Grants and Prizes

Society for Educational Studies National Award 2013

The Society for Educational Studies invites bids from researchers interested in making an original contribution to knowledge in the field of educational studies. The theme for the 2013 National Award is:

Race, Racism and Education

2013 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence.  In the years that followed, many public services were challenged to address ‘institutional racism’.  While the majority of the recommendations of The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report, set out by Sir William Macpherson and his advisors, focused on eliminating racial prejudice and disadvantage in the criminal justice system, several recommendations focused specifically on education.  The education system was required to address the problems of racism – both real and potential – and to take action to prevent its growth. 

The Society for Educational Studies seeks applications up to a maximum of £250,000 from researchers with a strong track record of relevant research and publications who can address one or more of the following questions:

  • How much has changed in education as a result of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and related debates?
  • What is the state of race equality in contemporary education (at local and/or national levels)?
  • Have we achieved a post-racial education system?
  • Are we now in a post-racial state in which fundamental divisions, such as class and gender, have superseded a concern for race inequalities in education?

Eligibility
Principal Investigators applying for the Society for Educational Studies National Award of up to £250,000 must be affiliated with a British university, college or school. The Society for Educational Studies accepts proposals from education institutions and/or researchers from within the United Kingdom.

Proposal Submission Guidelines and Review Process

Principal Investigators are asked to submit a preliminary proposal before midday Friday 14th December 2012 following the guidelines below. Applications will be assessed by the Research Sub-committee of the Society and applicants will be informed by Friday 4th January 2013 whether they have been short-listed. Principal Investigators may subsequently be invited to submit a full proposal by Friday 1st February 2013. If invited to submit a full proposal, researchers will be expected to make a presentation before the Research Sub-committee of the Society for Educational Studies on the morning of Wednesday 6th February 2013.

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Society for Educational Studies Seminar Series 2013

Experimentation or fragmentation: the future of teacher education?

An invitation to present and/or attend at the prestigious 2013 Educational Studies Seminar Series

The overarching intention of the seminar series is to provide an opportunity for senior leaders in teacher education, researchers and practitioners leading and working in the field, as well as policy and decision makers to project a critical, reflective voice during what can only be described as a "breakdown" in teacher education.

The symposium style events will include both theory and exemplification of theory in terms of sharing actual examples of practice. The intention is to include key representatives of ITE partnerships, including those professionals working in schools, teacher educators and researchers. Each day will start with a keynote followed by a round-table approach with up to forty participants, including between six and eight further key contributions.

If you are interested in attending and/or presenting at one or more of the seminars please contact: Kate.Robinson@manchester.ac.uk by 30th May 2013

For more information, please click here.

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2012 Fellowships of the Society for Educational Studies

The Society is pleased to announce the award of two 2012 Fellowships of the Society to Professor Pamela Munn, University of Edinburgh and to the former Director of the Institute of Education, University of London, Professor Geoffrey Whitty, University of Bath for their outstanding contributions to the field of Educational Studies.

Professor Pamela Munn is an internationally renowned researcher. Her main research interests are in discipline in school, inclusion, citizenship, school education policy and, more recently, capacity building in educational research. She has attracted significant research income from research councils, charities and national and local government in Scotland.

She chaired the committee overseeing the Applied Educational Research Scheme in Scotland, 2004-2009, a programme that aimed to increase educational research capacity and develop new forms of knowledge production amongst policy makers, practitioners and researchers. She was Dean of the Moray House School of Education 2002-2007 and was President of the British Educational Research Association 2007-2009.

Professor Munn has had a long-standing interest in working with children’s charities and was Vice-Convenor of Children in Scotland and a member of the Scottish reference group for Barnardo’s. She was awarded the OBE for services to Education in Scotland in 2005. She is currently Convener of the Appeal Board of the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

Professor Geoff Whitty was educated at the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Education, University of London, UK.  He taught in primary and secondary schools before working at Bath University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, King's College London, Bristol Polytechnic and Goldsmiths College, University of London.

He joined the Institute of Education, University of London as the Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education in 1992 and served as its Director between 2000 and 2010.  He is now a Professor in the School of Management at the University of Bath. 

His academic work has been mainly in the sociology of education and education policy studies and his many publications include Sociology and School Knowledge (Methuen, 1985), Making Sense of Education Policy (Sage, 2002) and Education and the Middle Class (Open University Press, 2003), which won the Society of Educational Studies book prize in 2004. He is a past President of the British Educational Research Association and of the College of Teachers and a past Chair of the British Council’s Education and Training Advisory Committee. 

Professor Whitty was a specialist advisor to successive House of Commons education select committees from 2005 to 2012 and he is currently a member of the Board of Ofsted.  In 2009, he received the Lady Plowden Memorial Medal for outstanding services to education and in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2011 he was awarded a CBE for services to teacher education.

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Book prizes awarded in 2012 for the best books published in 2011

The criteria that were used in evaluating 'best book' awards for work published in 2011 are as follows:

  • Quality of research and/or scholarship
  • Originality of analysis and argument
  • Theory/practice relation
  • Quality and accessibility of writing

The quality of the submissions was extremely high. The competition for awards was fierce. A wide range of publishers submitted nominations.

