Clare Gartland | University of Suffolk (original) (raw)
Papers by Clare Gartland
Taking place between 10.40 and 11.15, this is a series of short presentations from a selection of... more Taking place between 10.40 and 11.15, this is a series of short presentations from a selection of universities summarising their research on the BTEC student experience with the opportunity to discuss and compare findings by inviting questions from delegates.
Over the last decade employing student ambassadors has been increasingly popular in university ou... more Over the last decade employing student ambassadors has been increasingly popular in university outreach activity across the UK. Engineering skills are perceived as important to meet the demands of increasingly globalised economies and there has been a focus in outreach work on this subject area. The focus on increasing and widening participation in engineering in the UK has been driven by both the need to find new talent to sustain the British economy and by anticipated benefits to society as a whole. Ambassadors are widely held to be effective in aspiration and attainment-raising work and are frequently cited as role models for pupils by both policy-makers and practitioners. There is, however, no educational research into what pupils learn during interactions with students and whether ambassadors do contribute to increasing and widening participation in engineering. The focus of this paper is the impact of the learning contexts in which ambassadors worked on pupils’ learning. The p...
ETH Learning and Teaching Journal, Dec 9, 2020
This paper reports from the Enhancing BTEC students' transition into HE project, which was design... more This paper reports from the Enhancing BTEC students' transition into HE project, which was designed to identify and support effective pedagogical partnerships between academic tutors in both post-16 and Higher Education (HE) institutions. The aim of the project was to more effectively promote and facilitate successful progression to HE amongst students from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds, particularly students from low participation neighbourhoods who have undertaken vocational qualifications, such as BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) awards in order to progress to HE. The project findings have led to a set of recommendations for building effective collaborative pedagogical partnerships across the post-16 and HE sectors.
INTED proceedings, Mar 1, 2022
International Journal of Educational Research, 2022
More skilled young people are urgently needed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics... more More skilled young people are urgently needed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the UK. This book indicates how policy can be developed to encourage young people to consider STEM careers. It challenges widely held assumptions about how role models help raise aspirations and support progression to higher education, and asks whether role models really do encourage pupils, particularly girls, into STEM careers. The book examines New Labour’s widening participation policy of encouraging university student ambassadors to work as role models with younger students and school pupils. The study of STEM ambassador schemes at two contrasting universities reveals how they are positioned by the surrounding discourses and activities. It examines the developing relationships between pupils and ambassadors, the learning that takes place, and the matching of ethnic, classed and gendered identities. Gartland questions the assumption that university students are role models...
I started my career as a teacher and subsequently a teacher trainer in Leicester and London. I de... more I started my career as a teacher and subsequently a teacher trainer in Leicester and London. I developed an interest in the widening participation agenda during a fellowship at South Bank University and increasingly moved into working as an independent researcher and evaluator of projects aiming to develop ways to support pupil engagement and progression into higher education, particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). I have worked closely with colleagues in universities and at the Royal Academy of Engineering on the development of outreach programmes, engaging with schools, employers and third sector organisations. After completing my PhD with the Institute of Education I am continuing my research based at University Campus Suffolk where I lead the MA programme in Education Studies.
