The TILTED Research Group brings together teachers and researchers who want to ensure that future language teachers develop professional knowledge around the different ways in which one’s identity is constructed and how those ways may create sites of privilege and marginalisation. We believe that embedding an intersectionality perspective in the language teacher education curriculum could be a powerful and sustainable way of supporting teachers and creating inclusive practices.
TILTED members have been working on a research concept to develop a research grant application for ESRC. The placement will entail the active participation in meetings and/for the co-drafting of a fully-fledged application.
Below, information about the proposed research is provided for context. Framed in participatory action research, the proposed three-year long research will have these aims:
(1) To examine the potential for schools in Scotland to become catalysts for individual, institutional, and community empowerment by spearheading cross-curricular projects centred on literacies and social justice. These projects will provide students with the opportunity to critically examine deep-seated inequities and discrimination related to social class, ethnicity, and gender in their communities, which may contribute to closing the attainment gap.
(2) To explore how these institutional projects, grounded in literacies, can serve as a situated and sustainable source of professional development for teachers in the realm of social justice in education and social justice pedagogy.
The research questions are designed to contribute to transformative educational experiences that prioritise recognising and addressing discrimination and inequities, with the potential for impact that extends beyond formal education:
- How can educational and community transformation be harnessed in PAR-driven cross-curricular school projects that use literacies to address discrimination and inequity based on social class, ethnicity, and gender?
- How can these initiatives enhance the capacity for sustainable social justice activism on an individual, institutional, and community level?
- How can such projects contribute to closing the attainment gap in Scotland?
- How can teachers’ sustained engagement in these projects facilitate their situated professional knowledge of social justice in education and social justice pedagogy?
Key activities the intern will do:
- Conducting a literature review to justify the proposal
- Creating a repository of key research items (e.g., articles)
- Drafting the “vision” (500 words), the “data management sharing” (500 words), and the “ethics” (500 words) sections of the application
- Co-drafting and/or providing feedback on other sections (e.g., methodology) of the application
- Proofreading and formatting the application
- Organising a networking webinar connected to the application
