IoE Doctoral Supervisors
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you are interested in pursuing your PhD research with us, the initial step to make would be to apply online using the application system, and for this application to include a research proposal. It is important that you take a look at the supervisors and their research interests listed below before making an application, so that you can see whether we are able to provide supervision in your area of interest. You are welcome to contact a potential supervisor before applying but we need a formal application before we can interview you or offer you a place.
If you need any further assistance, please contact the Postgraduate Research (PGR) Administrator (Gaby Burford) at g.burford@reading.ac.uk in the first instance.
English as an additional language; pedagogy in multilingual classrooms; migration and education; policy and practice for the teaching of English; research-informed teaching.
Educational leadership and doctoral education, including: Academic leadership, School leadership and Multi Academy Trusts (MATs), How people perceive and experience being in a leadership role, Distributed and collaborative leadership, Leadership development, Career trajectories, Leadership Identity, Insider research and associated ethical issues
Gender; confidence; empowerment; identity; social inequality; self-efficacy; left-behind children.
Foreign/second language learning in schools; foreign language reading and listening comprehension; language learning motivation; vocabulary, technology in second language education, mixed methods
Classroom-based language learning and teaching; young learners; instructed second language acquisition; grammar teaching and learning; individual differences; computer-assisted language learning (including digital game-based learning); experimental studies and intervention studies.
LGBTQI+ issues; history education; action research; teacher agency.
Women’s careers and leadership; diversity and inclusion in leadership, especially related to gender, ethnicity and intersectionality, identity; career capital, feminist and critical perspectives; leadership learning and development through informal and formal mechanisms; learning transfer and impact.
Topics: Reading development and difficulties; multilingual language development; learning to read in adverse circumstances; family literacy. Methods: eye tracking, secondary data analysis (administrative data), participatory methods, community-led research.
Typical and atypical development of reading and writing skills; social and environmental factors (e.g., the home literacy environment; socio-economic status) in literacy acquisition; rapid serial naming and reading development; technology in literacy acquisition; literacy development in bilingual populations.
The use of technology in second/foreign language learning; Vocabulary teaching and learning; Advanced quantitative methods.
All aspects of mathematics education; comparative education; international educational development; international schools.
Identities of race/ethnicity, social class & gender; higher education, sociology of education.
Second language learning; English medium instruction; Global Englishes; multilingual pedagogies; L1 use and translanguaging practices; internationalisation of higher education; international and transnational higher education; multilingual pedagogies; language policies in education.
Mathematics education; initial teacher education.
Education for sustainable development (ESD from 2026 onwards); comparative and international education; leadership and management in education.
Values education, Mindfulness and education, Religious education, Creative approaches to educational research, Post-humanism
Mentorship; discourse in education; initial teacher education; L1 English pedagogy.
Second language acquisition, climate and sustainability education, educational leadership and management, secondary, primary and Early Years education, mentoring and coaching, initial teacher education.
Technology; disability.
Music education, creative musicianship and choral education; leadership in music education including conducting training and music teacher education; music in schools with a focus on the creative learning environment and Arts Based Educational Research methodologies.
Gender, art education, creative education, identity, restorative pedagogies and visual methods for areas of research interest.
English pedagogy across the key stages, English and inclusion, Children’s literature, Developing English through the creative arts, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, English and SEND in Initial Teacher Education, Qualitative research methodologies.
Dr Ilan Dwek
(Please note that this member of staff is only available for 2nd supervision)
Policy of inclusion within mainstream education and social life/media, Mental Health in primary/secondary school children, Impact of mainstream education on deaf linking to employability, social and mental wellbeing, Linguistics of BSL and its evolution over the years, Deaf-blind communication strategy and tactics [including Haptic method].
Second language motivation; transnational education (TNE)/international education; second language teacher professional development; intercultural communication.
Teaching and learning in Higher Education; history education; teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, lives and careers; qualitative methods, narrative and life history.