Rob Walker

Image of Rob Walker

Professor Rob Walker

Professor

Email:
rob.walker@uea.ac.uk
Telephone:
+44 (0)1603 592870
Fax:
+44 (0)1603 451412
Office location:
EDU 1.39

 

Research
Publications

 

Research Interests

Rob Walker started his research career as a Researcher attached to the Nuffield Science Teaching Project at the Centre for Science and Maths Education at Chelsea College, looking at changes in the role of the teacher associated with significant curriculum change. He became part of a network of researchers looking at new methods of classroom observational research. Later he moved to CARE, developing methods of case study research that put changes in classroom teaching in the context of schools and education systems.
Rob has worked for 15 years in open and distance education in Australia, developing programs for teachers that introduced them to ways of doing research that helped them examine and extend their own practice. This included, in the early 1990s, an innovative distance EdD program that attracted a majority of students who were themselves HE teachers, who wanted to develop their understanding of educational practice. This led Rob back to UEA as an academic working in staff development (a role that continues). Distance education also led him into research on virtual cultures and to continuing research in multimedia and the educational uses of the internet.

 

Research Projects

2006 – 2009 Building capacity in visual methods, ESRC RDI based in Leeds
Contributions to workshops on visual methods for social science researchers.
http://www.education.leeds.ac.uk/research/visual-methods/

2006 – 2008 Mobile access to virtual learning environments (UNITE) EU
The CARE part of this project involves working with two students-as-researchers groups in secondary schools to investigate uses of mobile technologies. With Alan Pagden and Kathleen Lane.
http://www.unite-ist.org/AboutUnite/Goal/tabid/68/Default.aspx

2005 - 2007 Case methods in technology for teaching (CAMOT) EU
Establishing an on-line archive of case records that focus on the use of technolgoy in education. CARE contributed a study of an art gallery (Kathleen Lane) and a school (Rob Walker)
http://www.camot.net/

2005 – 2006 The View of the Child, Research Cluster on 21st c Design AHRC/EPSRC
A collaborative project involving artists and educators engaging in joint projects.

2004 Seeing Beyond Violence SOS-Kinderdorf Austria
A digital ethnography in which children in four cultures explored their responses to the question ‘What is the opposite of violence?’
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org/cgibin/ sos/jsp/retrieve.do?cat=/633_general_research &fn=6342_research_violence_en.xml &lang=en&nav=6.3&site=ZZ

2003 – 2004 Regional characteristic of the graduate work force in key professions, East of England Development Agency

2003 – 2005 The care of critically ill patients in a general hospital, KTP Project

2002 – 2003 Evaluation of the JISC Project ‘Artworlds’ with John Schostak
A project developing internet based art resources to be shgared between universites.

2001 – 2003 SIFKAL ‘Safer Internet for Knowing and Living’ European Commission study of children’s use of the internet.
CARE led the research work package for the project, looking at internet use in families, schools and the community and broadening the scope of the study to include racism and self-harm (eating disorders).
http://www.sifkal.org/

2001 Research Led Teaching and Learning A study of student perceptions of research at the University of East Anglia carried out by students-as-researchers. With Barbara Zamorksi and David Bridges.
A locally funded study that included as one of its innovative features a students-as-researchers approach and the use of digital photography as a research tool.

2000 – 2002 Visual Evidence. A series of international research seminars on the uses of visual evidence in research in the social sciences and humanities. Collaboration with Peter Hamilton (OU) and Jon Prosser (Leeds). ESRC
A strongly supported series of three seminars on the research use of visual evidence.

1998 – 1999 Professional learning from case studies Committee on University Teaching and Staff Development, Canberra ACT
CUTSD was a funding body set up as equivalent to a Research Council to fund teaching developments. This project developed a research based case study of a community to be used as the basis for multidisiciplinary/multiprofessional work on the undergraduate curriculum in education, nursing, criminology and architecture.

1994 – 1997 Contestation between national and local interests in the environmental education curriculum, Australian Research Council, with Ian Robottom and Karen Malone.
At a time when the Commonwealth Govt was discussing the introduction of a national curriculum (along UK lines), this project investigated the essentially locally-based environmental education curriculum in Australian Primary Schools. The policy was abandoned soon after.

1995 – 1997 Evaluation of the ‘Rethinking Drinking Project’, for the Youth Research Centre at the University of Melbourne and The Brewers’ Foundation. With Robin McTaggart and Lindsay Fitzclarence.
This was an evaluation of a curriculum project in secondary schools funded by a private foundation.

