News archive - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004
Therapy Culture debated on 'Moral Maze'
Professor Kathryn Ecclestone, from the School of Education, was on the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Moral Maze’ recently to talk about therapy culture.
The programme is a combative, provocative and engaging live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories.
You can listen to the programme here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qk11
Students concerned about the quality of their communities new report reveals
Professor James Arthur, carried out a study to explore the attitudes, dispositions and values of students in the Hodge Hill Constituency.
Most 14-16 year old students in the six schools of the Hodge Hill constituency in Birmingham are concerned about values and character and about the quality of their communities and the society in which they are growing up, according to the report ‘The Values and Character Dispositions of 14-16 Year Olds’ which was launched on Monday 9th November 2009.
Professor Arthur revealed that “The findings of this study are consistent with other research in this area, pointing towards the need for character and values education to assume a more central role in the education system as a complement to the acquisition of academic skills and qualifications,”
The launch event was hosted by Liam Byrne MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, at Westminster Abbey. “Our young people confront a ‘power failure’; they have no-one to help deliver sufficient servings of inspiration, steadiness and sheer savoir faire to make it on and up in life,” Liam Byrne observed.
Students in Hodge Hill live in one of the most socially and economically deprived areas in the UK; many of them come from underprivileged backgrounds. The local community provides very few public amenities to stimulate the development of character skills, with few public libraries, community centres, youth clubs or sporting accessible to young people.
The research involved collaboration between Professor James Arthur with Dr. Robert Harding and Dr. Ray Godfrey, from Canterbury Christ Church University. The project was funded by the John Templeton Foundation and by UK based charitable foundations.
Experts debate therapy culture
The School of Education’s Professor Kathryn Ecclestone is taking part and producing a session on ‘therapy culture’ at this year’s Battle of Ideas – an annual festival comprising debates and discussions confronting society’s big issues and unresolved questions.
Kathryn will debate if counselling can be used as a suitable response to rising unemployment in the face of recession, at a national conference on 31 October, in London.
The University of Birmingham is sponsoring the session which is likely to attract hundreds of people.
According to recent research, although more adults and young people like to talk about their emotions compared to the past, and think this is a good thing, there is no evidence that they are using higher levels of therapeutic support. The findings reveal that fears of a ‘therapy culture’ are unfounded.
Professor Ecclestone, who joined the University of Birmingham in September 2009, says she is pleased to be part of the University’s strong commitment to lively public debate.
“As a new professor of Education and Social Inclusion, I am very excited to work for a university with this commitment at a time when public debate is needed more than ever to address pressing social and educational problems,” she reveals.
For further details about the festival please go to www.battleofideas.org.uk
Golf Management Girls Sport Scholarship Success!
The School of Education is proud to announce that five female students all studying Applied Golf Management Studies (AGMS) have been awarded scholarships!
World Student Matchplay Champions Lucy Williams, Sian James, Lauren Spray and Charlotte Hope along with fresher Katie Burman have all been awarded scholarships from The Talented Athlete Scheme (TASS).
The Government funded programme which represents a unique partnership between sport and higher and further education has developed to help athletes achieve their best.
As part of their TASS support the golfers will receive individualised strength and conditioning support, psychology and nutrition advice, physiotherapy and sports medicine support, and much needed funding for coaching, equipment and tournament expenses. In addition, they will receive lifestyle support, and the University of Birmingham will provide them with free access to the gym.
Professor Stephen Gorard leads research suggesting Teachers pets are still rife in England
Teenagers in England think their teachers are more likely to have favourites and be biased against them than teenagers in other countries, a study led by Stephen Gorard at the School of Education has found.
The study of 14,000 14- and 15-year-olds from England, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Japan, Italy and France for a new book, Equity in Schools, which will be published in December.
Stephen Gorard said boys and girls were equally likely to say their teachers had favourites and were biased against them.
Read how this research was reported by The Guardian, Telegraph and ATL, the education union
Listen to Sthephen's interview on the Guardian Daily podcast from the 4th of August 2009
Professor Gary Thomas has written a feature article in the Times Higher Education.
