Education (PhD)

• There are several research topics available for this degree. See below examples of research areas including an outline of the topics, the supervisor, funding information and eligibility criteria:
• A critical analysis of staff experiences of working in the further education (FE) sector in England.
• Academic professional development, change and the impact of technology
• Action Research
• Adult literary and numeracy students and learning identities
• Alternative education – differing provisions and experiences of
• Aspects of social policy (Education, Family, Youth Justice)
• Assessment Practices and Processes
• Assessment for Learning
• Blended Learning
• Children's experiences of the outdoors
• Classroom-based research
• Critical analyses of post-secondary education and lifelong learning, vocationalism and teacher professionalism.
• Critiquing public participation in local decision making: international perspectives in the post-modern era.
• Developing 'professionally loving' practice in work with children and young people: addressing complex needs in 21st century Britain.
• Digital participation of children and young people.
• Doing research with children and young people
• E tutoring
• ECEC workforce
• Education Policy Framing of Muslims
• Education and training for the professions
• Education for sustainability
• Education policy with emphasis on Higher Education
• Educational approaches to preventing extremism amongst young people
• English curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. The focus of such study could be the teaching of English language or literature or of TESOL or TEFL.
• Faculty and Institutional Change
• Feminism and informal education
• Gamification of learning
• Higher Education Practices
• Higher and professional education: education and training for professions, pedagogies
• How do international policies interpret inequality and what is their impact at the national and local level?
• Inequalities in access to higher education
• Inter-professional working and learning
• International education: Pedagogical approaches for global higher education, the effects of globalisation and the knowledge economy
• Investigating criterial features at different CEFR levels 'Language Assessment Literacy' 'Teacher attitudes towards assessment' 'Teacher and student attitudes to Self Assessment'
• Mental Health & Teaching & Learning
• Migration and displacement and their impact on children's and young people's experiences
• Model making as a research tool
• Muslim & State Schools
• Muslim Faith Schools
• On-Line Learning
• Participatory visual research methodology: Ethical and analytic challenges in childhood research.
• Pastoral Care and Inclusion provisions and the increase of paraprofessionals in state school settings.
• Pedagogical and critical issues of social media use in teaching and learning
• Pedagogy and practice
• Pedagogy and practice in education
• Philosophy of Education
• Policy engagement and enactment
• Professional Identity
• Professional Knowledge, Professional Change, Gender and the Professions
• Professional education and reflection
• Professionals and their identities
• Pupil, student and staff resistance
• Religious Education; pedagogy, policy and practice
• Social deprivation and widening participation
• Social identities of children and young people
• Social justice and vocational education and training
• Social justice and vocational education and training
• Social study of children and childhoods
• Teacher Identity
• Teacher education for the FE and Skills sector
• Teacher education in the Further Education and Skills sector
• Teacher education in the Further Education/ Learning and Skills sectors
• Technology and its impact on student and teacher identities
• The Prevent counter-terrorism strategy and education
• The changing nature of post-compulsory education, particularly staff and student experiences of vocational education and training – either historically or in contemporary settings.
• The history and development of youth work/informal education
• The interaction between Educational Policy and the practice of School Leadership
• The lived experience of teachers and learners in post-secondary education and training.
• The political economy of the education and training sector
• Training and Regulation in the Professions
• Translating professional values into practice: navigating identity and boundaries in work with children, young people and communities.
• Vocational education and training experience, policy and practice, including vocational pedagogy.
• Wellbeing Support in Schools
• What factors prevent or encourage adults to enter and complete University studies?
• Young people, ethnic segregation and policy attempts to promote community cohesion
• Young people’s transitions into adulthood, especially their experiences of education and work. I am particularly interested in those wishing to research the lives of young people classified as NEET or at risk of becoming NEET, or those engaged in provisio
• Youth Work with Roma Young People in Yorkshire
• Youth transitions, education and social class
• Youth work innovations/practices
• Youth, multiculturalism and ethnic identity

The main topic areas that can be supervised in the subject area are:

• • Policy
• • Professional Identities
• • Pedagogies

Recent research topics have reflected these groups and include:

• The expectations and experiences of working-class law students at a 'new' university.
• Engaging with learning within the UK HE context: A narrative inquiry of international student experience.
• Postgraduate Study: The Expectations of Students and Course Leaders.
• Problem-based learning in Islamic education in the formal curriculum: A case study of secondary girls' education in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
• The best use of technology to support the learning of part time undergraduates.
• Exploring the Attitudes and Perceptions of Head-Teachers relating to Physical Risky-Play in Four to Eight Year-olds in Three State Primary Schools in Northern England.
• Marginalisation and the white working class: an ethnographic study of NEET young men in a northern inner-city.
• The Impact of primary teachers' pedagogical knowledge and autonomy on the teaching of early reading.
• It's not as straightforward as it sounds. An Action Research Study of a Team of Further Education-Based Teacher Educators and their use of Modelling during a Period of De-Regulation and Austerity.
• An investigation into how to build an effective learning environment for secondary school leaders and managers.
• Problems faced by Libyan Learners of English.
• Youth work's contribution to provision for young people with mental health issues in the borough of Bury, Greater Manchester.
• The impact of a Forest School approach to support children's learning and development.