The BERA Commission on Poverty and Policy Advocacy: seminar series

Online registration has now closed. If you want to attend this event, please email events@bera.ac.uk for details of how to register onsite

Academics from each jurisdiction will provide brief outlines on the political contexts and policy landscapes in which schools are increasingly picking up the burden of poverty; participants will explore partnerships, professional knowledge work & governance. Invited speakers will share sets of critical thinking tools, and a closing panel will respond to the day’s proceedings with specific attention to questions about what constitutes good schools policy and practice to support teachers’ work with students who experience poverty & cumulative multiple deprivation.

Provisional programme

09.30 Registration

10.00 Official Welcome – Carnegie Dean Dr John Minten (Leeds Beckett)

10.15 Gabrielle Ivinson – Introduction to this BERA Commission

10.30 Session 1 – Mapping the Education-Policy context in the 4 jurisdictions

• Each of the following presentations are planned to be 20 mins, speaking to concerns articulated in the pre-briefing papers, with discussion of 10 mins.

10.45 Perspectives from England – Lori Beckett

11.15 Perspectives from Scotland – Stephen McKinney & Stuart Hall

11.45 Perspectives from Northern Ireland – Joanne Hughes & Ruth Leitch

12.15 Perspectives from Wales –David Egan & Valerie Walkerdine

12.45 Perspective from Australia- video Suzanne Gannon & Wayne Sawyer

13.00 LUNCH

13.45 Session two – Invited speakers on inequalities-social policy-schools

• Each of the following presentations are planned to be 30 mins, speaking to concerns articulated in the pre-briefing papers, with discussion of 15 mins.

13.45 Kitty Stewart (London School of Economics) ‘Child Poverty in the UK: Recent Trends and the Current Policy Context’

14.15 Discussion

14.30 Ruth Lupton (Manchester) ‘Thinking Differently About Child Poverty and Education Policy’ – Research and Policy Alternatives

15.00 Discussion

15.15 Tea/coffee break

15.30 Terry Wrigley (Northumbria) ‘From deficit accounts to reductionist targets: a brief history of underachievement’

16.00 Discussion

16.15 Panel responses to day’s proceedings & advice on policy advocacy

• Paul Brennan (Deputy Director of Children’s Services Leeds)
• Damien Page (Head of School, Education & Childhood, Leeds Beckett)
• Gabrielle Ivinson (Chair, BERA Commission Poverty & Policy Advocacy)