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Golden Ticket Award sees Enactus BGU Lincoln succeed at Regional Finals
Earlier this month Bishop Grosseteste University’s (BGU) Enactus team headed to the head offices of Arla Foods in Leeds to compete in the regional Enactus finals. Enactus aims to support young people to engage in youth social action, and youth social enterprise. Their mission in the UK is to be recognised as a leader in developing a national network of socially minded young leaders of the future who transform communities and society through real life social action and environmentally responsible enterprise. At the regional finals team members Jessica Vernon and Courtney Simmons presented a TESOL focussed project centred around providing opportunities for English speaking practice to people that have English as a second language in disadvantaged communities while second year Geographers Mark Wright and Ellie Cordon presented a project focussed around disaster risk reduction in Fiji. The team’s passion, ideas, knowledge and project plan received high praise from the judges and the BGU team were highly commended by representatives from Asda, Arla and Enactus. The team were awarded a golden ticket on the day and will now progress to the Rookie League in April to showcase their projects to universities and organisations from across the UK. Enactus BGU Lincoln is supported by BG Futures, the careers, employability and enterprise team at BGU, and university advisers Nikki Smith and Becky Goodman, who is also the Programme Leader for Business and Enterprise, both of whom were incredibly proud of Enactus BGU’s success. Speaking following the finals Nikki said: “We are extremely proud of what the team have achieved in such a short space of time and look forward to supporting the team at the rookie League that will be held virtually in April. The team have worked exceptionally hard and that did not go unnoticed by the judges at the regionals.” Becky shared Nikki’s praise and expressed her excitement at the potential for the team: “It was great to see the team showcase a selection of their projects at the regionals, and it would be amazing to see more students from across the university getting involved with Enactus BGU Lincoln as they take the next step on this journey.” To find out more about joining Enactus email enactus@bishopg.ac.uk for more information. -
Putting Smiles at the Heart of Teaching: Children's (Un) Happiness explored in Senior Lecturer's new book
If you ask parents what they most want for their child, many will say something like this: ‘I just want my child to be happy’. Whilst most understand that they cannot ensure their children are permanently happy, they are often unprepared for seeing their children frequently or deeply sad. ‘Why are our children so unhappy?’ is a question that baffles parents worldwide but a new book edited by Dr Maria Efstratopoulou aims to provide an understanding of the factors that influence children’s emotions which it believes is essential for anyone interacting with young children. Differing from most books in the field, which focus on offering advice to professionals on how to manage children’s behaviour, Bring My Smile Back: Working with Unhappy Children in Education aims to explore the crucial link between emotions, well-being and learning and the wider social factors affecting children’s happiness. The authors, including several of Dr Efstratopoulou’s colleagues at BGU, draw from a range of experience, examples, case studies and educational approaches to engage with children’s’ wellbeing and emotions. With chapters covering areas such as ‘Can we define happiness?’, supporting children with communication problems and the ‘(Un)Happiness of Black and Ethnic Minority Children’ Bring My Smile Back focuses on children’s happiness rather than their academic achievements and positive behaviour, in essence putting children’s Smiles at the heart of teaching. Writing in the book’s forward Professor Scott Fleming, Deputy Vice-Chancellor in BGU, praised the publication’s accessible exploration as a “landmark contribution” to education: “Children’s wellbeing and happiness have become matters of global concern. This important and exciting collection brings together the work of an impressive team of International Social science scholars and practitioners to address these challenges. Its timing could hardly be better. The chapters have a very accessible structure and format, they are conceptually sophisticated and have an explicit applied professional practitioner emphasis. They should be read by students, researchers, policy-makers and those responsible for service delivery. If they are Bring my smile back: Working with unhappy children in education is likely to become a landmark contribution. I am delighted to endorse a book that features my colleagues from Bishop Grosseteste University. With a rich heritage in teacher education and training, this book is an embodiment of many of our traditional values as well as a firm commitment to health-related subject fields that form part of our portfolio of undergraduate and taught postgraduate awards” Also involved in the publication were Craig Bridge, Educational Psychologist and Lecturer, Dr. Hadiza Kere Abdulrahman, Lecturer of Inclusive Education and Dr.Tracy Jeffery, Lecturer in SENI all from BGU. If you are interested in exploring a future in education and psychology than visit our course pages or speak to a member of our Enquiries Team to find out how BGU could be the place for you. -
Self-Determination Theory: How it can help you thrive in uncertain times
