EDnews Education Department news

Including Religious Studies, Languages and Translation

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ISSUE 2, APRIL 2013

Editorial Team

Debbie Jack

Leena Robertson

Elena Aliferi

Annabelle Leaver

Sam Reynolds

Welcome to EDnews This is the second edition of EDnews and comes at the end of what has been a very challenging term for everyone. Even though we have all been very busy with day to day teaching, research and administration there have been many outstanding achievements across the department.

The Research Seminar series continues to flourish and some very high profile and interesting speakers have contributed to the events. Well done Spyros and Leena for organising these.

Victoria and I have now allocated all the research funds to support a wide range of activity and involving many members of staff in the department. Victoria will report more fully on this in our department meeting on Monday 15th April. Please do make every effort to come as I will be updating everyone on developments in the School and Department.

I'm not sure when you will see this newsletter but I would like to wish everyone a restful and peaceful Easter break.

Best Wishes

Debbie Jack Head of Education

Updates from Dr Carmel Clancy (HoD)

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The Department Welcomes ‘new’ Colleagues

After many years teaching in schools across London and some time teaching abroad it was time to take on a different type of challenge. It has been exciting to work with both the Primary Education team and Education Studies team because it has allowed me to increase my own subject knowledge, work with a wider number of students and staff and vary my own teaching experiences.

Alongside my love of teaching, coming to Middlesex University has meant I can pursue my desire to study further and I am currently completing my MSc in Child Development. Outside of work, I love to travel as much as possible, I play netball and go running a lot and you'll generally always find me with a book in my hand.

I'm looking forward to all the learning opportunities I have yet to experience and to completing the year so I am not such a 'newbie' anymore!

Rebecca Lerman Primary Education & Education Studies

A passion for understanding children and how they develop led me straight to the door of Middlesex University to work as a visiting lecturer.

I have spent this last academic year enjoying working alongside the team in the Education and Early Childhood studies area where working as part of an enthusiastic team has been delightful.

I am also Director of Tomorrow’s Child, a company that specializes in research and film production (it keeps me very busy!). I am also Director of Parentchannel.tv which is an online TV channel with over two hundred films to help parents and carers.

I’m now exploring starting a PHD at Middlesex so I hope to be staying around next year!

Jacqueline Harding Education and Early Childhood Studies

I have been part of the Primary Education team at Middlesex University since September and already feel a valued member thanks to the warm welcome from all my new colleagues. I came from an extremely busy role as a teacher leader for the Every Child Counts national programme developing specialist maths intervention teachers across 11 London local authorities. I combined this with my work as an advisor for school improvement in mathematical attainment for the London Borough of Barnet and as a member of the development team for Numicon.

I am passionate about the numerate child and have a particular interest in working with children who are experiencing specific difficulties in the learning of mathematics.

In my spare time I battle with homework and exams with my own 3 teenage children or climb mountains and trek the wilderness in search of peace!

Helen Farmery Primary Education I have worked in Childcare and Education for over twenty six years within a variety of roles teaching in nurseries, schools, FE and HE across London. Nine years ago I joined a college in Surrey as a curriculum manager for Early Years Foundation degrees, diplomas and training. I also set up EYPS pathways in partnerships with local providers. I enjoy working with mature students returning to study and have written a few ‘Transition Programmes’ into HE to support their academic journey.

The last three years have offered me the opportunity to work freelance for my very small company ‘Emerald Early Years Childcare & Education Ltd. I am undertaking an EdD and am in second my year of study. I have two grown up children, and live near Epsom. I like cycling, hiking and scuba diving although not at the same time!

I’d like to say a big thank you to everybody in Building 9 for such a warm welcome.

Angela Scollan Education and Early Childhood Studies

Updates from Dr Carmel Clancy (HoD)

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Reports from the Directors of Programmes

Middlesex Interpreting and Translation Seminars

This term, Interpreting and Translation staff hosted two very well attended guest lecture events (our

Middlesex Interpreting and Translation Seminars) on different aspects of Interpreting and Translation

studies, ranging from issues in legal interpreting to questions of poetry translation.

On 7 March 2013, Monica Zhekov, a practising legal interpreter and translator who is undertaking DProf

research at Middlesex, talked about ‘Working effectively as an interpreter and a translator in legal

settings’. Monica’s insightful presentation focused on issues of ensuring quality in the translation of legal

texts and developing specialised glossaries by means of a user-friendly software (TLex).

During the second part of the evening, Simona Negroni, who works as a Localisation Account Manager at

Deluxe Digital Studios in London, gave a presentation entitled ‘Localisation – more than just

translation?’ Simona’s highly informative talk included an overview of the multi-billion pound localisation

industry and focused on translation-related issues in localising products such as advertisements, games,

software and websites.