List of Publications

Books

  • A Guide to Classroom Observation
    (with Clem Adelman, photographs by Janine Wiedel), London: Methuen, 1975
  • Changing the Curriculum
    (with Barry MacDonald) London: Open Books, 1976
  • Doing Research: A handbook for teachers
    London: Methuen, 1985
  • Biography, Identity and Schooling: Episodes in Educational Research
    (with Ivor Goodson) London: Falmer Press, 1991
  • Research as Social Change
    (with Michael Schratz), London: Routledge, 1995
  • Online learning and Teaching with Technology: case studies, experience and practice
    (edited with David Murphy and Graham Webb) London: Kogan Page 2001

Journal Publications and book chapters

  • In press ‘Let’s get physical: designing new environments for learning’ Curriculum Briefing
  • In press (with Barbara Schratz Hadwich) ‘Seeing Beyond Violence: Visual Research in relation to Policy and Practice’ in Pat Thomson ed Get the Picture: Visual research with children and young people, London: Routledge
  • 2005 ‘Naturalistic methods’ (with Nigel Norris) in B. Somekh and C. Lewin (eds) Handbook of Research Methods in the Social Sciences, London: Sage
  • 2004 Ediior. Educational Multi-Media Special edition of the Cambridge Journal of Education
  • 2004 ‘What’s next? Safety Issues in the Internet of the Future’ Collection of essays edited by Jurgen Laufer on internet safety awareness, to be published by GMK (Bielefeld)
  • In press Initial Teacher Education at the UKOU' in Perraton, H., Creed, C. and Robinson, B. eds Case Studies of Distance Education Programs in Teacher Education, Paris: UNESCO
  • 2003 'Is there anyone there? The embodiment of knowledge in virtual environments', in Charalambos Vrasidas and Gene Glass, eds Current perspectives on applied information technologies. Volume I: Distance Learning, University of Michigan Press.
  • 2002 'Case study, case records and multimedia' Cambridge Journal of Education 32(1) pp 109-127
  • 2001 Case Studies in Technology and Teaching in Higher Education, (edited with David Murphy and Graham Webb), London, Kogan Page
  • 2000 ‘Becoming an academic in times of change’ in eds Lumme Erilt & Krista Mits, Oppejoudu Otsimas, Eesti Humanitariaarininstitut, Tallinn, Estonia, pp125-130
  • 2000 ‘Case study and case records: a conversation about the Hathaway Project’ (with Susan Groundwater Smith) in eds Herbert Altrichter and John Elliott, Images of Educational Change, Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes, Open University Press.
  • 2000 Case Studies in Environmental Education: Policy and practice (with Ian Robottom and Karen Malone), Geelong, Australia, Deakin University Press.
  • 2000 ‘Service-learning as education: Learning from the experience of experience’ (with Michael Schratz), eds Robin J. Crews & Kathleen Maas Weigert, Teaching for Justice: Concepts and models for Service-learning in Peace Studies, Washington DC, American Association for Higher Education, pp 33-46.
  • 1999 ’Crafting counter-narratives in collaboration. An impressionist tale about a school and community in crisis’ (with Karen Malone) in ed Tineke Abma, Telling Tales: On narrative and evaluation, vol 6 in the series Advances in Program Evaluation, Stamford CA, JAI Press.
  • 1998 ‘Towards an ethnography of learning: Reflection on action as an experience of experience’ (with Michael Schratz) Studies in Culture, Organisations and Society vol 4 pp 197-209
  • 1998 ’Case Study Research’ entry for Encyclopedia of Social Science Methods, edited by Robert Burgess for Routledge.
  • 1998 ‘Media convergence and social research: The Hathaway Project’ (with Ron Lewis) in ed Jon Prosser Image-based Research, London, Falmer Press.
  • 1998 Good reasons for staying off-line. Ultibase Archives. September Edition. http://ultibase.eu.rmit.edu.au/Articles/walker1.html
  • 1997 ‘Flying in the face of instructional design: Rationale for the case study’ (with Ron Lewis and Louise Laskey) Australian Educational Researcher 23(3) pp 29-44
  • 1997 Environmental Education and Self-Interest: The effective role of community, government and private environmental agencies and groups (with Geoff Peel and Ian Robottom) Geelong, Australia, Deakin University Press,
