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Outreach
Here at Bishop Grosseteste University, we work closely in partnerships with schools, colleges and careers advisors in order to offer advice and support to all potential students considering Higher Education. -
Using Shared Reading to explore the ‘telling’ of death
Earlier this year, at the 2020 Death and Dying conference, attendees came together to discuss how shared reading could explore the ‘telling’ of death. One of the goals of the workshop was to use art to capture a ‘live’ response that included something of the personal and transitory nature of the event. Aimee Quickfall, Head of Programmes for Primary Education and Early Years at BGU, Dr Clare Lawrence, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development, and Dr John Rimmer, Senior Lecturer PGCE secondary (art and design), share their feedback on the unique and engaging experience. Using Shared Reading to explore the ‘telling’ of death Academic and Creative Responses to Death and Dying Conference, BGU 2020 Dr Clare Lawrence, Aimee Quickfall, Dr John Rimmer Shared Reading is an approach pioneered and developed by Jane Davis to use the read-aloud experience of literary texts to explore group participants’ reflections, thoughts and memories, where the text is presented as a live presence, not as something pre-read or an object of study. This Shared Reading workshop was part of a conference that had as its theme, How to tell the children, and as such used texts that explored the ‘telling’ of death, and the experience of parents’ death as understood by the (adult) child of those parents. The text chosen were Gertrude’s description of Ophelia’s death in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act IV sc. v and Charles Causley’s poem Eden Rock. Throughout the workshop Aimee Quickfall took notes visually, sketching and drawing as the participants talked. These sketches sought to capture something of the perspectives and experiences of those who took part, less to create a factual record and more to produce a live response that included something of the personal and transitory nature of the event. This method builds on the work of Heath and Chapman (2018), who believe that ‘a sketch does something different to, say, a photograph or a written field note’ (Heath and Chapman, 2018 p. 715). Back and Puwar (2012) suggest that the nature of data that is generated through sketching is different from that generated through other methods, not least because of what drawing, of necessity, leaves out. The artist must choose what to record, so that the record is always synthesised and personalised in a way that a mechanical record is not. Midgley (2011) believes that this means that drawing can capture passions and tensions in a way that other means of recording do not. The discussions during the workshop were then further synthesised by John Rimmer, who worked what was discussed into a piece of highly abstract animated art, reflecting his interpretation of the themes that were explored. These academic and Creative responses to the workshop will be shared in due course through published output. If you’d like to explore a future as part of diverse learning community, speak to a member of our Enquiries Team, or book onto an Open Event to find out how to take your first steps. References: Back, L., & Puwar, N. (2012). A manifesto for live methods: provocations and capacities. The sociological review, 60, 6-17. Heath, S., Chapman, L., & Centre Sketchers, T. M. (2018). Observational sketching as method. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 21(6), 713-728. Midgley, J. (2011). Drawing Lives-Reportage at Work. Studies in Material Thinking, (4). Retrieved, 5. -
‘World Changing’ Trans Student Experience Project Included in International Social Psychology Text
The CELT-LTIF funded ‘Transforming the Student Experience’ project has been featured as an example of ‘world changing’ applied research in a new book. The project was co designed and developed through a partnership between trans and non-trans students and staff and has seen many of its recommendations, including more inclusive welcome messaging and trans awareness training for staff and students, either achieved or in the process of going through the University Committee structure. Internationally renowned Social Psychologist Wendy Stainton Rogers was impressed by the project following a presentation by Sue Becker and former BGU student Ashley Ravenwood at the BPS Psychology of Sexualities Section 20th Anniversary Conference in July 2018, describing it as: “…a great project with real progress and outcomes, and a good model to follow”. In her recent book, Perspectives on Social Psychology – A Psychology of Human Being, Rogers features the project as a case study to inspire others to come together and make positive changes in their communities. The project team continue to work to ensure findings and recommendations from the project are embedded into BGU policy and practice and are currently working to publish a paper outlining their approach and findings. The project team are: Alex Dale Whistler – Education Studies and Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Jayde Williams – Primary Education with recommendation for QTS Dr Sue Becker – Programme Leader for Psychology Lyndsay Muir – Senior Lecturer Dr Sue Cordell – Head of Learning Enhancement Dr Claire Thomson – Head of the Centre for Enhancement in Learning and Teaching Dr Gianina Postavaru – Lecturer in Psychology If you’d like to become a part of BGU’s research focused community, speak to a member of our Enquiries Team or join us at one of our upcoming virtual open days. -
BGU Sign Memorandum of Understanding with Bangkok University International
As part of Bishop Grosseteste University’s (BGU) ongoing work in Thailand, Wayne Dyble, International Manager, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of BGU with Bangkok University International (BUI). The Memorandum reflects the maturing relationship between the two institutions which will see BGU PGCE students visit the Bangkok campus with the prospect of BUI undergraduates visiting BGU’s Lincoln campus to study Business English classes. Following the signing ceremony Aimee Quickfall, Head of Programmes for Primary Education and Early Years at BGU, led a Business English taster workshop with around forty BUI students. During the workshop students were encouraged to explore the subtleties of Business English and how language assumes a contextual specificity. Wayne Dyble along with BGU colleagues Professor Chris Atkin and Dr Phil Wood also supported the session. Whilst Thailand the BGU team developed institutional links and worked with a range of Thai stakeholders on a research bid focussed on curriculum reform and teacher standards. For further information on the visit or BGU’s activities in Thailand and other International activities, please contact Wayne Dyble or visit our International web pages. -
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. -
Undergraduate Teaching Courses
Whether you want to focus on a specific subject or specific age group our wide variety of courses will help you find your perfect start. -
Undergraduate Course Booklets
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Train to teach with BGU in September 2020
Teaching is an incredibly rewarding and exciting career. Here at BGU we have over 150 years’ experience in education and have developed a suite of courses allowing you to train to teach in the way that best suits you. If you already have a degree, a PGCE (Postgraduate and Professional Graduate Certificates in Education) is a course which includes a recommendation for QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). A PGCE offers an integrated academic and professional preparation for teaching and is available for general primary teaching and for a range of primary and secondary subject specialisms, on a full or part-time basis. All routes include substantial time training in schools or other educational settings. Find out more about our Primary PGCE and Secondary PGCE routes available to you – fill in your details below and we’ll make sure you’re kept up to date with all the information you need. You May also wish to come along and visit us on an Open Day by clicking the button on the right of this page.
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Browse our wide range of degree courses and find the perfect one for you.
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