In this episode we are joined by Marie-Pierre Moreau is Professor in Sociology of Education, Work and Inequalities and Education Research Lead at Anglia Ruskin University, Dr Kate Hoskins who is a Reader in Education at Brunel University, and Dr Ellen McHugh who is a Lecturer in Education at Brunel University.

We discuss the impact of expanding education on the transition from PhD to academic in the UK. Focusing on supervisors as gatekeepers, with the ability to give and withdraw opportunities this discussion focuses on how the equity and privilege related to gender, social class and ethnicity play out and are mediated by doctoral supervisors in access to academic positions.

In this episode we are joined by Thomas Cowhitt, a Lecturer of Educational Change and Collaborative Improvement with the School of Education at the University of Glasgow.

We discuss the partnership among government actors, practitioners, and the public for the purpose of school improvement and how accountability politics in education has undermined the professionalism of educators. Using social network analysis this study tracks activities of a classroom practitioner as they scaled up their own maths initiative across a regional education system in England in a journey of school improvement.

In this episode we are joined by Elvis ResCue from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He is sociolinguist with a research focus on Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Bilingual Education, Language Planning and Development; and Language Contact in multilingual contexts.

Our discussion takes us into the social and linguistic experiences of students and teachers in multilingual classrooms, specifically focusing on Ghana. Ghana has about 79 indigenous languages which lends to a diverse classroom environment. Through an interdisciplinary lens we discuss the experiences of students and teachers, the country's socio-linguistic situation itself, and how these factors aid in formulating language in education policy.

Additional resources:

Further links       

• Intersectionality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality    
• Bell Hooks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks      
• Kimberlé W. Crenshaw: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberl%C3%A9_Crenshaw     
• The Reformation Project: A faith-based organisation in USA, which promotes racial justice and equality generally through intersectionality. The values of the organisation are “Love for God”, “Love for the Bible”, and “Love for the Church”, and these values are promoted through Leadership Development Cohort programs and conferences. url: https://reformationproject.org/values/.

References & Bibliography

• Agbozo, E. G. & ResCue, E. (2020). Educational language policy in an African country: Making a place for code-switching/translanguaging. Applied Linguistics Review. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2020-2002.        
• Bonacina, F. & Gafaranga, J. (2011). ‘Medium of instruction’ vs. ‘medium of classroom interaction’: Language choice in a French complementary school classroom in Scotland. International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, Vol. 14(3), pp. 319-334.        
• Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. (2011). Separate and flexible bilingualism in complementary schools: Multiple language practices in interrelationship. Journal of Pragmatics, Vol. 43(5), pp. 1196-1208.        
• Creese, A. & Blackledge, A. (2010). Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching? The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 94(1), pp. 103-115.        
• Crenshaw, K. (July 1991). "Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color". Stanford Law Review. Stanford Law School. Vol. 43 (6), pp. 1241–1299. doi:10.2307/1229039. JSTOR 1229039.         
• Cho, S.; Crenshaw, K. W. & McCall, L. (2013). "Toward a field of intersectionality studies: theory, applications, and praxis". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, special issue: Intersectionality: Theorizing Power, Empowering Theory. University of Chicago Press. Vol.38(4), pp. 785–810. doi:10.1086/669608. JSTOR 10.1086/669608.         
• García, O. & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. England: Palgrave Macmillan.         
• García, O. &...

In this episode we are joined by Steven Courtney from the University of Manchester. He is a critical sociologist of educational leadership and policy with a research focus on the interplay of structure, agency and power.

Our discussion takes us into the grammar of schooling and why it has been so hard to change. Looking at England and the US, we discuss the structures of schooling, including age grading and subject sorting through periods of time as products of meaning.

Additional resources:

Courtney, S. J., & Mann, B. (2021). Thinking with ‘lexical’features to reconceptualize the ‘grammar’of schooling: Shifting the focus from school to society. Journal of Educational Change, 22(3), 401-421.

Edward Vickers is Professor of Comparative Education at Kyushu University in Japan, where he also holds the UNESCO Chair on Education for Peace, Social Justice and Global Citizenship. In this episode we discuss the implications of Hong Kong’s National Security Law and the focus on education in navigating this new law. The impact on what it means to be hongkongnese under the Chinese regime is discussed as well as the future implications for Hong Kong and what this could mean in the wider outlook of Chinese governance.

