vCardMs Jill Clark

Ms Jill Clark
Senior Research Associate

  • Email: jill.clark@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: 0191 222 5637
  • Fax: 0191 222 7534
  • Address: Room B.24 KGVI
    School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences
    King George VI Building
    Newcastle University
    Queen Victoria Road
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU

I am the Business Development Director in the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching.

My current position of SRA within the School and RCfLaT is a unique post in the University which is essentially dominated by activities which are research-focused rather than teaching-focused, with a strong emphasis on Research Management and Leadership, and research development and support.

Research Interests

My personal research interests focus very much on those issues and factors which could be called 'out of school' but which inevitably may affect the performance, attitudes, behaviour and learning of young people in school. I am also interested in learning which takes place in a variety of contexts, such as prisons and in the community.

She has worked on many research projects in the School, some of which focused on disaffected and disadvantaged young women and included an evaluation of a local truancy programme. She has been involved with projects which focused on housing and schooling and social inclusion and educational policy. More recently, she was involved in a team which focused on provision for particular marginalised groups, informed by a review of the literature in this field for DETR's 2000/1 Beacon Councils scheme.

Jill has had work published on a study of the re-education of young offenders, which explored the relationship between education, the arts and the criminal justice system.

Jill has in the past led an evaluation of a community education project in inner-city Newcastle, and has been involved in several research projects examiming the impact of various community (mostly SRB) initiatives in the Sunderland area.

Other Expertise

I have a particular strength and expertise the design, application, analysis and writing in qualitative and visual methodologies, including in-depth interviewing, focus group discussions and participant observation.

Current Work

I have recently completed work in the area of transition from school/college to University, which has been reported on and findings are now available on our website at www.ncl.ac.uk/cflat/Bridgingthegap.

This research is part of a developing programme of work, and building upon this research, I have received £17,990 from the Student Opinion Working Group at Newcastle University to explore the views of students in their first year at Newcastle University.

Furthermore, I have received £8,969 to explore transition activities (and what it means to be an independent learner) in Gateshead schools. This project will bring two key research themes together: transition and the use of visual methods and tools. This body of work will help us to learn more about the transition to University, and what we can do to make it as smooth a process as possible.

I have been successful in gaining funds from the Beacon Trust Programme – a scheme which supports genuine engagement activities between the University and community members. I have received £10,258 from the Beacon North East Fund. Working with Sugata Mitra and David Leat, the project will be exploring the potential of the Retired Skype Mediators – developed by Sugata. ‘Skype grannies’ are mainly retired people (nearly all women) from the UK and beyond who work with the school students in supervised mediating sessions. They are volunteers and they offer to revolutionise the concept of education, especially in ‘remote’ and disadvantaged areas (both geographically and culturally) which exist in all countries. Our research will work with them to develop ideas and plans for how best to support their continued and developing commitment to online mediation.

Selected Publications

More Publications

Projects

Future Research

I am keen to develop further research in the area of prison education and learning. She is keen to also develop the methodology of participatory research, with the emphsasis on full involvement of children and young people, alongside the ue of visual methods and tools.

Research Roles

I ahve consolidated my role in the Research Centre for Leraning and Teaching, resulting in a promotion from Deputy to Business Development Director. I have taken responsibility for developing a (first) budget and working business model for the Centre, where this year she was clearly able to evidence the streams of income and outgoings for the Centre and show that the Centre was not running at a loss.

Other responsibilities include: Centre representative on the School Education REF Strategy Action Group, and at School and Faculty meetings, seminars and workshops. I have contributed significantly to the strategic planning of the Centre during the least two years, and has taken responsibility of the core staffing within the centre (8 research staff and one secretary) and ensure that all contracts and staff costs are covered financially. This includes overall project management, the appointment and allocation of researchers, and the resource and work flow management of large RA teams across many projects.

My work also includes the Centre Communications strategy, and the formulation and coordination of academic content of the Centre web pages. I have line-management/supervision responsibility of several research staff and this involves recruitment, induction, and on-going mentor support of all Centre RAs (8), 1 KTP Associate, including PDRs of 3 RAs.

Postgraduate Supervision

Secondary supervisor to IPhD student, Margot Cambridge. Dissertation title: How do post 16 education providers respond to the changes in LSC funding, in engaging learners to partake in full level 2 qualifications, in order to reflect the needs of employers and the economy?

Secondary supervisor to IPhD student, Wendy Clark. Dissertation title: “The use of a Virtual Learning Environment to encourage and foster deep learning”.

Secondary supervisor to IPhD student, Nan Lung. Dissertation title: The thinking classroom in Burmese Schools

Esteem Indicators

Invited member of the BERA National Working Party on Research Staff Issues (RSI) (2007-)

Invited reviewer:
International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders
Evidence and Policy
British Educational Research Journal
ESRC Bids

Invited Speaker
Clark, J. (invited speaker) Social Exclusion and Education: the LEA perspective Forum 2000 Conference, Social Inclusion and Education - Perspectives from Research, Lauder College, Dunfermline, May 2000.

Clark, J. and Lin, M. (invited speakers) Housing Problems - Education Problems: What's the Link? Housing Studies Association Conference, University of York, April 1998.

Clark, J. (invited speaker) Arts, Offenders and Probation Officers: Evaluating the Impact, Conference Report: `Creative Time’, April 1996 at University of Manchester.

Clark, J. (invited speaker) Artists in Residence Programmes within Northumbria Probation Service: A Blueprint for the Future? What Works? Conference, Salford University. September 1994.

Walker, J. and Clark, J. (invited speakers) Research evaluation: Creating for change in criminal justice, National Association of Probation Officers, Otterburn, May 1993.

