Research Themes, Groups and Centres

Research in the department is organised under three Themes which demonstrate our focus on learning across the life-course. The three Themes are made up of seven Research Groups and five Research Centres.

Research Groups and Centres provide opportunities for research staff and higher degree students to obtain critical commentary on ongoing research, develop their research thinking and plan new research projects. The head of each research group is a main contact point for research staff in the Department, organising staff reviews and providing advice and support.

The Groups and Centres organise specialist research seminars and provide the context within which academic visitors contribute to and benefit from the research activity of the Department. There is, inevitably, overlap between the research areas and how international work is represented across the areas. For this reason, many members of the Department collaborate across Research Groups and Centres.

Membership is open to all academic and research staff, doctoral students and individuals from outside the Department (e.g. GTC, LEAs, QCA) with shared interests in research. Masters students are invited to join Research Groups and Centres relevant to their interests and regularly attend seminars. All research students are encouraged to make regular presentations on their work at seminars in the department.

Theme – Learning: Affect, Behaviour, Cognition

The three Groups and one Centre that comprise this Theme undertake longitudinal and experimental studies of learning, to reveal relationships between pedagogical support for learning and learners’ achievements and motivations.

Research Groups and Centres:

• Applied Linguistics (Professor Ernesto Macaro)

• Child Learning (Professor Terezinha Nunes)

• Families, Early Learning and Literacy (FELL) (Professor Kathy Sylva)

• Self-concept Enhancement and Learning Facilitation (SELF) (Professor Herb Marsh)

Theme - Learning: Policy and Society

The two Groups and two Centres that make up this Theme undertake research which examines policy environments for education and the impact of national policies on opportunities for learning across the lifespan.

Research Groups and Centres:

• Comparative and International Education (Professor David Phillips)

• Higher Education and Professional Learning (Dr Hubert Ertl and Dr Geoff Hayward)

• Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment (Professor Gordon Stanley)

• Skills Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) (Professor Ken Mayhew and Dr Geoff Hayward)

Theme - Learning: Teaching and Professional Practice

The three Groups and the Centre that comprise this Theme are examining how learning environments and the practices that comprise them support the learning of young people and adults in and out of formal school settings. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is increasingly, but not exclusively, informing analyses.

Research Groups and Centres:

• e-Learning (Dr Chris Davies)

• Mathematics Education (Professor Anne Watson)

• Oxford Centre for Sociocultural and Activity Theory Research (OSAT) (Professor Anne Edwards)

• Teaching and Teacher Education (T&TE) (Dr Jane McNicholl and Professor Anne Edwards)

Research Centres

We have five Research Centres which collaborate with other departments across the University or with other Universities. They too generate research, organise seminars and provide support for higher degree students and staff.  Staff and students frequently affiliate with both Centres and Groups.

Two are University Centres:

• Comparative and International Education (Professor David Phillips)
• Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment (OUCEA) (Professor Gordon Stanley)

One is funded by the ESRC:

• Skills Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) (Professor Ken Mayhew and Dr Geoff Hayward)

Two are Departmental Centres

• Oxford Centre for Sociocultural and Activity Theory Research (OSAT) (Professor Anne Edwards)
• Self-concept Enhancement and Learning Facilitation (SELF) (Professor Herb Marsh)