Convenor

Carrie Birch, Dr

Independent Researcher at N/A

9 Jul 2019

As convenor/independent researcher/practitioner Carrie aims to promote contact between independent researchers and to represent their interests in BERA. As regards her research Carrie has a commitment to social justice and to sharing the perspectives of people whose voices are rarely heard in a mainstream arena. Her research provides an opportunity to understand ‘excluded’ communities from within.

Carrie has worked in several areas of the UK as a practitioner committed to challenging inequality, developing learning in community and school settings with adults, under-fives, families, and organisations. She gained her Ph.D. in 2010 for research exploring learning cultures in a socially excluded community. This research was carried out using life histories of residents whose perspectives on learning and education are invisible in mainstream settings. Using this method it was possible to investigate how learning is viewed by adults in such communities and gain an understanding of educational identity. The research contributes an answer to a longstanding preoccupation with participation in learning: why many adults who left school without qualifications seem reluctant to participate again in formal learning. Carrie continues exploring effective models of engagement for learning in working class communities and happy to talk to anyone with similar interests.

Carrie Birch's contributions

Academic Writing Weekend – September 2023

9 Sep 2023 - 10 Sep 2023

Increasingly, researchers wish to make writing a focused social activity with regular breaks in a productive environment that is supportive. In it, you will find an environment to write, share and...

Upcoming event

Academic Writing Retreat

30 May 2023 - 31 May 2023

Increasingly, researchers wish to make writing a focused social activity with regular breaks in a productive environment that is supportive. In it, you will find an environment to write, share and...