The winners of the 2011 awards are:

Title

Authors

Publisher

Prize

Radical Education and the Common School

Michael Fielding and Peter Moss

Routledge

1st (£2000)

The invention of the secondary curriculum

John White

Palgrave Macmillan

2nd (£1000)

White middle class identities and urban schooling

Diane Reay, Gill Crozier and David James

Palgrave Macmillan

Highly commended (£500)

Beyond the school gates

Coleen Cummings, Alan Dyson, Liz Todd

Routledge

Highly commended (£500)

 

1st prize (£2000)
Radical Education and the Common School
Michael Fielding and Peter Moss have produced a powerful book that makes a case for us to think carefully about the current educational context which seems strongly influenced by markets and managerialism. A democratic person centred education for all is proposed. Stephen Ball declares the book to “necessary – particularly now! It is human and hopeful but at the same time realistic and challenging”.

2nd prize (£1000)
The Invention of the Secondary Curriculum
John White tells with characteristic intelligence and insight the story of the development of the traditional secondary curriculum from 1550 to the present day. Distinctions are made between the knowledge and educational functions of a curriculum and there is a call for a clear identification of aims. It is vital to have this book when so much curriculum planning is so complex and contested. A radical alternative to traditional thinking is sketched.

Highly commended (£500)
Beyond the school gates
Coleen Cummings, Alan Dyson and Liz Todd explore issues about whether schools can provide new services to students, families and communities in order to overcome the effects of disadvantage. The authors thoughtfully explore ideas and issues emerging from extensive international evaluations with illustrations of case studies.

Highly commended (£500)
White middle class identities and urban schooling
Diane Reay, Gill Crozier and David James  have undertaken detailed fieldwork to examine members of middle class families who deliberately choose supposedly ‘ordinary’ and ‘low performing’ secondary schools. There are fascinating discussions about their motives and the experiences that result. They authors make important comments about middle class identity and its formation. 

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Small grants

The Society for Educational Studies offers small grants of up to £10,000. Applicants must be working in the field of Education and will be asked to become members of the SES if they are not already members.

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Annual Book Prizes

For the attention of publishers.

The Society for Educational Studies awards annual Book Prizes for the best books on Education published in the preceding year. The first prize is for £2000, the second for £1000 and we have a highly recommended category which carries an award to the author(s) of £750. First prize is awarded to the author(s) of the book judged to have made the most important contribution to the study of Education in the year under consideration.

The nomination deadline for The 2012 Annual Book Prizes has now passed. The prizes will be presented at the Annual Seminar of the Society for Educational Studies which will be held at The Courthouse Hotel in London on Thursday 15th November 2012.

Publishers who have nominated books in recent years include Continuum, Dunedin, Open University, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, Sage, Trentham, Wiley Blackwell.

The criteria that will be used in evaluating 'best book' awards are as follows:

  • Quality of research and/or scholarship
    The quality of the research upon which a book is based and/or the quality of the scholarship demonstrated in the work should be of fundamental importance. For these reasons textbooks and books of practical advice for professionals on matters such as classroom control etc are not eligible.
  • Originality of analysis and argument
    Works selected for the awards should demonstrate originality of approach e.g. in the topic selected, the data generated, the forms of analysis and the nature of the argument.
  • Theory/practice relation
    Work which is able to connect theoretical and academic considerations in Educational Studies with implications for educational policy and practice will be regarded as of particular importance.
  • Quality and accessibility of writing
    Work which is able to convey complex data, analysis and argument in accessible forms will be at an advantage.

The prizes will be presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for Educational Studies which will be held in London in November 2012. I anticipate being able to tell you the outcomes of the awards in October 2012 and will also send further details of the conference.

I hope that you will be able to make nominations. Please contact me if you would like to discuss any aspects of the Book Prizes.

Members of the Book Prizes Committee

  • Dr. Ghazala Bhatti, University of Southampton, School of Education, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ.
  • Professor Ian Davies, University of York, Department of Education, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD.
  • Professor Jean Murray, School of Education, University of East London, 15 Romford Road, Stratford, London, E15 4PL.
  • Dr. Sue Rogers Institute of Education, University of London, School of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL.
  • Dr. Carlo Raffo School of Education, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL.

2011 Winners

  • 1st prize (£2000)

    Children, their World, their Education
    By Robin Alexander, Michael Armstrong, Julia Flutter, Linda Hargreaves, David Harrison, Wynne Harlen, Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer, Ruth Kershner, John Macbeath, Berry Mayall, Stephanie Northen, Gillian Pugh, Colin Richards, David Utting.
    Routledge.

  • 2nd prize (£1000)

    Education, Asylum and the 'Non-Citizen' Child.
    By Halleli Pinson, Madeleine Arnot and Mano Candappa.
    Palgrave Macmillan

  • Highly commended (£500 each)

    Improving what is learned at university.
    By John Brennan, Robert Edmunds, Muir Houston, David Jary, Yann Lebeau, Michael Osborne, John T.E. Richardson.
    Routledge.
    Equity in Education.
    By Stephen Gorard and Emma Smith.
    Palgrave Macmilan.
    Improving learning in later life.
    By Alexandra Withnall.
    Routledge.

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Society for Educational Studies National Award 2011

The Society for Educational Studies is delighted to announce that the SES National Award 2011 of £200,000 has been made to Professor Gary McCulloch, Professor Gemma Moss and Dr. James Thomas of the Institute of Education, University of London for their project 'The Social Organisation Of Educational Studies: Past, Present and Future'. The project will run for the next two years. The project will map the changing discourses and knowledge structures of educational studies across the United Kingdom in relation to the State, research and education to establish the social organisation of the field as a whole, not solely in terms of ideas but in relation to social and political changes since the establishment of the Standing Conference on Studies in Education (SCSE) in 1951. The SCSE became the Society for Educational Studies in 2000.

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