  • 1995 ‘Telling Tales’ (with Ivor Goodson) in eds Hunter McEwan & Kieran Egan, Narrative in Teaching, Learning and Research, New York, Teachers College Press.
  • 1995 ‘The UK/Australia science teacher fellowship program’ (with Ian Robottom) School Science Review 77, (278) pp 21-29
  • 1994 'Drugs and Education' Didaktik 94/1 pp 44-45
  • 1994 ‘Educational research in the workplace: developing a professional doctorate’ (with Marie Brennan) in eds Michael Schratz & Robert Burgess, International Perspectives on Postgraduate Education and Training 18(2):220-233..
  • 1993 'The evaluation of drug education programs' in eds Derek Colquhoun and Alan Kellehar, Health Research: Political, ethical and methodological issues, London, Chapman & Hall.
  • 1993 'Teaching beyond the envelope of content knowledge', in ed Lawrence Ingvarson, Professional Standards for the Teaching of Science: An exploration of what advanced skills teachers should know and be able to do'. Monash University. The Science Education Professional Development Project.
  • 1993 'Open Learning and the Media: the transformation of education in times of change', in eds Terry Evans and Daryl Nation, Reforming Open and Distance Education , London, Kogan Page
  • 1993 'Finding a silent voice for the researcher: Using photographs in evaluation and research', in ed Michael Schratz, Qualitative Voices in Educational Research, London, Falmer Press. Reprinted 1999 in eds Alan Bryman & Robert Burgess Qualitative Research, Sage, London.
  • 1993 'Course Development without Instructional Design' (with Daryl Nation), in ed. Malcolm Parer, Developing Open Learning Courses, Centre for Distance Learning, Monash University, pp 115-150
  • 1992 'The solution or the problem? The role of schools in drug education' Health Promotion Journal of Australia, vol 2 (no 1) pp 43-49
  • 1992 'Hidden curriculum of open learning', Campus Review Weekly, 6th August.
  • 1991 ’Stream 3 in the Monash Dip Ed' commissioned case study in Discipline Review of Science and Maths Education, Dept of Employment, Education and Training, Canberra ACT.
  • 1991 'Stations' (with Ron Fisher), Cambridge Journal of Education 20 (3) pp 223-239
  • 1990 'Drug Education: A beginner's guide' Unicorn 16(2)
  • 1989 'Key notes and key words' International Conference on Drug Abuse in Schools, Published proceedings, ed Cecilie Stead, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. UNESCO
  • 1988 'Putting life into educational research' (with Ivor Goodson) in eds Rob Sherman & Rod Webb, Qualitative Research in Education: Focus and methods, London, Falmer Press.
  • 1987 'Drug education programs: Lessons to be learnt from the curriculum development movement' Drug Education Journal of Australia, vol 1 (1) pp 17-22
  • 1987 ‘Theorising a curriculum’ (with S. Kushner) in ed Ivor Goodson School Subjects and Curriculum Change: Studies in curriculum history, London, Falmer press
  • 1985 Breaking the grip of print in curriculum research’ J. of Curriculum Studies
  • 1985 'Using photographs in a discipline of words'(with Janine Wiedel) in ed Robert Burgess, Field Methods in the Study of Education, Falmer, London.
  • 1983 'Three good reasons for not doing case studies in curriculum research, Journal of Curriculum Studies vol 15 (2), pp 155-166. Reprinted in ed E. House, New Directions in Educational Evaluation, Falmer Press, London, 1986
  • 1983 The use of case studies in applied research and evaluation', in ed. Anthony Hartnett, The Social Sciences and Educational Studies, London, Heinemann.
  • 1982 ‘The School, the Community and the Outsider : case study of a case study' in ed John Olson, Innovation in Science Curriculum, London, Croom Helm.
  • 1982 Bread and Dreams: An evaluation of a bilingual program, (with Saville Kushner, Barry MacDonald and Clem Adelman). Commissioned by the Ford Foundation and jointly published by the University of East Anglia and Boston University.
  • 1981 'Getting involved in curriculum research: a personal history' in eds Martyn Lawn & Len Barton, Rethinking Curriculum Studies, London, Croom Helm
  • 1981 'On the use of fiction in educational research (and I don't mean Cyril Burt)' in ed David Smetherham, Practising Evaluation, Driffield, Nafferton Books.
