IOE academics contribute to conference exploring inequalities in the education system

The virtual sessions, which take place from Monday 1 – Friday 5 March look at the themes of poverty and class, poverty and gender, early years and young children, race and ethnicity, and special educational needs and disabilities.

The first day sees experts from the UCL Centre for Educational Leadership delivering sessions on closing the disadvantage gap and accelerating the progress of lower prior attaining learners in London. Dr James Mannion will look at how some schools have closed the disadvantage gap, a term used to describe where disadvantaged pupils tend to have lower educational attainment than their peers. Dr Mannion will examine this through implementation science – a field which focuses on how to deal with 'how' problems – and examine what closing the gap looks like in practice.

Later in the day, Mark Quinn and Karen Spence-Thomas will look at ‘Schools for Success’. These are London schools, designated by the Mayor, which have succeeded in accelerating the progress of their lower prior attaining learners while achieving at least London-average levels of attainment for all. They will examine the strategies that led to this success.

Professor Dominic Wyse will also deliver a talk in the conference, looking at creativity, arts and culture in primary education and the lack of attention they receive across the curriculum. He will present new research evidence that points to possibilities for a better future for England's children through the development of a new national curriculum and assessment system.

Academics from the IOE’s Department of Psychology and Human Development will be presenting on the final day of the conference which addresses how children with special educational needs and disabilities can be supported to maximise their learning.

Dr Rob Webster will present on the power and potential of teacher assistant-led (TA) interventions, and the common traps that schools need to avoid in order to ensure learning recovery programmes that utilise TAs are a success. Dr Amelia Roberts will also explore supporting children with special educational needs during COVID-19 in her talk.

LondonEd 2021 is presented in partnership with The Greater London Authority and runs from Monday 1 – Friday 5 March.

Links

• LondonEd 2021
• UCL Centre for Educational Leadership
• Department of Learning and Leadership
• Department of Psychology and Human Development

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Phil Meech for UCL Institute of Education