As we continue to adapt to the ongoing and unprecedented situation that the world finds itself in it is easy for our mental health and determination to suffer. So what can we do to not only protect our mental health, but boost it in order to keep ourselves positive and motivated? Dr Abigail Parrish, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development at Bishop Grosseteste University, has been exploring how Self-Determination Theory could be the answer. -
Why adults shouldn't rule out children's book from their reading lists
As the country, along with the rest of the world, settles into the possible new normal of social distancing and working from home many are beginning to plan out long lists of exciting potential reads to keep them occupied. These may be well loved classics or unknown literary adventures but the likelihood is that they will be books designed for adults. However, as Dr Mary-Louise Maynes, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) and one of the academics on the new MA in Children’s Literature and Literacies, explains adults shouldn’t be ashamed to include some children’s books in their choices too. On reading children’s books (as an adult) Browsing the adult fiction shelves of Waterstones recently I noticed that the Harry Potter books have yet another new cover without any sign of the boy wizard. This is presumably so that you can read the books on the train without looking silly: without looking as if you are reading a children’s book. Adults read children’s books, but still, it seems, reading them makes many of us rather uncomfortable. As we launch our MA in Children’s Literature and Literacies here at Bishop Grosseteste University, I want to explain why I read children’s books and why I think more adults should too, and not apologise for doing so. They are good ‘reads’… Children’s authors know that children are exacting critics. Junior-aged children in particular (generally) enjoy books which are plot-driven, gripping and engaging from the start, well-paced, and which use cliff-hangers at the end of chapters to make you want to read on. If you want to lose yourself in a thrilling story or a page-turning adventure look no further than a good children’s book such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick, 2007) or The Explorer (Rundell, 2018). In literary terms to describe a text as plot-driven often implies a lack of depth and quality, a criticism often levelled, unfairly, at children’s literature as a whole. Many children’s books present examples of beautiful and lyrical writing where there is much to explore below the surface and which invite re-reading. Take for example the slow, ‘outsider’ reflections of the Fox in Pennypacker and Klassen’s Pax (2017) or the haunting, puzzling and disturbing words and images in Shaun Tan’s The Red Tree (2010). They have pictures…. Children’s picture books, non-fiction and poetry will introduce you to the work of some of the most innovative and diverse artists and the images are every bit as important as the words. Children’s illustrators have distinct visual styles and employ a range of artistic techniques: contrast for example Beth Waters’ striking monoprints in A Child of St Kilda (2019) or Mark Hearld’s cut-out collages for Nicola Davies’ A First Book of Nature (2014). Images are not confined to bold colours and simple lines: Emily Sutton’s illustrations have a ‘retro’ feel harking back to the work of Edward Ardizzone and they are not at all twee or cosy: in contrast the images in Greder’s The Island (2008) are dark, gothic and threatening. They explain things…. Children’s books today cover almost all topics including some previously taboo ones (for example Poo, a Natural History of the Unmentionable, Davies, 2014) and present them in ways which are digestible and engaging starting-points for further investigation. The Theory of Relativity is beautifully introduced in Bearne and Radunsky’s On a Beam of light (2016) and astrophysics is presented very simply in Astrophysics for Babies (Ferris, 2018). What we learn from children’s books can often stick with us throughout life: in Everything I need to know I learned from a children’s book (2008) Anita Silvey interviews 100 ‘notable’ individuals who explain how children’s books influenced their thinking and later careers. Yet in contemporary children’s literature the ways in which information is imparted are rarely moralistic or heavy-handed, with enjoyment and engagement being primary motivators for reading so that the reader does not feel ‘talked at’ or instructed. They reawaken memories… Re-reading Alison Uttley’s wonderful A Traveller in Time (1939) recently, I was suddenly transported back to a mental image of the protagonist Penelope wearing a nightdress I wore as a child. I must have dressed her in the nightdress in my imagination and for a tiny moment I felt a connection with the person I was when I first read the book aged eight years old. Such connections are powerful if illusory: as Peter Hunt (1997) said as adults we can never really read as we did as a child. Re-reading reminds us of the difference of childhood and the ways in which our understanding of childhood changes as we grow older. Reading children’s books as adults we cannot help but be aware of the ways in which childhood is ‘socially constructed’. They offer insight about ourselves and our society since they are (usually) written by adults with adult perceptions of what childhood and children should be, and what children should be allowed to read or forbidden from reading. If, like me, you love reading children’s books, why not consider joining our MA Children’s Literature and Literacies, launching September 2020? Discover books that intrigue and move you: yes there are plenty of bunnies getting ready for bed, and wimpy kids writing diaries, but equally there are books which address the key issues of our time and which challenge and upset expectations, books which explore the range of human experience and which take us into worlds beyond our own. Dr Mary-Louise Maynes researches children’s non-fiction literature and will be teaching on the MA Children’s Literature and Literacies. She is a member of the Literature and Literacies RKEU. For more information please visit our children's literature courses pages. -
