British Education Studies Association
Conference 2023
Education in a Changing Society
University of Derby
29 – 30 June
We are delighted to invite you to attend our 18th Annual Conference to be held this year at the University of Derby. Our organisation is proud to support and showcase the work of key scholars within the field of Education Studies as well as promote the development of new and emerging researchers within the discipline. Further information on our keynote speakers and general conference information can be found through the links on this page, including details on how to submit an abstract and to register.
We look forward to you joining us for what will undoubtedly be an exciting and thought-provoking event and hope that you will take this opportunity to become part of our community.
In association with the Annual Education Studies Conference at the Institute of Education, University of Derby.
Keynote Speakers
Professor Gary McCulloch, Institute of Education, London, Faculty of Education and Society, University College London.
Keynote | The School Meals Service in a Changing Society: Aims, Achievements and Limitations
The provision of school meals has undergone significant changes since the earliest national legislation to support it was passed in 1906.This keynote lecture will examine its general aims, achievements and limitations over this time in the context of a changing society. At first provided only permissively in particular local areas, it became a fully national service following the Second World War, the 1944 Education Act and the rise of the Welfare State. Yet by the 1960s it was beginning to be eroded, and by the early 21st century it was again contested and controversial. The lecture will seek to explain the changing position of the SMS over the past century and its implications for today.
Biography
Gary McCulloch is the inaugural Brian Simon professor of history of education at the IOE London, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. His recent publications include Brian Simon and the Struggle for Education (in press 2023), the Bloomsbury Cultural History of Education (general editor, 6 volumes), Transnational Perspectives on Curriculum History (jnternational edition) and A Social History of Educational Studies And Research. He is a past president of the British Educational Research Association and the UK History of Education Society and a previous Editor of the British Journal of Educational Studies and of History of Education. He is currently leading a major ESRC-funded research project on The School Meals Service: past, present – and future?
Dr Jennie Bristow, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies
Keynote | Generational tensions in Higher Education
Debates about academic freedom, freedom of speech, and the construction of knowledge have been part of the University landscape for decades, and at times taken the form of generational conflict. For example, during the campus protests of the late 1960s, students from the youthful ‘Baby Boomer’ generation pitted themselves against the ‘pedagogic gerontocracy’ of traditional academic practices and institutional norms, demanding the right to self-expression and a critical orientation to knowledge. The ‘free speech wars’ currently playing out on campuses in the UK and US are similarly characterised by tensions between students and academics over language, knowledge, and the purpose of the University, but with some significant differences. Younger generations stand accused of promoting an illiberal ‘cancel culture’, while their elders are presented as manipulating the principle of free speech to perpetuate social injustice. In this lecture, sociologist Jennie Bristow uses a generational lens to explore current conflicts in Higher Education, and why these have erupted now.
Biography
Jennie Bristow is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University, and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies at the University of Kent. She is author of a number of books about generational conflict and collaboration, including The Corona Generation: Coming of Age in a Crisis (2020) and Stop Mugging Grandma: The ‘Generation Wars’ and Why Boomer Blaming Won’t Solve Anything (2019); and co-author of Generational Encounters in Higher Education: The Academic-Student Relationship and the University Experience (2020). Bristow is co-editor, with Elisabetta Ruspini, of the new Bristol University Press book series ‘Generations, Transitions and Social Change’.
Dr Nadia Siddiqui, Associate Professor in the School of Education at Durham University
Keynote | Why schools matter?
School is a long-term intervention in children’s lives. Children spend many hours in school where the expectation is that the activities will boost their natural growth and academic potential in the most receptive years of development. However, learning a combination of cognitive and noncognitive skills is also a natural process. Assuming that these only or even mostly occur at school could be a fallacy. How can we “partition” the effect of schooling? This keynote will present the findings of a natural experiment assessing the impact of school on children’s learning and general life experiences in early years of childhood (at age 3 to 8 years of age) by drawing a comparison with children who never or briefly attended school. The presentation will draw on the findings highlight where school can have maximum impact on children’s learning and how some school factors negatively impact on disadvantaged children leading to their exclusion from the main-stream education. Perhaps we need to re-think the purpose, structure and format of schools to make it more relevant and meaningful for children in today’s world.
Biography
Dr Nadia Siddiqui has academic expertise in education research and equity in education. She has led important education research projects contributing evidence for education policy in England. Her research interests are to explore the stubborn patterns of poverty and inequalities through population data sets and large-scale surveys. By using these secondary data resources, she investigates the indicators of disadvantage that determine children’s academic attainment, well-being and happiness, and access to pathways for successful life. Her recent completed research project was British Academy funded study on early child development. The project findings contribute important evidence on the role of school for children’s early years education and development. She is recognised among Top 75 Notable British Pakistani Academics and she is also the Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences.
Programme
Abstracts
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Information
Location
Institute of Education, University of Derby, Kedleston Road Campus, Derby DE22 1GB, United Kingdom
The entrance to the main reception area at Kedleston Road Campus is between the South Tower and the Multi-Faith Centre.
Accommodation
We recommend the following hotels to conference delegates.
Leonardo Hotel Derby, King Street, Derby DE1 3DB
Website: https://www.leonardohotels.co.uk/hotels/derby; Telephone: 01332 621000
1.1 miles from University of Derby, Kedleston Road Campus, Derby DE22 1GB
Premier Inn, Derby City Centre, Cathedral Quarter, Full Street, Derby DE1 3AF
1.3 miles from University of Derby, Kedleston Road Campus, Derby DE22 1GB
Premier Inn, Derby City Centre, (Riverlights), Morledge, Derby DE1 2BB
1.5 miles from University of Derby, Kedleston Road Campus, Derby DE22 1GB
Conference Dinner
- Restaurant: Cosy Club, Royal Building, Victoria Street, Derby DE1 1ES. Weblink www.cosyclub.co.uk, T: 03112 631004.
- Day/time: Thursday 29 June, 7:30pm
- Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options available
- Estimated cost: 3 course meal for £30 (This may vary depending on the meal delegates choose)
- Self-funded (Delegates will be paying for their conference dinner.)
- Please inform the conference organisers that you will be attending the conference dinner.
Local transport options
Taxis
- City Taxis 01332 757575
- Albatross Cars 01332 345345
- Western Taxis 01332 331331
- Uber Derby: book via Uber App
Buses
Uni bus route U1 – map
Uni bus route U1 – timetable (holiday service)
Alternative bus routes
Walking
Derby Cathedral to University of Derby Kedleston Road Campus
Luggage
A luggage room is available. It is a safe location, but luggage will be left at the owner’s risk.