PhD Supervision Interests

Adult language, literacy and numeracy education (ALLN) and the new literacy studies; Informal adult learning and everyday practices across the lifespan; Use of Literacies and Technologies among older people Policy issues in ALLN, global and comparative perspectives; media representations of educational issues; Participatory research methodologies; institutional ethnography Use of visual data in research and computer assisted qualitative analysis.

Profile

Career details

June 2011 Visiting Fellow, School of Education, University of Western Ontario, Canada

2006-2009 Head of Department, Educational Research

Summer 2003 Visiting Professor Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

2000- Professor of Adult learning and Literacy Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University

1996-2002 Director of Faculty of Social Sciences Graduate School

1986- 1999 Senior Research Fellow Centre for the Study of Education and Training, Lancaster University

Summer 1986 Visiting Professor Department of Adult Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

1981-85 Research Fellow, IRDPCE, University of Lancaster: Mature Student Participation in Education Project and Outcomes of Post-experience courses in Further and Adult Education

1980-81 Research Associate, Stanford University: Cognitive Effects of Literacy (National Institute of Education)

1979-80 Senior Research Assistant, California State University at Hayward A Sociolinguistic Study of Classroom behaviour

Research Interests

I am based in the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning (CTEL) within the Department of Educational Research and am an Associate Director of the Lancaster Literacy Research Centre which is a partner in the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC). I am also a member of the Centre for Science and Technology Studies, The Centre for Gender and Womens' Studies and the Centre for Ageing Research at Lancaster.

My Interests are in language, old (print) and new (digital) literacies; informal adult Learning in everyday contexts; academic literacies in digital environments;globalisation and educational policy; and multimodal discourse. My most recent collaborations are around international tests of adult literacy and the growing field of the sociology of measurement.

I am known for the research I have done in developing a social practice approach to literacy studies and in 2012 a new edition of my book  Local Literacies (co-authored with David Barton) was issued by Routledge as a Linguistics Classic). Other recent books include Literacy and the Politics of Representation, Routledge and More Powerful Literacies, National Institute for Adult Continuing Education co-edited with Lyn Tett and Jim Crowther from the Unviersity of Edinburgh.

 In my research and theoretical work I draw on concepts from actor network theory, social semiotic theory, institutional ethnography and linguistic ethnography. I am interested in innovative research methodologies particularly qualitative and participatory models of research, on-line research, practitioner research, media analysis. I have a special interest in Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis and the use of visual images and multi-modal data sources in research.

I have taken part in UNESCO and European Community initiatives on literacy. I am a founder member of the national network, Research and Practice in Adult Literacy (RaPAL). Funded research projects have included literacy in the workplace (Leverhulme Trust); literacy practices in the local community (funded by the ESRC); Open Learning in Adult Basic Education (Universities Funding Council); Public Images of Literacy in the Press (Nuffield, Leverhulme) as well as a range of policy oriented and evaluation projects funded by UK government sources, local and national. I co-ordinated a DfES/ESF funded network of Practitioner-led Research Projects for the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy.

I completed a book (with Yvonne Hillier at Brighton University) based on the ESRC funded project Changing Faces: A Critical History of Adult Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL in the UK 1970-2000. I am co-editor of a further book (with Lyn Tett at the University of Edinburgh and Yvonne Hillier ) based on the ESRC-funded seminar series on Adult Basic Education.

I am a member of the International Board of the International Journal of Literacy and Numeracy Sydney, Australia and Reading Research Quarterly, USA. Board member of Studies in the Education of Adults, NIACE, UK.

I was a commissioner for the National Literacy Inquiry co-ordinated by the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education and chaired by Lord Tim Boswell. The inquiry reviewed what has been achieved by recent government policy on literacy and examined the literacy demands for individuals, organisations, communities and families in a period of economic challenge. The final report of this  inquiry was published  on International Literacy Day, 8 September 2011.

Current Teaching

I am Programme Director for the on-line collaborative Doctoral Programme in Technology Enhanced Learning. I contribute to research methods teaching on this programme and to an undergraduate module on Learning in a Digital Age. I supervise research students and undergraduate dissertations.

I place a high priority on collaborative research and development activities with teachers and practitioners in the learning skills sector, which include advice and support in carrying out action research projects, running in-service training workshops, giving talks, organising meetings and conferences.

• International symposium on Literacy as Numbers: Researching the Politics and Practices of Literacy Assessment Regimes

  20/03/2013 → 30/06/2013
  International symposium on Literacy as Numbers: Researching the Politics and Practices of Literacy Assessment Regimes Institute of Education, London. 17th June 2013 Large-scale enumerative pr ... Read more»

• An Oral History of Pecket Well College

  01/10/2012 → 31/03/2014
  This is a collaborative project creating an archive and oral history project of this user-run adult education college. I am a steering group member of the project. ... Read more»

• Practitioner-Led Research Initiative Impact Study

  01/09/2006 → 28/02/2007
  The aim of this project was to carry out an impact study of the practitioner-led research initiative and to produce a short guide on how to support practitioner research, based on the lessons learned ... Read more»

• Development of Postgraduate studies programme for practitioners, managers, policy makers of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL

  01/10/2002 → 01/01/2020
  This programme of qualifications has been introduced to meet the Continuing Professional Development needs of experienced professionals in Adult Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL (ALNE). It offers a flexibl ... Read more»

• Exploring Public Images Of Literacy

  01/01/1999 → 31/12/2001
  Following earlier work on visual images of literacy, our current study analyses a corpus of newspaper photographs of literacy practices using software packages designed for qualitative data analysis. ... Read more»

• Adult Learning, Basic Skills and Literacy

  01/11/1998 → 01/11/2001
  Development work in this area includes seminars, workshops, short courses and supported research-in-practice opportunities for tutors and students in Adult Basic Education. ... Read more»

• Book Publication - Contemporary Issues in Lifelong Learning

  17/11/2010
  Authors Vicky Duckworth & Jonathan Tummons (Edge Hill University & University of Teeside) are both research students in the Department of Educational Research supervised by Mary Hamilton. This ... Read more»

• 2008 BERA /SAGE award for "'research into practice" for 16+ learners'

  26/11/2008
  A practitioner-led research project supported by staff in the department has won the 2008 BERA (British Educational Research Association)/SAGE award for "'research into practice" for 16+ learners'. ... Read more»

• Irish Independent article recommends literacy research to be carried out in Ireland

  02/06/2008
  An article in the Irish Independent on May 21 recommended that literacy research should be carried out in Ireland based on that carried out in Lancaster by Profs David Barton and Mary Hamilton of the ... Read more»

• Reading Research Quarterly

  (Editorial board member)
  Activity: Editorial activity
  Read more»