Background to the study Research into transition has often focused on the experiences of first ye... more Background to the study Research into transition has often focused on the experiences of first year students in Russell Group HEIs. The experiences of students in post-92 universities, where 'non-traditional' students predominate, are different. There is also a need to look at the use of terms such as 'non-traditional' or WP, towards understanding the diversity of student experience that these broad terms represent. Previous research studies point to gaps between students' experience of learning at school or college and expectations of them at university, with students frequently being (mis)construed as inappropriate or inadequate in the university setting. The FE and 6th form sectors serve high proportions of young people
Book review of: Whitty, G. Anders, J. Hayton, A. Tang, S. Wisby, E. Research and policy in educat... more Book review of: Whitty, G. Anders, J. Hayton, A. Tang, S. Wisby, E. Research and policy in education: evidence, ideology and impact, 2017. ISBN: 9781782770848
STEM in Science Education and S in STEM
In the United States, the United Kingdom and other developed countries university outreach initia... more In the United States, the United Kingdom and other developed countries university outreach initiatives have been developed to promote progression in STEM subjects and increase uptake of STEM among women, poorer students and minority groups who are currently severely underrepresented on many post compulsory and undergraduate STEM courses. Research indicates that young people often dis-identify with STEM subjects and careers at an early age and highlights the importance of adult figures in motivating young people’s engagement. During the past two decades in the United Kingdom and the United States, university students have been widely used by universities to support STEM outreach work with younger students. These student ambassadors are generally assumed to act as positive role models for school students because of their proximity in age and life stage, and are widely seen as able to contribute to valuable STEM learning opportunities and to support progression in these subject areas. This chapter draws on findings from two research studies, in the UK and US, exploring student ambassador STEM outreach activity with school age students, including the settings and content of activities and how ambassadors are matched with younger students. The studies reveal the potential of ambassadors to challenge younger students’ self-identities in relation to STEM, but also identify problems of organising and funding outreach to effectively engage large numbers of young people from underrepresented groups. In the UK, university outreach activity is often located in administration and marketing departments with limited involvement of academic faculties, which can mean that the pedagogical aspect of activities are overlooked. In the US, while recruitment is still a focus, funding incentives and an emphasis on public engagement have led to increased engagement of academics and consideration of learning and teaching in outreach activity at some institutions. This chapter points to the need for a sharper focus on pedagogy, particularly in UK contexts, and an increased focus in both countries on outreach practice that effectively supports identification between student ambassadors and younger students whilst reaching wider audiences of young people. The chapter highlights the need for increased collaboration across universities to identify and support best practice and promote effective and far reaching student ambassador STEM outreach activity.
Education + Training
Purpose Vocational courses in England support the progression to higher education (HE) of large n... more Purpose Vocational courses in England support the progression to higher education (HE) of large numbers of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, yet there is little research exploring the college experiences of these young people prior to entering university. The purpose of this paper is to consider the experiences of young people on Level 3 Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) vocational courses in their progression to HE from differently positioned post-16 colleges in England. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was undertaken into the experiences of students on BTEC courses in four subject clusters (science, technology, engineering and maths, arts and humanities, social sciences and health) at both a Further Education College and a Sixth Form College in an area of multiple deprivation and low HE participation. Young people’s experiences of BTEC courses and the support and guidance they receive are explored through the conceptual lens of “possible se...
British Journal of Sociology of Education
In Research and Policy in Education, Geoff Whitty provides an analysis of recent educational poli... more In Research and Policy in Education, Geoff Whitty provides an analysis of recent educational policymaking in the UK. The perspective is sociologically driven, with a class inflection, and draws upon recent original research, as well as seasoned reflections emanating from decades of immersion in educational research, policy and practice. Whitty curates the work he has been involved in since 2000 to produce a coherent volume that walks the reader through some of the key policy developments in UK education, as well as some of the research and ideology that informed them (not to mention the research evidence that policy ignored). In doing so he provides an interesting (and rather depressing) insight into the relationship between policy relevant research and evidencebased policy-making. This short and accessible book offers a key overview of the policy landscape and is a "must-read" for researchers, educators and students interested in understanding the interface of policy and research in contemporary education in the UK. To aid the analysis it brings together a selection of previously published articles on educational policy and research, co-written over the past decade by Geoff Whitty, Jake Anders, Annette Hayton, Sarah Tang and Emma Wisby. The reproduction of previously published work enables a more distanced reflective account of research to be developed around, and in response to, policy developments in critical areas.
... CLARE GARTLAND ASPIRE Aimhigher ... Various studies (Ball and Vincent, 1998; Ball et al, 2002... more ... CLARE GARTLAND ASPIRE Aimhigher ... Various studies (Ball and Vincent, 1998; Ball et al, 2002; Ball et al, 2005; Hutch-ings et al, 2003) have identified that working-class students and their parents rely more heavily on 'hot' sources of information, grapevine knowledge, than ...
Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 2013
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2014
Taking place between 10.40 and 11.15, this is a series of short presentations from a selection of... more Taking place between 10.40 and 11.15, this is a series of short presentations from a selection of universities summarising their research on the BTEC student experience with the opportunity to discuss and compare findings by inviting questions from delegates.
Over the last decade employing student ambassadors has been increasingly popular in university ou... more Over the last decade employing student ambassadors has been increasingly popular in university outreach activity across the UK. Engineering skills are perceived as important to meet the demands of increasingly globalised economies and there has been a focus in outreach work on this subject area. The focus on increasing and widening participation in engineering in the UK has been driven by both the need to find new talent to sustain the British economy and by anticipated benefits to society as a whole. Ambassadors are widely held to be effective in aspiration and attainment-raising work and are frequently cited as role models for pupils by both policy-makers and practitioners. There is, however, no educational research into what pupils learn during interactions with students and whether ambassadors do contribute to increasing and widening participation in engineering. The focus of this paper is the impact of the learning contexts in which ambassadors worked on pupils’ learning. The p...
ETH Learning and Teaching Journal, Dec 9, 2020
This paper reports from the Enhancing BTEC students' transition into HE project, which was design... more This paper reports from the Enhancing BTEC students' transition into HE project, which was designed to identify and support effective pedagogical partnerships between academic tutors in both post-16 and Higher Education (HE) institutions. The aim of the project was to more effectively promote and facilitate successful progression to HE amongst students from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds, particularly students from low participation neighbourhoods who have undertaken vocational qualifications, such as BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) awards in order to progress to HE. The project findings have led to a set of recommendations for building effective collaborative pedagogical partnerships across the post-16 and HE sectors.
INTED proceedings, Mar 1, 2022
International Journal of Educational Research, 2022
More skilled young people are urgently needed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics... more More skilled young people are urgently needed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the UK. This book indicates how policy can be developed to encourage young people to consider STEM careers. It challenges widely held assumptions about how role models help raise aspirations and support progression to higher education, and asks whether role models really do encourage pupils, particularly girls, into STEM careers. The book examines New Labour’s widening participation policy of encouraging university student ambassadors to work as role models with younger students and school pupils. The study of STEM ambassador schemes at two contrasting universities reveals how they are positioned by the surrounding discourses and activities. It examines the developing relationships between pupils and ambassadors, the learning that takes place, and the matching of ethnic, classed and gendered identities. Gartland questions the assumption that university students are role models...
I started my career as a teacher and subsequently a teacher trainer in Leicester and London. I de... more I started my career as a teacher and subsequently a teacher trainer in Leicester and London. I developed an interest in the widening participation agenda during a fellowship at South Bank University and increasingly moved into working as an independent researcher and evaluator of projects aiming to develop ways to support pupil engagement and progression into higher education, particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). I have worked closely with colleagues in universities and at the Royal Academy of Engineering on the development of outreach programmes, engaging with schools, employers and third sector organisations. After completing my PhD with the Institute of Education I am continuing my research based at University Campus Suffolk where I lead the MA programme in Education Studies.