Both presentations prompted a number of questions from the audience. Monica Zhekov, who will teach a

module on our new MA Translation, said: “I am delighted I had the opportunity to talk about my research.

I hope my presentation has given some food for thought.”

The two guest lectures on 14 March 2013 were given by Dr Margherita Laera, a Leverhulme Early Career

Fellow in Drama at the University of Kent, and acclaimed poet and translator Dr Martyn Crucefix.

Margherita, who had started her teaching career at Middlesex, and taught a number of our BA

Translation modules two years ago, discussed issues of transculturation and domestication in

translation. On the basis of her new book, Reaching Athens: Community, Democracy and Other

Mythologies in Adaptations of Greek Tragedy (Peter Lang, 2013), Margherita’s inspiring lecture

particularly addressed the ways in which contemporary revivals of Greek tragedy produce and perpetuate

the myth of ‘classical’ Greece as the origin of Europe.

Martyn Crucefix, who is well known for his translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies which was

hailed as “a milestone of translation” and as “unlikely to be bettered for very many years” (Hannah Salt)

when it was published in 2007, talked about his new translation of Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus

(Enitharmon Press, 2012). Martyn’s lecture provided a fascinating insight into his translation of the 55

sonnets Rilke had produced in an outburst of creativity in just a couple weeks in early 1922. From

Martyn’s talk and the selection of translated sonnets presented to the audience, there can be no doubt

that Philip Pullman’s verdict of Martyn’s new Rilke translation hits the nail on its head: “This translation

will have, and keep, a place on my shelves where all the poetry lives.”

Margherita and Martyn’s lectures prompted a lively discussion ranging from issues of domestication and

foreignisation to translation of obscurity in poetry, and adaption/versioning.

Our Middlesex Interpreting and Translation Seminars will continue after the Easter breaks with guest

lectures on subtitling and conference interpreting.

Updates from Dr Carmel Clancy (HoD)

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A stopover in Singapore at Modern Montessori International was a particularly rewarding visit as I joined the final class of our Year 3 BA Early Childhood Studies. I had the pleasure of observing presentations where students impressively compared Singaporean and UK policy and practice and in some cases offered comprehensive coverage. These students can take much pride in their achievements as they are full time practitioners and attend classes on Friday evening until 10pm and Saturday. If their final wish is fulfilled we can look forward to celebrating with them at graduation here in July.

Beth Gallagher

BA Early Childhood Studies team: Open University Hong Kong

Celebratory moment in Singapore: BA Early Childhood Studies Class of 2013

BA Early Childhood Studies team: Open University Hong Kong

Secondary Education

The students have been on their block placements this term and staff have been busy visiting them in our partnership schools as well as recruiting students for next year’s courses.

We had a visitor from Australia with us recently for four days studying how we do Business Studies Teacher Training in the UK. She wrote that the course leader is running an excellent programme and was very impressed by the way he sensitively leads discussion so that student teachers thoroughly analyse their own practices, improve their performance and develop to their full potential. She was able to accompany Lech and observe one student teacher on his second placement. Following the lesson, she observed that Lech led an excellent extended discussion with the student teacher and his school-based supervisor. The discussion centered on “pupil progression”, which is a major aspect of the assignment that the student teachers are currently completing.

Meanwhile all the secondary team have been preparing for our quinquennial review on May 1st going.

Preparations are going well and we are looking forward to a good meeting and welcoming back some old faces for the day.

Eddie Ellis

Reports from the Directors of Programmes

I visited the team in February 2013 to attend the Board of Studies and to assist with paperwork for local accreditation of the programme. The team, highly qualified and holding relevant professional knowledge, provide lively interactive workshop style classes in which the students (and I!) were clearly engaged, participating and enjoying learning! It is proving to be a delightful collaboration and shows great promise for growth and a lasting relationship.

Updates from Dr Carmel Clancy (HoD)

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With the advent of the Internet and the consequential ease of knowledge transfer worldwide, the potential of people with Down syndrome is no longer hidden from countries that fail to resource for them. In Russia proactive and forward thinking disability awareness groups are shouting from the rooftops of the hospitals that continue to persuade the new mother to 'leave it here and go and try again'. The 30 year Inclusion journey that the UK has been on since the Warnock Report in the 1970s still has a distance to travel, but we are light years ahead of Russia and much of Eastern Europe, and many educationalists there are impatient. They want what we have here, now!