Funding

Exploring transition activities in Gateshead Schools from Gateshead Council, £6,969
Evaluation of the wellbeing project from The Learning Challenge Foundation Limited, £8,416
Evaluation of Subsidy Pathfinders, from British Marketing Research Bureau Ltd, £94,163.65
FCP Final Evaluation, from Gateshead Council, £7,613
Evaluation of the Activating Children's Thinking Skills Project (ACTS)
from the Scottish Executive, £15,433
A local evaluation of sure start, from Gateshead Sure Start Partnership, £39,000
An evaluation of the Pennywell Community and Health Project from Sunderland City Council, £3,000
Thinking skill taxonomies for post 16 learners and offenders from Learning & Skills Development Agency, £99,128
An Evaluation of the Quality Time Project, from Sunderland Proving Partnership Works Programme, £4,000
An evaluation of the literacy transition project, from City of Sunderland Education & Community Services, £5,000
Evaluation of EDP Priority: Key Stage 2/3 Transition from Hartlepool LEA, £24,429
Pedagogical Analysis of a Level Syllabi-report phase from LECG Ltd, £4,200
Research into the Theme: Increasing the Attainment of Under-Achieving Groupd. Round 2 - End of Research Theme Report from Improvement & Development Agency, £9,200
Evaluation of Threshold Assessment Procedures - Support for the Questionnaire Phase form Cambridge Education Associates Ltd, £2,760
Research into the theme: 'Transition between Key Stages in Schools' from DETR, £15,625
An investigation of the relationship between young children's understanding of the concept of place value and their competence a
from Nuffield Foundation, £13,502

Background

Jill Clark joined the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences in November 1996, having worked within the Newcastle Centre for Family Studies during the previous four years. Although now working in the field of educational research, Jill has a strong background in Social Sciences research. She studied Behavioural Sciences (majoring in psychology) at Huddersfield Polytechnic and then completed her postgraduate degree in Criminology at Cambridge University.

Jill now works as a Senior Research Associate, within the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching and is a research active member of academic staff. Her post involves collaboration with many members of the Education section and Centre who are active in various aspects of education research. Within this role, there is considerable emphasis on research development and strategy.

Roles and Responsibilities

My role is pivotal in building research capacity in the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching (RCfLaT) and ECLS. I have been successful in setting up several structures to support colleagues and build and maintain capacity: the ECLS Bid Writing Group brings colleagues together and I provide academic leadership and strategic advice in the development and submission of research and consultancy proposals. Since its inception (August 05), achievements have included the submission of over 75 applications (totalling over £3 million) of which over a third were successful (over £1.5 million, ranging from £3K-£871K).

I further mentor and advise individual School colleagues, identify and co-ordinate funding opportunities and responses to calls, both proactively and reactively. I establish partnerships between staff who are less experienced in research with those more experienced alongside a shadowing system to continually support research capacity building. I academically review and advise on 90% of the proposals submitted by ECLS, and have considerable knowledge and expertise which is recognised and drawn upon constantly. I take a strategic approach to identify what is needed to make ECLS a research-based institution. Building on the success of the BWG, I successfully established the School Paper Writing Group (now managed by another colleague) where colleagues can meet to strategically discuss and plan their writing for publication.

I have been the Business Development Director of RCfLaT since 2008. Whilst completing the Coaching for Commerce programme (I was assigned an external business coach), this supported my development of a financial and business model for RCfLaT, alongside a focus on increasing income generation. I have now taken responsibility for developing a working budget and business model for the Centre.

I have contributed significantly to the strategic planning of the Centre during the least two years, and have taken responsibility of the core staffing within the centre (8 research staff and one secretary) to ensure that all contracts and staff costs are covered financially. This includes overall project management, the appointment and allocation of researchers, and the resource and work flow management of large RA teams across many projects (both research and consultancy). My work also includes the Centre Communications strategy, and the formulation and coordination of academic content of the Centre web pages. I have line-management/supervision responsibility of several research staff and this involves recruitment, induction, and on-going mentor support of Centre RAs (8), KTP Associate, and PDRs of 3 RAs. I also formally mentor 3 members of research staff in the Faculty.

I organise and Chair the Education Research Seminar Programme (10 per year), hosting internal and visiting speakers.

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Behavioural Sciences
Mphil Criminology (Cantab)

Previous Positions

Research Associate, 1996-1998, Department of Education, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Research Associate, 1992-1996, Newcastle Centre for Family Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Memberships

Membership and active participation in University management committees, including:

School level:

  • ECLS Research Committee (2002 – present day);

  • ECLS Ethics panel (2009 - present day);

  • The Education RAE/REF Strategy Action group (2007 - present day;

  • Chair of RCfLaT Guidance Group (2005 – present day);

  • Chair of the ECLS Research Associate Forum (2005 – present day)

  • Chair of the ECLS Bid Writing Group (2005 - present day)

  • Chair and organiser of the Educaton section research seminar programme (1996 - present day).

    • Active Faculty activities include:

  • FRSG (2009 - present day);

  • Library Committee (2009 - present day);

  • College of Peer Reviewers, (2006 - present day);

  • Joint chair of the HASS RA Forum (2005 – present day)

  • Mentor to 3 members of research staff

    • Active University level activities:

  • Research Staff Working Party (2008 - present day);

  • Beacon North East Community, Academic Action Panel (CAAP)(2009 - present day);

  • URC Directors (2009 - present day);

  • Associate member of the Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise (KITE).

    • National bodies:

  • UCET (The Universities Council for the Education of Teachers) Research Committee (2002-2004).

  • Invited member of the BERA National Working Party on Research Staff Issues (RSI) (2007- present day)

  • Member of BERA – the British Educational Research Association.

    • Postgraduate Teaching

    Faculty Graduate Skills Enhancement Programme