Articles accompanying this episode

Vickers, E. (2022). Smothering Diversity: Patriotism in China’s School Curriculum Under Xi Jinping. Journal of Genocide Research, 24(2), 158-170.

Vickers, E., & Morris, P. (2022). Accelerating Hong Kong’s reeducation:‘mainlandisation’, securitisation and the 2020 National Security Law. Comparative Education, 58(2), 187-205.

In this episode we are joined by Ellen Vanderhoven, a doctoral student at the School of Education in the University of Glasgow whose research focuses on young people’s post-apprenticeship transitions in Coahuila, Mexico, with a particular focus on inequalities of class and gender.

Our discussion takes us into the changing world of TVET (technical and vocational education and training) and how global organisations, policies, and schools are introducing more inclusive forms of education through apprenticeships. We explore what an apprenticeship is, why it's being introduced in schools, and how this vocational training is being used to overcome inequalities within communities.

Additional resources:

Seminar: "Comparative analysis of international organisations’ discourses on apprenticeship"

Blog on apprenticeships during the pandemic: https://www.eppenetwork.org/post/youth-transitions-in-the-midst-of-pandemic-what-role-for-apprenticeships-in-mexico

Book chapter by colleagues based on the project's research: Valiente, O., López-Fogués, A., Fuentes, H., & Rosado, R. (2020). Evaluating dual apprenticeship effects on youth employment: A focus on the mechanisms. In Comparative Vocational Education Research (pp. 163-180). Springer VS, Wiesbaden. 

Project website: https://dualapprenticeship.org/

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Shanshan Jiang to discuss the racism, xenophobia, and other forms of exclusion international students are subjected to when attending university in the United States. The resurgence of nationalism and the increased targeting of students of colour in academic, residential, and social spaces is explored alongside the navigation of predominantly white campuses by international students who are objectified as capital and diversity signifiers. The relationship between students, teachers, and policy implications are discussed.

Balibar, E. 2007. “Is There A 'neo-Racism'?” Race and Racialization: Essential Readings 83–88. (A full text of this chapter is available at the above link within Google Books).

Fries-Britt, Mwangi, and Peralta. 2014. “Learning Race in a U.S. Context: An Emergent Framework on the Perceptions of Race among Foreign-Born Students of Color.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 7.1: 1–13. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-09286-001.

Jiang, Shanshan. 2020. Diversity without Integration? Racialization and Spaces of Exclusion in International Higher Education, British Journal of Sociology of Education. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2020.1847635.

Khalid, A and Snyder, J. 2021. "Don't Mistake Training for Education". Inside Higher Ed. Available at https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2021/04/29/colleges-should-focus-education-more-training-about-dei-issues-opinion.  

Her seminar: Diversity without Integration? Racialization and Spaces of Exclusion in International Higher Education  https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/education/research/elp/news/headline_817843_en.html

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Yuwei Xu from the School of Education at the University of Nottingham. Yuwei completed his doctoral studies at the University of Glasgow.

We discuss his ongoing projects which relate to gender issues and EDI (equality, diversity, and inclusion) in early childhood education (ECE). The roles of educators and staff composition are explored along with integration of gender-sensitivity with cultural reflexivity. We touch on social norms and how policies might empower opportunities for educators to change the heteronormative discourses in ECE.

Additional resources:

The Fawcett Society. (2020). UNLIMITED POTENTIAL. Report of the Commission on Gender Stereotypes in Early Childhood. Available at: https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/unlimited-potential-the-final-report-of-the-commission-on-gender-stereotypes-in-early-childhood

OECD (2019), Good Practice for Good Jobs in Early Childhood Education and Care. OECD Publishing, Paris. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1787/64562be6-en.

Xu, Y. (2021). Challenging gender stereotypes through gender-sensitive practices in early years education and care. Early Education Journal, (93), 10-12. Available at: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10122280/

[University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Education - Research - ELP - News - ELP Seminar Series with Dr Yuwei Xu 17/11/21](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/education/research/elp/news/headline_817806_en.html)

**Disrupting heteronormative discourses in early childhood education contexts through gender-sensitive and culturally-reflexive approaches**