It is in front of this backdrop that I have been working closely with teachers in Russia now for several years. On the 8th of November in a small room with video conferencing facilities in The Grove, I ran a five hour workshop on the complexities of early mathematics and the particular difficulties it presents to children with poor working memory. Although I was on my own I felt far from alone. At the other end of the video links were participants from the University of Kaluga near Moscow and the University of Novosibirsk in Siberia. 80, deep thinking, engaged teachers and academics taking part in hands on activities set up by myself and interpreted brilliantly by colleagues in Moscow.

Three weeks later I did leave the campus and travelled to Kiev in the Ukraine to run a one day conference at the University of Pedagogical Studies. I had been invited by Down Syndrome Ukraine but people attended from as far away as Kazakhstan and Georgia. Scarily the press was also there. Either there was very little news in the Ukraine that day or they really are trying to raise awareness of the potential of people with disabilities, as I found myself being interviewed by several TV and radio stations and appearing on National News that evening. They were particularly interested in Numicon, a multi sensory approach to learning and teaching mathematics for whom I am part of the development team. The children with Down syndrome that some parents had brought along stole the show thank goodness! See them on these news links... http://1tv.com.ua/ru/news/2012/11/30/31057 http://5.ua/newsline/183/20/98549/

Helen Farmery

The potential of knowledge transfer via video link cannot be overestimated. No time delay and sharp images worked as if we were all in the same room; from North London to the heart of Siberia, staff INSET without leaving the campus!

Working with SEN/D groups in Russia and the Ukraine

Updates from Dr Carmel Clancy (HoD)

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Visitors from the Netherlands – Friday 1st February 2013

A party of Dutch visitors came on Friday 1st February from Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle. The party was led by Jan van Stormbroek who works as a consultant in ICT and Education. The party came to visit the BETT exhibition and to renew their acquaintance with us at Middlesex University (they visited two years ago). They are a group of senior teachers training to be head teachers and had a wide range of interests in education. We provided a busy and interesting day of activities including a session on SEN in teacher training led by Ross Cotter. A small group of PGCE English students joined the session to talk about their experiences of SEN on the course and in school. The School of Science and Technology gave a tour

of the robotics laboratory and provided the opportunity for some hands on experience and demonstrations of their work in robotics. We are already arranging another visit next year and hoping to do some virtual collaborative teaching during the BA Primary cross curricular ‘River’ project in January 2014. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making the day such a success, the group were very complimentary about our teams.

Debbie Jack

Dr Charmian Kenner visited Middlesex University on Tuesday 5th February 2013 to present a Research Seminar on the topic of London schools and bilingual learners. Dr. Kenner is a Lecturer in Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research focuses on bilingualism, literacy and family learning. She has led ESRC-funded studies at Goldsmiths on early biliteracy, intergenerational learning between young children and grandparents, and bilingual learning.

The seminar generated high attendance and enthusiasm from the whole department. The session was particularly inspiring and informative for those students on the PGCert Teaching in Supplementary schools programme. The seminar was a great success and all those who attended expressed a high level of interest within the Bilingual Education / Supplementary Schools agenda.

Fusun Dedezade

Dutch Visitors

Perspectives in Education Research Seminar

Perspectives in Education Research Seminar

Updates from Dr Carmel Clancy (HoD)

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On reflection of our trip to the Royal Academy of Arts on Tuesday 5th March, we felt this was a great

opportunity to get involved with our PG students outside of their comfort zone of the classroom

setting. It was great to see how they adapted to the gallery and began connecting with the

surroundings. The day itself began with group discussions on

certain pieces of art from modern abstract to 19th century

portraits. Engaging with the students, we felt it was a great

opportunity to get to know them and see how they have

developed through the course so far.

Groups were then split into two, with one being given a tour of

the gallery and the Manet exhibition and the other getting

involved with a portrait workshop. The students seemed to

connect with the exhibition and the information they were

around. The workshop involved working with chalk to develop

self-portraits. This was a fun activity for everyone and it seemed

every student put all their efforts into their pictures. This was a

chance for all three of us to not only do our own portraits but to

engage with the group and work on individual relationships with

students.

‘Students left the Royal Academy with some inspirational ideas

for art lessons to use in our future practice, particularly self portraiture.’

William Kimber, PGCE Primary Education

The experience of the day developed both an understanding of not only art but also the way in

which students respond to this type of learning. It has been very beneficial for all of us to build

relationships with these students and also get to see the range of teaching that is provided to them.

Sam, Elena, Annabelle

PGCE Visit to the Royal Academy of Arts

Updates from Dr Carmel Clancy (HoD)

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Cortese, Delia 'Women's contribution to the transmission of Sunni learning in Fatimid Egypt' at the peer-reviewed MESA (Middle East Studies Association of America) annual conference held in Denver, USA, (17th-20th November 2012) as part of a panel sponsored by The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London.

