Deanery Digests

Oxford University
Deanery Digests

The University of Oxford Education Deanery’s mission is to empower educators worldwide to understand, use, and co-produce high-quality research evidence in education. In this podcast series, we explore the latest research from the Department of Education at the University of Oxford and discuss the real-world implications for teachers, parents and policy makers. Each podcast is accompanied by a Deanery Digest, a short, plain language summary of the research, which can be downloaded from our website.

  1. MAR 26

    Who Influences the Career Choices of Young People in Care?

    Dr Mariela Neagu discusses her research exploring the experiences young people who grew up in care when it comes to making education and career choices. Young people who grow up in care constitute one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Many of them enter care during adolescence, a critical time for development, when they form their identities, set their future aspirations and make education and career choices, usually with support from their family. In the absence of family support and influence, the risk of young people leaving care to end up not being not in education, employment or training (NEET) is much higher than in general population and only a small proportion of them go into higher education. In this episode, Dr Neagu discusses findings from interviews with 12 young people (over 18) who spent their teenage years in foster or residential care, and three professionals who work with young people to support them with education and employment. The research focussed on how the young people had decided what to do in the future, and who or what influenced and supported them. The Deanery Digest (a plain language summary) of this research can be viewed and downloaded here: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/oxford-education-deanery/digest/who-influences-the-career-choices-of-young-people-in-care-vocational-identity-formation-in-the-absence-of-family-support/ Mariela’s Socials: https://marielaneagu.com/ X @MarielaNeagu, LinkedIn Mariela Neagu Learn more about the Oxford Education Deanery: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/about-us/oxford-education-deanery/ Join our mailing list: https://education.us21.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=2b84fd25801a8e6f131fdf744&id=1a0dba83bc

    16 min
  2. JAN 23

    What we can learn from England, Northern Ireland, and Wales' Performance in PISA 2022

