On the 27th July 2020, Terence Ip was awarded his PhD for the thesis entitled ‘The Implementation of Marketing in Private Early Childhood Education Centres in Hong Kong: An Investigation of the Effect on Marketing Ethics’.

His research looked into the effect on marketing ethics. The private early childhood education centres in Hong Kong needs marketing to recruit students. Parents are the decision makers and their children are the users of the educational services in the sector of early childhood education. Marketing ethics and consumer vulnerability need to be taken into consideration when implementing marketing practices. As a result, benevolence, integrity and commitment are the attributes that parents consider when choosing a private early childhood education centre for their children. High quality marketing ethics ensure that the only supported and evidenced statement is used to promote the marketing proposition. Parents wish to be assured and confident of claims made regarding the teaching quality, the care and the compassion provided by the private early childhood education centres.

Supervisory team: Professor Paul Gibbs

Through teaching in early childhood organizations and in early childhood teacher education (ECTE), I became aware that reflection can be a troublesome concept. In my PhD, I investigated what reflection means, how it works in teaching practices in ECTE, and what else it could be. Under guidance and support from my supervisory team, including Professor Jayne Osgood, the process brought me into feminist and new materialist perspectives. My PhD resulted in four scientific publications and a dissertation entitled Sensing, Thinking and Doing Reflection in Early Childhood Teacher Education https://openarchive.usn.no/usn-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2585243/PhD%20Thesis%20Moxnes%20online.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

After completing my PhD, I have become an Associated Professor at the department of Pedagogy at the University of Southeastern Norway. My current work continues to emprise feminist and new materialist perspectives. These projects involve both higher education, and early childhood practices; e.g. children and animals and children and esthetics in ECEC-institutions. The process of writing the PhD brought me in contact with international researchers, which have expanded my professional network and my writing experiences. Right now, I am co-editing a book about research-projects in ECTE in Norway. In 2019, I was honored with a Norwegian national prize for teaching. It was very touching that my ‘own’ student teachers nominated me, and a big surprise to win.

As an ECEC practitioner with a Masters degree in early childhood education, I remained concerned with the status, position and perception of care in ECEC policy and practice which led me to pursue a PhD study to explore this issue further. Through my doctoral research I interviewed policy makers and politicians about their perceptions of care. I also observed how care unfolded in ECEC institutions. Under the support and guidance of my supervisors (which included Professor Jayne Osgood, MdxCers and Professor II at OsloMet), my research resulted in four scientific publications and a dissertation entitled Stretching the Boundaries of Care in 2019. Since completing my PhD, I have become an Associate Professor at the Department of Early Childhood Education at the University of Southeastern Norway. Writing a thesis by publication brought me into contact with journal editors and expanded my professional network. I am currently involved in several collaborative research projects that expand on the theoretical and thematic interest areas from my PhD and build on the international networks I established during my doctoral period. I am particularly proud of a successful bid to co-edit an anthology for the Springer book series: Children: Global posthumanist perspectives and materialist theories.

On the 10th December 2020, Zita Baracsi was awarded her PhD for the thesis entitled ‘Analyses from an A/r/tographic Perspective of Maintaining Participatory Flow with the Intention of Enhancing Empowerment During a SchoolCommunity Art & Craft Project’.

This interdisciplinary research is focused on the process of empowerment in relation to the facilitation of participatory flow during a school-community art & craft project. Applying an a/r/tographic framework and multimodal analyses, the research aims to understand how an artisan-facilitator’s creative flow may maintain participatory flow, and conclusively contribute to empowerment.

Supervisory team: Dr Victoria de Rijke (DoS), Dr Loraine Leeson and Dr Mona Sakr

Henry Ward, who completed a PhD by Public Works in Education (supervised by Victoria de Rijke) whilst at Welling School, a Specialist Visual Arts College, went on to become Head of Education at London’s Southbank Centre and is now Creative Director for the Freelands Foundation. Henry’s continued work in art education, informs much of his expanded practice, focusing on teaching as a form of socially engaged art. Henry curates, exhibits and publishes on art as a vital cross-curricular tool, and on being an artist and teacher. You can find out more about Henry through his website.

Dr. Emma Kell, who studied her EdD with us in Education (Supervised by Prof Paul Gibbs and Victoria de Rijke) has published her first book with Bloomsbury Educational, titled How to Survive in Teaching: Without imploding, exploding or walking away, (2018). Drawing on years of research and first-hand experience, How to Survive in Teaching offers support, advice and practical suggestions to help us stay flourishing, positive and most importantly, teaching! Recent statistics show that not enough teachers are entering the profession and that too many are leaving. Teaching is facing a genuine crisis. In this thought-provoking book, experienced teacher and leader Dr Emma Kell examines workplace stress and anxiety, conflict and ‘toxic politics’, and the other factors which lead teachers to ultimately decide to walk away. Emma firmly believes there are ways to survive the increasing pressure teachers are under. This book offers a realistic and positive perspective on the challenges and rewards of teaching. It includes successful models and strategies where a combination of support and challenge, accountability, and a sense of being valued have encouraged teachers to enter and remain in the profession.