Rose is a further education literacy teacher, working with young people who have often had adverse school experiences. She is also an in-service teacher coach and co-ordinates various developmental activities to support teachers’ professional learning.

For several years, Rose has worked to promote literacy embedding within vocational subject teaching. She believes that explicit subject-specific literacy teaching is key to developing students’ confidence in class, as well as supporting achievement in their subjects.

Research

In 2018, Rose joined King’s MA Education Policy programme, and is now working on an ESRC funded PhD. Her aim is to research the use of coaching with vocational subject-teachers to develop their understandings of subject-specific literacy and their literacy embedding practices.

Her research is organised around the following two research questions:

1. What is the nature of vocational subject teachers’ understandings of literacy and how it is learned, and what literacy embedding practices do they use in their teaching?
2. How can subject-specific Literacy Coaching enhance their understandings of literacy and their embedding practices?

Rose’s research is based at an urban FE college where she is working with a group of subject-teachers. She hopes that this collaboration will produce some useful approaches for teachers and colleges, as well as contribute to knowledge in this under-researched field of activity.

Principal supervisor: Professor Chris Winch

Secondary supervisor: Professor Sharon Gewirtz