The paper will be published by the Institute in a book on new directions in the field of Fatimid studies.

Cortese, Delia, ‘Voices of the Silent Majority: the Transmission of Sunni Learning in Fāṭimid Ismā‘īlī Egypt’, Jerusalem

Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 39, 2013.

With S. Calderini ‘The architectural patronage of the Fāṭimid queen-mother Durzān (d. 385/995): an interdisciplinary

analysis of literary sources, material evidence and context of her building activity’, in D. Talmon-Heller and K. Cytryn-

Silverman (eds.), Material Evidence and Narrative Sources, Interdisciplinary Studies for the History of Islamic Societies,

Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2013.

Lazar, Gillian. and Barnaby, Beverly (forthcoming) ‘Working with grammar as a tool for making meaning’ in Lillis, T., Harrington, K., Lea, M. and Mitchell, S. (Eds) Working with Academic Literacies: Research, Theory, Design (Parlor Press). Longo, Abele Luciano Nota Sabatella’s poetry collection Dentro. Lucaniart. San Severino Lucano (Italy), 2013. Nadia Esposito’s art book Illustrando il Don Chisciotte – Viaggio nel fantastico mondo del Cavaliere errante. Edizioni Accademia di Terra d’Otranto, Collana ARTEMISIA, Calimera (Italy), 2013.

Consultancy work with Chase Farm School; Continuing his work with the Association of Japanese Theatres, (Taylor, Ken) Linda Whitworth contributed to the All Party Parliamentary Group second oral evidence session about Primary ITE in RE on 16th January, and is quoted in the APPG document “The Truth Unmasked.” Linda also ran a seminar funded by Culham St. Gabriel Trust at Middlesex in November 2012 which has led to planning a National Conference on Primary RE in ITE for November 2013. Victoria de Rijke has a Memorial article ‘Your Tern Now My Tern Later: A Tribute to the Outlaw Writer Russell Hoban’ for the Children's Literature in Education Journal, Vol.45, 2013.

Lifelong Learning Programme; Comenius Regio Partnership raising the academic attainment of Turkish Speaking pupils through new pedagogical approaches developed collaboratively by the Ministry of Education, Ankara, Gazi University Ankara, London Borough of Enfield Education and Children’s services and Middlesex University. (Dedezade, Kelami and Dedezade, Fusun). Leading Partners in English as an Additional Language Programme (LP EAL) has been developed on the MDX EAL Resource Bank-wiki link (Dedezade, Fusun).

Visit to the Shri Swaminaryan Mandir

On Monday 18th March the BA Year 2 Primary and Early Years student teachers visited the Shri Swaminaryan Mandir in Neasden, where they were introduced to Hindu beliefs and practices and observed an aarti ceremony. This visit is part of their training to teach Religious Education in Primary schools and encourages them to develop their own knowledge and understanding, take their own classes on visits to places of worship and help children to engage with what it means to belong to a religious tradition.

Linda Whitworth

Publications from members of the Department

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Perspectives in Education Research Seminar 23rd April 15:00-16.30 BG11 London Centre for Social Studies Turkish Education in the European landscape

Departmental News and Achievements

The Department of Education, School of Health and Education, cordially invites you to an event for the launch of Dr Spyros Themelis's new book "Social Change and Education in Greece" that has just come out.

The event will be held at Middlesex University, Hendon campus, Monday 22nd April (room, tbc). It will start at 4.30pm with refreshments. At 5pm Professor Waqar Ahmed, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Middlesex University, will do the opening, which will be followed by a discussion.

Speakers include: Tony Green (Series Editor, Institute of Education, London), Prof. Joyce Canaan (Professor of Sociology, Birmingham City University), Dr Eva Gamarnikow (Dept of Policy Studies, The Institute of Education, University of London) and Dr Stathis Kouvelakis (Reader in Political Theory, King's College London).

The event will be followed by wine reception.

All welcome!

Spyros

To order a copy of the book, please follow this link: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=537469

Department Meeting

Date: Monday 15th April 2013

Time: 15.30-17.30

Location: Building 9 BG11 (TBC)

Events

and

Meetings

The article 'Reconceptualising Learning and Teaching about Early Years Leadership, Management, and Multidisciplinary Roles' by Shirley Allen, Beverly Barnaby, Carolyn Morris and Victoria Burghardt was published in The Journal of the University College of the Cayman Islands in December 2012.

The article discussing the significance of leadership within current Early Years provision in England in this special edition of the journal on the subject of 'The Changing Nature of Educational Leadership'.

The Education Department raised £35.57 and 5 cents (euro) for Marie Curie Cancer Care through the daffodil appeal in March.