaches
- 01-Jan-2020 - 30-Jan-2021
- Socially Innovative Interventions to Foster and to Advance Young Children’s Inclusion and Agency in Society through Voice and Story
- Beaton, Mhairi (Principal Investigator) Wall, Kate (Visiting Academic) Arnott, Lorna (Visiting Academic) Cassidy, Claire (Visiting Academic)
- The AdVoSt -project will take into practice the theoretical guiding principles for facilitating and enhancing young children’s voice in specific contexts (Wall et al., 2017). This will be done in close cooperation with practitioners working with indigenous children in Finland, marginalized, indigenous, and immigrant children in Canada, and children with diverse ethnical and cultural backgrounds in the UK. Previous literature indicates that young children are often viewed as ‘becomings’ rather than ‘beings’ within their communities. This is especially the case with children from non-mainstream communities, where ‘becoming’ might also mean to become a mainstream citizen, meaning simultaneously compromising identity, culture and language (e.g. von Benzon & van Blerk 2017; Sköld & Vehkalahti 2016). The AdVoSt-project will enhance educators' knowledge of multiple storytelling pedagogies including perspectives of land-based learning. The research-based development of composing narratives with young learners through art, writing, photography, performance and digital representations privilege young children’s voice enabling their full citizenship. These research-based initiatives will contribute to the development of child centred learning that is focused in land-based pedagogy and play. Play helps children to gain positive learning experiences (Tang & Adams 2010). Children’s varied play engagements often use culturally relevant toys and ephemera which help them to narrate their stories and facilitate hearing the voices of young children. However, educators, administration, local communities and parents do not always know how to promote such play to enhance children’s literacy engagements. Additionally, the digital delivery of early childhood education with distance management sets diverse challenges for educational activities. The AdVoSt-project recognizes the challenges concerning minority and indigenous children and will facilitate knowledge sharing between the participating countries and beyond. Using a community-based qualitative, comparative case study approach, the project will ensure that local cultural contexts play a key role in all research activities.
- 01-Jan-2020