  • 1981 History Teaching at Karingal School: A photographic case study, (with Lawrence Ingvarson & Ann Borthwick), Geelong, Deakin University Press.
  • 1980‘ The conduct of educational case studies : ethics, theory and procedures' in eds W. B. Dockerell & David Hamilton, Rethinking Educational Research, Hodder & Stoughton, London, pp. 30-63
  • 1980 'Making sense and losing meaning' in ed Helen Simons, Towards a Science of the Singular, CARE Occasional publications no 10, Norwich, University of East Anglia.
  • 1979 'Nuffield Secondary Science' in ed. Lawrence Stenhouse, Case Studies in Curriculum Research and Development, London, Heinemann.
  • 1979 ’Project Technology' in ed. Lawrence Stenhouse, Case Studies in Curriculum Research and Development, London, Heinemann.
  • 1978 'The role of the local authority advisory service in monitoring performance in schools' in ed. John Elliott The Assessment of Performance in Schools, Cambridge, Institute of Education.
  • 1977 Pine City, Case Studies in Science Education, Washington DC, US Government Printing Office.
  • 1977 Greater Boston, Case Studies in Science Education, Washington DC, US Government Printing Office.
  • 1977 'Descriptive methodologies and utilitarian objectives: is a happy marriage possible?' in ed Nigel Norris, SAFAR! 2: Theory into Practice, Norwich, University of East Anglia.
  • 1976 'Humour in the classroom'(with Ivor Goodson) in eds Martyn Hammersley & Paul Woods, School Experience, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  • 1976 'Strawberries' (with Clem Adelman) in eds Michael Stubbs & Sara Delamont, Explorations in Classroom Research, London, Wiley.
  • 1976 'The intransigent curriculum and the technocratic error’ (with Barry MacDonald) Zeitschrift fur Pedagogik 24 (4).
  • 1976 Curriculum Innovation at School Level (with Barry MacDonald) Open University course E203
  • 1975 'Interaction analysis in informal classrooms: a critical comment on the Flanders' system' (with Clem Adelman) British Journal of Educational Psychology 45, pp 73-76.
  • 1975 'Developing pictures with other frames: action research and case study' (with Clem Adelman) in ed Gabriel Chanan, Frontiers of Classroom Research, Slough, NFER
  • 1975 'Closed systems can only open to a fair hearing' (with Barry MacDonald). Submission to a Royal Commission on the Press published in the Times Educational Supplement
  • 1975 'Case study and the social philosophy of educational research' (with Barry MacDonald) Cambridge Journal of Education 5 (1). Reprinted in Beyond the Numbers Game, eds. David Hamilton et al (eds) 1977, Macmillan, and in The Urban Review 1977, New York.
  • 1974 'Stop-frame cinematography with synchronised sound: a technique for recording in school classrooms' (with Clem Adelman) Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, 83(3) 189-191
  • 1974 'Open space- open classroom?' (with Clem Adelman) Education 3-13, vol 2 (2) pp103-107 (reprinted elsewhere)
  • 1974 SAFARI 1: Innovation, Evaluation, Research and the Problem of Control, (with Barry MacDonald), Norwich, University of East Anglia.
  • 1972‘ Some general problems that arise when interaction analysis is used to assess the impact of educational innovation' Classroom Interaction Newsletter vol 2 pp 38-47
  • 1972 ‘The sociology of education and life in school classrooms' International Review of Education, 18(1) pp 32-43
  • 1972 'An alternative to television' with Clem Adelman),Times Educational Supplement 19th May.

MultiMedia

  • Growing up in Cities: Braybrook
    CDROM (With Karen Malone, Lindsay Hasluck, Andy Rickard) UNESCO 1999
  • Hathaway Primary School: A multimedia case study
    CDROM (With Ron Lewis, Susan Groundwater Smith, Glenn McNolty, Peter Evans and others). Deakin University Press 1996, web-based edition 1999. Last updated 2006
  • Changing Classrooms
    Text, video and audio (with Ron Lewis, Peter Lane and Caroline Coles) Deakin University Press 1993 and subsequently revised
  • Classroom Processes
    Text and audio (with Ron Lewis, Peter Lane and Caroline Coles) Deakin University Press 1988
  • Looking at Learning: Resources for School-based development
    Video and text materials for school based in-service development, produced by Patrick Redsell, Ron Lewis and Rob Walker, and published by Routledge, 1989