    In this episode, Professor Jenni Ingram and Dr Stuart Cadwallader discuss their analysis, undertaken with Pearson for the OECD, of England, Northern Ireland and Wales' performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022. In doing so, they discuss some of the key findings and headline takeaways of their analysis for parents, teachers, and for policy. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study of 15-year-old students. Primarily, it assesses students' knowledge and skills in mathematics, reading and science, but, in 2022, it also gathered valuable information about student experiences, attitudes and beliefs through a questionnaire. PISA facilitates (cautious) comparisons of performance between education systems (usually different countries) and over time, between PISA cycles. For this reason, PISA results often have a strong influence on education policymaking. Among some of the key findings from their analysis, Jenni and Stuart highlight that the three nations perform above, or close to the OECD average in mathematics, reading, and science. Encouragingly, their analysis also points towards narrower socio-economic gaps in performance compared to many other countries, and they discuss findings on the balance of the three nations' performance in different areas of mathematics. They also address new questionnaire data which sheds light on safety and belonging in school, and the need for responsible interpretation of PISA data. Deanery Digests (plain language summaries) of the research can be viewed and downloaded here: 1. PISA performance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2022: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/oxford-education-deanery/digest/15472/ 2. PISA 2: What do students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland tell us about their experiences of learning mathematics? Analysing student questionnaire and performance data from PISA 2022: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/oxford-education-deanery/digest/pisa-2-what-do-students-in-england-wales-and-northern-ireland-tell-us-about-their-experiences-of-learning-mathematics-analysing-student-questionnaire-and-performance-data-from-pisa-2022/ 3. PISA 3: What do students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland tell us about their wellbeing? Analysing student questionnaire data from PISA 2022: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/oxford-education-deanery/digest/pisa-3-what-do-students-in-england-wales-and-northern-ireland-tell-us-about-their-wellbeing-analysing-student-questionnaire-data-from-pisa-2022/ This podcast and the digests are based on the following open access reports: * Ingram, J.; Stiff, J., Cadwallader S., Lee, G. & Kayton, H (2023) PISA 2022: National Report for England. Department for Education. Available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pisa-2022-national-report-for-england * Ingram, J.; Stiff, J., Cadwallader S., Lee, G. & Kayton, H (2023) PISA 2022: National Report for Northern Ireland. Department for Education. Available from https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/programme-international-student-assessment-pisa * Ingram, J.; Stiff, J., Cadwallader S., Lee, G. & Kayton, H (2023) PISA 2022: National Report for Wales. Welsh Government. Available from https://www.gov.wales/achievement-15-year-olds-program-international-student-assessment-pisa-national-report-2022 Learn more about the Oxford Education Deanery: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/oxford-education-deanery Join our mailing list: https://bit.ly/deanery-subscribe Biographies Professor Jenni Ingram Prof Jenni Ingram is Professor of Mathematics Education at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She is Deputy Chair of the Joint Mathematical Council, Executive Trustee and Treasurer for the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, and Chair of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education Interaction, communication and Language in Mathematics Education thematic working group. She is a member of the Royal Society Advisor Committee on Mathematics Education 11-16 Expert Group and the Mathematical Observatory Research Expert Panel. She is also an Editor of Research in Mathematics Education, Guest Editor for The Mathematics Enthusiast, and member of the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Mathematical Behavior and the Journal for Mathematics Teacher Education. Dr Stuart Cadwallader Dr Stuart Cadwallader is a Departmental Lecturer in Educational Assessment at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. Stuart has a PhD in Education from the University of Warwick. His research interests cover many aspects of educational assessment, including examination standards, the assessment of practical skills, the use of assistive technology for assessment, and the digitisation of assessment. Prior to January 2022, Stuart was Associate Director for Research at Ofqual, where he helped lead a research programme to support the regulation of examinations and qualifications in England. He has held senior research roles both at Ofqual and at an examination board. Joe Bullough Joe Bullough is Engagement and Partnerships Lead at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. He leads school partnerships under the Oxford Internship Scheme (PGCE), and, with the co-directors, drives the development of the Oxford Education Deanery. He also provides advisory support to the directors on wider partnership matters. Prior to his role at the Department of Education, Joe managed partnerships and engagement for the RISE Programme-a £40 million, UK Aid-funded programme focused on improving learning outcomes and education systems around the world. Prior to that, he worked for UNESCO's Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO).

    20 min
  3. 09/23/2024

    Developing Oral Language through a Drama-based Intervention

    Dr Faidra Faitaki discusses her research on using a drama-based intervention to help develop oral language proficiency among primary school learners. Oral language refers to the linguistic skills needed to understand and produce spoken discourse. Children’s oral language and communication skills at the earliest stages of education are good predictors of their later success at school. In this episode, Dr Faidra Faitaki discusses a pilot study she conducted explore the possibilities offered by drama-based activities in helping to support development oral language proficiency among primary school children. In addition to describing the study and discussing what she found, Faidra offers help to teachers who might not be natural performers, but who nonetheless want to explore the use of drama with young learners. This includes a free booklet of activities to try out in classrooms, developed out of this research. The Deanery Digest (a plain language summary) of this research can be viewed and downloaded here: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/deanery-digest/developing-oral-language-through-a-drama-based-intervention/ Faidra’s Socials: Twitter @FaidraFait, BlueSky @faidra.bsky.social Teacher resource pack of drama activities: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FFSL_Drama_Activities-Booklet.pdf Learn more about the Oxford Education Deanery: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/about-us/oxford-education-deanery/ Join our mailing list: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=G96VzPWXk0-0uv5ouFLPkdxpy7LmNcFLujTOHXPmFwlUOUtYSFBOMklHRUhJMzhPRU9GRTJGRDFWQyQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl

    19 min

About

The University of Oxford Education Deanery’s mission is to empower educators worldwide to understand, use, and co-produce high-quality research evidence in education. In this podcast series, we explore the latest research from the Department of Education at the University of Oxford and discuss the real-world implications for teachers, parents and policy makers. Each podcast is accompanied by a Deanery Digest, a short, plain language summary of the research, which can be downloaded from our website.

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