Bishop Grosseteste University to Embark on Farmer Support Project
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), in collaboration with economic development consultants, Rose Regeneration, has been successful in securing grant funding of over £90,000 in order to support the wellbeing of farmers in England as part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Future Farming Resilience Fund programme. The Future Farming Resilience Fund programme aims to support the farming industry through the post- Brexit Agricultural Transition Period which is in place until 2027. The Lincolnshire Open Research and Innovation Centre (LORIC) team at BGU, along with consultants from Rose Regeneration, plan to work with Farmer Support Network organisations across the country to evaluate the impact that Farmer Support Networks have on the health and wellbeing of the farmers and land managers that they serve. Following this, the team aim to provide social impact reports that will enable the Networks to develop their offer of services so that they can focus their support on the areas of greatest impact. This work will also support the development of tools that can be used on an ongoing basis to further evaluate social impact within the sector in the future. The results from this programme are of vital importance in helping Defra to understand what support is effective in helping farmers throughout the agricultural transition period. Kay Purle, Data Analyst at LORIC: “The Lincolnshire Open Research and Innovation Centre, at Bishop Grosseteste University applied for Defra funded programme back in October 2019, alongside Rose Regeneration, a locally based economic regeneration consultancy company. We have worked closely with the consultants from Rose Regeneration in the past, and this grant funded programme gave the perfect opportunity for us to get involved in a large, joint piece of work. We were delighted to be awarded the funding and attended the programme inception event together in London last month. The programme, which is a pilot scheme, aims to help Farmer Support Networks to be able to better support their farming communities, with a particular reference to health and wellbeing, which is a subject of key interest to the whole project team.” The programme will run from February – September 2020. (Photo credit: Gozha Net on Unsplash) -
Top Tips for PGCE Students
With summer fast approaching undergraduate students will be planning out their next steps after finishing their degrees. Given our over 150 year's of experience in training teachers, many of our students will be considering staying on to begin a career in teaching through a PGCE course. With a wide range of age and subject specialism they're a great choice for anyone looking at a future in education. Although a PGCE may seem like a daunting task former student Jessica Barker has been put together her top tips to help new students succeed in their efforts to become teachers.* I started writing this post way back in September and have added to it throughout my time on the PGCE course. These are some basic but helpful tips that I want to offer any upcoming PGCE students, and most of them apply more generally to trainee teachers coming from other routes into the career too. Read on and hopefully you'll take some of this on board and find it relevant! 1. Take out a loan. Yes, you'll end up with a little more to pay back once you're earning, but that was inevitable after your degree anyway! The student loan can work wonders and top up your bursary to a very comfy sum. For those of you not fortunate enough to receive a bursary in the first place because our government don't deem your specialist subject worthy of one (don't even get me started), the loan will really help. 2. Quit your part-time job. It's going to be so hard to balance a part-time job and the training for a full time career, which quite honestly requires all of your time and effort. Long gone are the days when you'd get home from work and could switch off from it all, you'll now be working long into the evenings and at least one day of the weekend. Don't let a part time job hinder your training year, take the loan out and quit your job. 3. Use your age as an advantage. This is for those of us entering into the profession straight from undergraduate, particularly if you have a baby face. You're entering into a school late, the kids don't know you but they're observant and are going to recognise that you look pretty young. The minute that somebody seems to clock on that you're only in your early twenties is when you should start to use your age as an advantage. Kids instantly have a lot of respect for you when they feel like they can relate to you, so don't be afraid to show them that you're interested in some of the same things as them. There's a real temptation to hide your youth but I've found that chatting to the year eight boys about Fortnite and discussing prom with the year eleven girls really has helped me to win them over. Don't