Please draw this to the attention of anyone who might be interested:
INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
COLLABORATIVE PHD STUDENTSHIP
IN MEDIA/ARTS EDUCATION
The Institute of Education is inviting applications for a full-time
collaborative PhD studentship, funded by the Economic and Social Research
Council, to run from 2001-2004. The studentship will involve work on a
project entitled 'Informal Learning and Communities of Practice: A Case
Study of Arts and Media Education', and will be run in partnership with WAC
Performing Arts and Media College in North London. The studentship will
involve participatory action research on a range of performing arts and
media projects with young people. Students will be expected to negotiate
their own thesis within the framework defined by the research funding.
Context
There is now a growing interest in the role of 'informal learning' as a
means of addressing social exclusion; and the creative arts and media have
been regarded as a particularly valuable resource in this respect. This
project will be based on fieldwork conducted within WAC Performing Arts and
Media College, a youth/community organisation in North London. WAC
specialises in offering courses in a range of art-forms and media for young
people from low-income families. Roughly 60% of its clientele is black
(Afro-Caribbean). In addition to more leisure-based provision for young
children, it provides specialist vocational training for those between 14
and 25; as well as courses aimed specifically at disaffected youth and
those with learning difficulties.
Research Questions
The research will focus specifically on the styles of teaching and learning
that are developed in the context of courses and activities involving 'new'
media (video, web design, music technology) and/or traditional performing
arts with young people. The following questions will be addressed:
1. How do tutors and others working with young people in this context
organise and structure their teaching and learning activities?
2. How do young people perceive and respond to the 'informal' pedagogic
approach of such activities? In what ways might this affect the nature of
the 'education' they receive in this context and how might this differ from
their experiences of 'formal' pedagogies in school or college?
Research methods
The fieldwork will involve a range of methods: observation and participant
observation; interviewing staff and students; gathering examples of student
work; and media-based methods such as photography and video. The researcher
will develop detailed case studies of individual students, and analyse the
planning and implementation of a course or courses, in collaboration with
the regular tutor(s). The analysis may draw on methods developed within
social semiotics, hermeneutics, discourse analysis and critical psychology.
Outcomes and dissemination
Intellectually, this project represents an opportunity to explore some of
the key issues raised in recent work on 'situated learning'. More
practically, the project will seek to inform the development of practice in
arts and media education, both in schools and in informal community-based
contexts. It will also have wider implications for informal learning, for
example in those companies and institutions that have sought to develop
their profile as 'learning organisations'.
The Studentship
Students will receive a maintenance grant, plus an additional contribution
from the partner institution. They will be jointly supervised by Professor
David Buckingham (IoE) and Dr. Julian Sefton-Green (WAC). Details of
current funding levels, and of the collaborative (CASE) studentship scheme
in general, can be obtained from the ESRC's website: www.esrc.ac.uk.
Further information about facilities for research students at the Institute
can be found on its website: www.ioe.ac.uk.
For further details please contact Professor David Buckingham, Centre for
the Study of Children, Youth and Media, Institute of Education, University
of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL. Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 0207 612 6515.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. David Buckingham
Professor of Education
Director, Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media
Institute of Education, University of London
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
England
Phone: +44 207 612 6515
Fax: +44 207 612 6177
WWW: http://www.ccsonline.org.uk/mediacentre
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