Background to the study Research into transition has often focused on the experiences of first ye... more Background to the study Research into transition has often focused on the experiences of first year students in Russell Group HEIs. The experiences of students in post-92 universities, where 'non-traditional' students predominate, are different. There is also a need to look at the use of terms such as 'non-traditional' or WP, towards understanding the diversity of student experience that these broad terms represent. Previous research studies point to gaps between students' experience of learning at school or college and expectations of them at university, with students frequently being (mis)construed as inappropriate or inadequate in the university setting. The FE and 6th form sectors serve high proportions of young people
Book review of: Whitty, G. Anders, J. Hayton, A. Tang, S. Wisby, E. Research and policy in educat... more Book review of: Whitty, G. Anders, J. Hayton, A. Tang, S. Wisby, E. Research and policy in education: evidence, ideology and impact, 2017. ISBN: 9781782770848
STEM in Science Education and S in STEM
In the United States, the United Kingdom and other developed countries university outreach initia... more In the United States, the United Kingdom and other developed countries university outreach initiatives have been developed to promote progression in STEM subjects and increase uptake of STEM among women, poorer students and minority groups who are currently severely underrepresented on many post compulsory and undergraduate STEM courses. Research indicates that young people often dis-identify with STEM subjects and careers at an early age and highlights the importance of adult figures in motivating young people’s engagement. During the past two decades in the United Kingdom and the United States, university students have been widely used by universities to support STEM outreach work with younger students. These student ambassadors are generally assumed to act as positive role models for school students because of their proximity in age and life stage, and are widely seen as able to contribute to valuable STEM learning opportunities and to support progression in these subject areas. This chapter draws on findings from two research studies, in the UK and US, exploring student ambassador STEM outreach activity with school age students, including the settings and content of activities and how ambassadors are matched with younger students. The studies reveal the potential of ambassadors to challenge younger students’ self-identities in relation to STEM, but also identify problems of organising and funding outreach to effectively engage large numbers of young people from underrepresented groups. In the UK, university outreach activity is often located in administration and marketing departments with limited involvement of academic faculties, which can mean that the pedagogical aspect of activities are overlooked. In the US, while recruitment is still a focus, funding incentives and an emphasis on public engagement have led to increased engagement of academics and consideration of learning and teaching in outreach activity at some institutions. This chapter points to the need for a sharper focus on pedagogy, particularly in UK contexts, and an increased focus in both countries on outreach practice that effectively supports identification between student ambassadors and younger students whilst reaching wider audiences of young people. The chapter highlights the need for increased collaboration across universities to identify and support best practice and promote effective and far reaching student ambassador STEM outreach activity.
Education + Training
Purpose Vocational courses in England support the progression to higher education (HE) of large n... more Purpose Vocational courses in England support the progression to higher education (HE) of large numbers of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, yet there is little research exploring the college experiences of these young people prior to entering university. The purpose of this paper is to consider the experiences of young people on Level 3 Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) vocational courses in their progression to HE from differently positioned post-16 colleges in England. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was undertaken into the experiences of students on BTEC courses in four subject clusters (science, technology, engineering and maths, arts and humanities, social sciences and health) at both a Further Education College and a Sixth Form College in an area of multiple deprivation and low HE participation. Young people’s experiences of BTEC courses and the support and guidance they receive are explored through the conceptual lens of “possible se...
British Journal of Sociology of Education
In Research and Policy in Education, Geoff Whitty provides an analysis of recent educational poli... more In Research and Policy in Education, Geoff Whitty provides an analysis of recent educational policymaking in the UK. The perspective is sociologically driven, with a class inflection, and draws upon recent original research, as well as seasoned reflections emanating from decades of immersion in educational research, policy and practice. Whitty curates the work he has been involved in since 2000 to produce a coherent volume that walks the reader through some of the key policy developments in UK education, as well as some of the research and ideology that informed them (not to mention the research evidence that policy ignored). In doing so he provides an interesting (and rather depressing) insight into the relationship between policy relevant research and evidencebased policy-making. This short and accessible book offers a key overview of the policy landscape and is a "must-read" for researchers, educators and students interested in understanding the interface of policy and research in contemporary education in the UK. To aid the analysis it brings together a selection of previously published articles on educational policy and research, co-written over the past decade by Geoff Whitty, Jake Anders, Annette Hayton, Sarah Tang and Emma Wisby. The reproduction of previously published work enables a more distanced reflective account of research to be developed around, and in response to, policy developments in critical areas.
... CLARE GARTLAND ASPIRE Aimhigher ... Various studies (Ball and Vincent, 1998; Ball et al, 2002... more ... CLARE GARTLAND ASPIRE Aimhigher ... Various studies (Ball and Vincent, 1998; Ball et al, 2002; Ball et al, 2005; Hutch-ings et al, 2003) have identified that working-class students and their parents rely more heavily on 'hot' sources of information, grapevine knowledge, than ...
Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 2013
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2014