In search of singular insight, THE, 9 July 2009
Social sciences have advanced little because inquiry and discovery are stifled by 'theory' and 'the search for order' in the academy. Gary Thomas says we need to break away from the pattern.
The Nobel prizewinning economists with their clever formulae proved to know nothing: they failed to see anything coming. The sun was out, the sky was blue. And with their mind-boggling formulae they furnished reasons why the party would continue. They were wrong. Not only were they wrong, but we believed them, and it is a disgrace that they should have been lauded by universities and Nobel prize committees alike for talking nonsense.
Read Gary Thomas' article online or download the article as a pdf file [163 KB, opens new window].
Victory opens doors for Birmingham student
University of Birmingham student Sian James has proved equally clever on the golf course by winning the prestigious ladies R&A Scholars Tournament at the world famous St Andrews golf course.
Her victory - earned with a three-under-par 54 total of 219 across the Old Course, earns her a start at a Ladies European Tour event later in the summer as well as securing her selection as a member of the British Universities team.
I'm ecstatic about that. It was an ambition to win and try to get some Ladies European Tour experience, because that's where I want to be eventually, said Sian, who is a first-year student on the BA in Applied Golf Management Studies a unique degree programme delivered in partnership with the Professional Golfers Association (PGA).
Martin Toms, School of Education at the University of Birmingham added We are delighted with Sians success truly remarkable for a first year student at the very start of her career. Sian will be able to build on this success with the knowledge that shes also not only proving to be one of the shining golf stars of the future, but that her career aspirations will also have a firm foundation with a unique degree from a prestigious university.
As well as satisfying your more usual entry requirements for an UG course, students must also meet a golf handicap as stipulated by the PGA (before A level results) in the year of application. Currently these are 4.4 or better for men and 6.4 or better for women.
This course provides you with the skills to be a highly qualified golf professional - able to influence and promote the game throughout the world. Successful students often find employment as PGA-qualified professionals; new materials and equipment development; event, tour and facility management as well as sports science support.
For more information about the BA in Applied Golf Management Studies contact the Admissions tutor: Dr Martin Toms,Tel.:: +44 (0)121 415 8392/8285 or Email: m.r.toms@bham.ac.uk
Visit by German parliamentarians
On March 25, 2009, 15 German parliamentarians paid a visit to the School of Education. They were members of the Committee on Education, Youth and Families of the Berlin House of Representatives (a committee established by Senate of Berlin) and they represented a number of different political parties. The initiative for this visit came from the parliamentarians themselves. The main purpose of their visit to Birmingham was to gain first hand insights into the nature and scope of educational provision in the UK for bilingual students from linguistic minority groups. Their three-day programme also included visits to several schools in the city.
At the University, they were hosted by members of the MOSAIC Centre for Research on Multilingualism and of the Centre for International Education Research (CIER). A seminar had been organised to showcase the range of research on linguistic and cultural diversity currently being conducted within these two Research Centres. Three members of staff spoke fluent German so, with the help of the interpreter from Berlin, the event was conducted bilingually.
Congratulations to Paul Warmington. Paul has been selected as an Associate for the Sociology, Anthropology and Politics subject network of the Higher Education Academy.
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Congratulations to Ben Clements, who has just been awarded his PhD (undertaken at the Department of Government, University of Essex).
As an added bonus, Ben's thesis, entitled "The British Electorate and Europe, 1983 - 2005", has won the Arthur McDougall Fund Dissertation Prize for "Elections, Electoral systems or Representation". It is awarded by the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom.
Sarah Parsons has been awarded 300k as part of a 1.65m FP7 project: Communication and Social Participation: Collaborative Technologies for Interaction And Learning (COSPATIAL). In addition to the School of Education at Birmingham, the project involves partners from the Universities of Nottingham, Haifa and Bar-Ilan and is led by a research institute (Foundazione Bruno Kessler) in Trento, Italy. The project runs for 3 years from Feb 1st 2009 and will explore the use of innovative technologies for supporting social skills and collaborative working for children with and without autism.
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