give too much away about yourself, do more listening than talking, but admit that because you're only five to ten years older than they are, you share similar interests - they'll start to see you as more human. Also, even though you know that actually the difference between a sixteen and a twenty-two year old isn't that mammoth, they won't. So they'll still see you as a proper fully fledged adult, even though you might not feel like one yet! 4. Take snacks, water and coffee. Teaching is physically (and emotionally) draining, you can never relax because you have to remain constantly alert, so you're using a lot more energy than your body is probably used to! It's a good idea to take something to nibble on at break time, just to give you that boost through until lunch. Water is a good idea too because working in a school makes you prone to headaches - the bright yellow lights and the noisy kids are a winning combination for heavy eyes and a pounding head, and staying hydrated will ensure that this isn't made any worse than it needs to be. Coffee is good at helping you feel a little more alive, particularly on dreary and dull days when you're having to teach some of your most challenging classes! It's also just good for socialising in the staff room, you have a reason to nip there and make yourself a drink, and you can sit and chat to everyone while you do. 5. Be professional. You're a trainee, people are watching your every move, and that isn't just when you're being formally observed in the classroom. You might think the staff room is a safe place to vent about your nightmare year eight's, but what you maybe don't know is that Satanic Sammy's mother is also a science teacher at the school and is sitting directly opposite you as you don him with that nickname! So avoid over-sharing, even when the other member's of staff are chatting away about personal things, don't get involved. You don't want to give people any excuse to judge you. This doesn't just apply to the things you say, but also be careful around what you do. Even if other staff members are okay rocking up to school five minutes before the bell for registration is going to ring, you can't behave like that. It's annoying but you've got to make sure you're doing everything the "right" way, and be assured, somebody will tell you if you're not! 6. Get involved with extra-curricular activities. As a trainee you're not obliged to help out with book club or choir, but staff will really appreciate you offering a helping hand, and it's a fantastic way to get to know the students. It's nice to show that you're taking a wider interest in the school too (and this will help you tick off Standard Eight of the Teachers Standards) so find out what there is to be getting involved with. Extra-curricular activities are fun to be a part of - they're filled with the kids that are passionate about that activity (be it drama, reading, sport, and so on) so you don't have to worry about bad behaviour, instead it's a nice opportunity to see the students at their best. I ran book club at my last school, and most of you know that I'm not an avid reader, but I absolutely loved seeing the students take an interest and develop a passion for literature. 7. Have one day off a week. You've overloaded with work, but it's important to have some time to yourself too. I honestly can't remember what I did before my PGCE because while on it, 90% of my time was filled with marking, planning and teaching. I tried to have one day a week where I did something completely unrelated to teaching, and it was usually Saturday. I'd go out for a meal or to the shops, I might go for a walk if the weather was nice (sometimes ending up at the pub), I watched some TV or I wrote my blog, just anything that I fancied really. It's so important to switch from your professional self to your personal self, and it makes you feel a lot better about life. 8. Buy personalised stamps. As a PGCE student, you'll be sharing your classes with host teachers - this can be tough, especially on second placement. The kids are usually able to adjust to having two teachers in the classroom, often it's the other teacher who can't. I found on my second placement that some teachers were very reluctant to let go of their classes and still wanted to have a presence within the classroom while I was teaching, which could make it very difficult to establish myself. I bought a personalised stamp that read 'Miss Barker says fantastic work', and i used it whenever a student's classwork or homework was especially impressive. This is first and foremost to give the students some recognition, but it was also for my own sake too! When they got the stamp they knew that it was me who had marked this work, which helped me to build a rapport with them. It sounds really trivial but this has helped so much, because students then reached out and thanked me for marking their book, and wanted to discuss my comments. They appreciated it and recognised that it was me who was putting in that effort. 