Becoming a Londoner; A journey from MA to PhD Lauren ...

Becoming a Londoner; A journey from MA to PhD

Lauren Hammond

About me...

*2006: PGCE University of Bristol

*3 years teaching experience (London andNottingham)

*2009: MA Geography and Education (IoE)

*1 year teaching for the Ministry of Educationin Singapore

*Beginning 2010: Part time PhD at the IoEwhilst teaching in London

MA Geography and Education

*Desire to further skills in research

*Hope to gain knowledge and understandingin regards to geography both inside andoutside of the curriculum to inform teaching

*Practical usage as well as theoretical

Dissertation

Communicating Geography

*Questioning ‘what isgeography’

*Focus on linking art(music to geography)

Reading research*Gaining skills in academicreading with specific focus ofGeography and Education

*Literature review onchildren's geographies

Making the Curriculum

*Exploration of key issues incurriculum design

*Analysis of a Scheme ofWork as a curriculum artefact

Issues in Geography and Education

*Key issues which geographyand education face and howthey interlink*Focus on community cohesion

Dissertation

‘An exploration of how year 7 students at The RoyalDocks Community School understand and relate to thecultural landscape of East London’

Successes

*Enjoyable*Linked previous learning fromthe MA (Community Cohesion,Children’s Geographies,Geography and the arts, andbuilt on curriculum planningknowledge)*Linked my personal interestswith academia

Areas for improvement

*Research skills

*Analysis of results

*Structure in academic writing

Why begin a PhD?

*Participatory methodology*Fascination with London*Interest in children’s geographies,community cohesion, cultural identity, culturallandscapes, voice, photography, and educationand curriculum making*Desire to improve my research, analysis andother academic skills*Hope to gain a more holistic view on thesubject area I am working within*Further academic research on culturalidentity and the use of photography withyoung people (as part of the curriculum)

MA dissertation key aims

1) To explore how the children understand and relate to their culturallandscapes.2) To discuss the costs and benefits of using photography as aresearch tool with children.3) To investigate what school geography’s role is in enabling childrento both understand their locality, and actively participate within it.

PhD key questions

*Firstly, how does London as a city create and promote its culturalidentity(s) and peoples understanding of London.*Secondly, how do different children understand their culturallandscape(s) and identity? Does this differ between communities withvarying demographics in London and if so how?*Thirdly, what does the school curriculum (with specific reference to thegeography syllabus) do to enable young people to understand theircultural landscapes?

(The thesis will also use photography as a research tool)

MA - PhD links

Photography and participatory methodology

*Ethical questions as I am working with children *Children’s geographies and research into this area tries to provide young people with an opportunity to speak without fear of judgement

*Thompson (2008) explains that image is not only both a fun and accessible way of learning and exploring issues, but one that activates something primal within us that enables us to associate symbolism, emotion and understanding

Focus on LondonAccording to The Office for National Statistics the population of London in 2007 was 7.6 million, with Forty two per cent of London’s population being Non-White British. The statistics also show that a third of all Londoners were born outside the UK.

*Unique demographics within the UK (ethnic diversity)

*26% of all children live in a house with no work

This means London has a varied, diverse and rapidly evolving demographic.

MA - PhD links

Exploration of the role of school

geography

*Do children have a voice in all classrooms? (they can be threatening places, EAL can be a barrier)

*Does geography build on children’s understanding of their place?Morgan (2001) states that ‘in societies such as Britain, the mass education systems that have developed in this century have tended to see the ‘everyday knowledges’ possessed by children as in need of correction’

Exploration of culture

*Culture shapes place and space, and place and space shape culture –cultural landscapes. By the very definition it links with the people who inhabit a certain place –they affect and are affected by the landscape

*My MA dissertation and PhD will explore children’s understanding of this and their environment. This is significant in that a child’s first experience of geography is the world around them.

References mentioned

*Bonnett, A. (2008) What is Geography? SAGE: London*Morgan, J. (2001) Popular Culture and Geography Educationin International Research in Geographical and EnvironmentalEducation (Volume 10, No.3)*Thompson, P. (2008) Doing Visual Research with Childrenand Young People Routledge

* National Statistics Online ‘Child Poverty’ available at:http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1815(accessed on 07/03/2010) *National Statistics Online‘Population Estimates’ available athttp://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=6 (accessedon 15/02/2010)