Dr Kate Wall
Senior Lecturer
- Email: kate.wall@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: 0191 222 8453
- Address: Room 1.45 KGVI
School of ECLS
King George VI Builidng
Newcastle University
Queen Victoria Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Kate is Partnership Development Director of the Centre for Learning and Teaching. She is also Degree Programme Director of the EdD. The majority of her work lies in working closely with teachers to explore 'what works' in the classroom. Through both her key roles she sees an important aspect as being the development of a community of enquiry which asks questions about learning and teaching across contexts. Important to this are the perspectives that the learners can bring in supporting these enquiries.
Research Interests
Kate's research interests revolve around supporting teachers and learners in talking about experiences of learning and teaching. She is particularly interested in methodologies for gathering pupils' views on curriculum and learning, with a particular focus on:
o visual methodologies for gathering the learners' perspective of teaching and learning
o learners' views on how they learn and their thinking about learning (Metacognition)
o ways in which teachers can be supported in generating talk about learning with learners
o learners' reflections on ability grouping strategies
o learners' experiences during the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies
o how ICT can facilitate talk about learning
o the experiences of learners identified as having special eduactional needs in the primary school
o learning to learn: its meaning and its application in schools for all learners
o practitioner enquiry through action research as a method for supporting teacher learning about the teaching and learning process in their classrooms
Current Work
Kate is currently leading two research projects:
o Campaign for Learning: Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 4 (2007-2011)
o Campaign for Learning: Learning to Learn in Further Education (2008-2010)
She is also part of a multi-disciplinary team working on:
o ESRC Research Development Inititiative: Building Capacity in Visual Methods (2006-2009) based at Leeds University: www.education.leeds.ac.uk/research/visual-methods/
In addition, since joining the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Kate has worked on a number of projects:
o Nuffield Foundation sponsored project:An Investigation into the Impact of the National Literacy Strategy on the Literacy Learning of Pupils with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Primary Schools (2000-2001)
o ESRC sponsored project: Interactive Whole Class Teaching in the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies (2001-2002)
o DfES sponsored project: Embedding ICT In The Literacy And Numeracy Strategies (2002-2004)
o GridREF project: Learning about Learning: developing digital portfolios in primary schools (2002-2003)
o Campaign for Learning sponsored project: Evaluating Learning to Learn: phase 3 (2003-2007)
o ESRC Seminar Series: ‘Knowledge and Skills for Learning to Learn’ (2004-2005)
o Design Council: Schools Renaissance Evaluation (2004-2006)
o Design Council: Impacts on School Learning Environments Literature Review (2004-2005)
o CfBT: School Building Literature Review (2005)
o Scottish Executive: Activating Children's Thinking Skills (ACTS) Evaluation (2006)
Selected Publications
- Baumfield, V, Hall, E, Higgins, S. and Wall, K. Catalytic Tools: understanding the interaction of enquiry and feedback in teachers’ learning. European Journal of Teacher Education 2009, in press.
- Wall, K, Higgins, S, Glasner, E, Mahmout, U. and Gormally, J. Teacher Enquiry as a Tool for Professional Development: Investigating Pupils' Effective Talk While Learning. Australian Educational Researcher 2009, 36(2).
- Wall K. Understanding metacognition through the use of pupil views templates: Pupil views of Learning to Learn. Thinking Skills and Creativity 2008, 3(1), 23-33.
- Baumfield, V, Hall, E. and Wall, K. Action Research in the Classroom. London: Sage, 2008.
- Wall K; Higgins S. Facilitating metacognitive talk: A research and learning tool. International Journal of Research and Method in Education 2006, 29(1), 39-53.
- Wall K; Higgins S; Smith H. 'The visual helps me understand the complicated things': pupil views of teaching and learning with interactive whiteboards. British Journal of Educational Technology 2005, 36(5), 851-867.
Projects
- Evaluation of the Activating Children’s Thinking Skills (ACTS) Project
Project Leaders: David Leat
Future Research
Kate is aiming to develop and extend her research into pupil views of learning and metacognition in different learning contexts and school structures.
She is also hoping as part of a team from CfLaT to further explore the role of action research in supporting teachers' learning about the ongoing processes in the classroom. in partiuclar looking at methodologies that support the teaching and learning process while also providing key data for research purposes.
Research Roles
Kate is Partnership Development Director of the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching. She is responsible for establishing and maintaining links within and beyond the university. She supports collaboration with local education institutions, works to explore potential for new research and for disseminating current thinking. As a co-director of the Centre she is also a member of the guidance group.
She is Principal Investigator on the Learning to Learn Phase 4 project and the Learning to Learn in Further Education Projects which are ongoing. In addition she is a co-applicant on the ESRC Researcher Development Initiative project developing capacity in visual research methods based at Leeds University and run by Jon Prosser.
Postgraduate Supervision
Mei-Hui Chen (IPhD)
Elaine Hall (PhD by publication)
Carol Moxam (PhD)
Lesley Neave (EdD)
Fiona Fraser (EdD)
Martin Renton (EdD)
Esteem Indicators
Top Four Esteem Indicators:
(1) Editorial board member for the Advances in Learning and Instruction book series organised by the European Association for Research in Learning and Teaching (EARLI)
(2) External examiner at Stirling University
(3) Joint Editor of Learning and Teaching Update (Optimus Publishing)
(4) External Examiner of postgraduate research students (PhD).
In addition, Kate reviews papers for the annual BERA and AERA conferences as well as for a number of journals. She has also been invited by the Campaign for Learning to deliver a number of key note presentations associated with the Learning to Learn projects. As well as being invited to contribute a paper to the EARLI SIG 16 (Metacognition) conference in 2006.
Funding
CfL: Learning to Learn Phase 4 project
CfL: Learning to Learn In Further Education
ESRC RDI: Building Research Capacity in Visual Methods
Design Council: Schools Renaissance
CfBT: School Building Literature Review
Background
Kate Wall joined the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences in 2000 as a Research Associate (RA). She became a lecturer in the Summer 2006 becoming senior leacturer in 2009.
Roles and Responsibilities
Kate is Partnership Development Director of the Research Centre for Teaching and Learning (CfLaT).
In addition Kate is joint editor of Learning and Teaching Update which is a monthly publication for secondary schools.
Qualifications
BSc Hons Combined Science - Lancaster University
PGCE (primary) - Rolle College, Exmouth
PhD (Education) - University of Newcastle. Kate's doctoral research was orginally based within the context of the school where she taught, but has expanded to include elements of research in projects on which she has worked as an RA. Her thesis looks at whether teaching The National Literacy Strategy in sets or mixed ability groups supports inclusion of pupils at either end of the ability spectrum.
Previous Positions
Prior to coming to work at Newcastle, Kate was a class teacher in Year 4 in a junior school in the South West of England. She started her PhD research as a teacher-researcher and as such has first hand experience of juggling pedagogy with research.
Memberships
British Educational Research Association (BERA)
European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI)
Postgraduate Teaching
Kate contributes to the following courses:
Masters in Education
Masters in Practitioner Enquiry
Masters in Education Research
Faculty Graduate Skills Enhancement Programme
EdD
IPhD
She is module leader for:
EDU8995 Research Skills and Methods
EDU8207 Thinking Critically about Research Methodology
EDU8202/8203/8124/8003 Investigating Learning