9. Live at home if you can. This comes down to personal preference because everybody's living situations are different, but for me, I don't think I'd have managed this year if I didn't live at home. Shared accommodation is something I never want to go back to and definitely couldn't have put up with while doing my PGCE. I think I could have managed living alone this year, not in a group, but life is so much easier at home. I'm really lucky to have super supportive parents who I'm very close to, which definitely helped because I always had someone to talk to if I'd had a bit of a rubbish day. I also got all of my meals cooked for me, my pack-up was always ready for me on a morning, my bed was made if I didn't have time to do it, and my clothes were all washed and neatly ironed! You don't realise how much you value these things until you don't have them, and having lived away for three years, I can see just how lucky I am. If you know you'll get looked after at home, move back there. I get that it feels a little strange, to hundreds of children you are a teacher, and yet back home you feel like a teenager - but that's okay! You can be responsible and professional at work, and still have your mum take care of you at home, for this year at least. Also, life is much more affordable when you live at home, and your money will stretch so much further. It's worth considering. 10. Ask for help. So many people from my cohort quit during first placement, about a third of us just dropped out, and I was shocked. As stressful as it was and as hard as it seemed, I couldn't believe people could just give up... then I moved to my second placement and I finally understood. Sometimes you feel under-valued, unappreciated, demoralised and even bullied... and you need to speak out. Expectations vary from school to school and while one placement might be easygoing and quite casual, another might be very strict and on top of things - if you're struggling with the pace of it all, or if you think you aren't good enough, you need to talk to one of your university mentors/tutors. I was having real problems at my placement school so reached out to my school based mentor and made them aware. I then received lots of additional support from the people at university and knew that as hard as the course had become, I could get through it. I ended up being removed from my second placement school and moved back to my first one, this was exactly what I needed and had wanted for a very long time. Things just didn't work out at the second placement and it was affecting my self esteem and happiness outside of work, and because I reached out to the uni and continued to report to them whenever there was an issue, they were able to get me out of a bad situation and into a better one. Don't be afraid to tell people that you're not doing great, it's better to mention it early on than wait until you feel the only option is to quit. The people at university will want to help you, it's their job, and they will act on your behalf and make things easier if you'll only ask. It's a long year full of ups and downs - sometimes with more downs than ups - but it's worth sticking out and completing. Enter into your PGCE year with a positive mindset and face the challenges as they come to the very best of your ability. Enjoy the experience and remember it won't last forever, the end is in sight right from the very beginning and you can do it. I really hope you found this post useful and will take some of these recommendations on board. I recently graduated from my PGCE, qualifying as an Outstanding teacher and having received two merits in both of my assignments, and will be beginning my NQT year this September, and I can't wait. Thank you for reading. Jessica successfully graduated last summer before beginning her NQT year, you can keep up to date with her progress on her blog "Life as a University Graduate". You can find more information on the wide range of innovative PGCE courses offered by BGU on our website. Alternatively you can contact our Enquiries Team or join us on one our Open Days to find out how to begin your journey into teaching. -
IT Guidance and Software Downloads
We anticipate our students arriving at University with their own IT devices, expecting to use them as part of their University life to access BGU’s digital services. -
Student-led Social Enterprise is on the rise
As an alternative to protesting, students are channelling their energy through causes they care about into business plans, thanks to the symbiosis of increased awareness and support for social entrepreneurship, says Head of the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) Dr Claire Thomson. -
Researching universities at home
Even through this uncertain time, it’s still possible to research Universities while you are at home and BGU is here to help! -
Reverend Dr Tania ap Siôn
The Revd Dr Tania ap Siôn is Reader of Religions, Humanities and Education, and joined Bishop Grosseteste University in 2018. She holds a BA and MA in Theology from Oxford University, an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Wales, Bangor, and a PhD in Education (focusing on theology, psychology and education) from the University of Warwick. Tania’s academic research has a strong relationship with professional practice in church-related, school-related, and community-related contexts. This is underpinned by the professional qualification of PGCE in Religious Studies, ordination as an Anglican priest in the Church in Wales, active membership of national and international organisations concerned with religion in schools, and the position of Executive Director of the St Mary’s Centre (a Christian research institute in Wales). Previously, Tania has held academic posts at Bangor University (1994-2007), Glyndwr University Wrexham (2011-2015), and the University of Warwick (2015-2018). Funded by the Wrexham (Parochial) Educational Foundation in partnership with Bishop Grosseteste University, since October 2020 Tania has been working on the St Giles’ Centre Research, Development and Impact Project in Religious Education, which is an exciting and innovative development taking place in the Wrexham County Borough, North East Wales.
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