Dr Martin Levinson
Role: Social & cultural contexts of learning
Latest Publication - Dreams of the Road
Drawing from life stories, and an outcome of more than ten years of ethnographic research, the book foregrounds the voices of participants, and attempts to convey a way of life that is rapidly vanishing.
The book was conceived as a shared researcher-participant project, allowing those involved to reflect on their own childhood memories, as well as on the wider cultural implications of change within their communities.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Road-Avril-Martin-Levinson/dp/184158505X
Radio 4 Interview: Gypsy Children & Education
Martin was interviewed about the issues surrounding gypsy children and education on the Radio 4 program "Thinking Aloud", broadcast on the 25th of July 2007. You can listen to the interview through the audio player below:
Research Interests
My work is inter-disciplinary - including theory from sociology, social psychology and anthropology, as well as from education and cultural studies. The central focus of my research relates to the interface between culture, identity and education among marginal groups. My own work has investigated the above in relation to Gypsy/Romani studies, and my articles have explored cultural dissonance in the home/school interface, considering aspects such as orientations to space, play, gender and literacy.
In general, I am interested in the processes by which groups become marginalised; the ways in which group boundaries are established and maintained; and the evolution of identity markers.
I am also interested in cultural experiences of childhood, and in the history of childhood. In terms of cultural representations, I am particularly interested in literature and film.
The methodological frameworks in which I work relate to ethnography; visual ethnography, and life stories.
Research Projects
Currently, I am engaged in research project investigating the impact on Gypsy children of engagement with the education system. I am interested in the impact on those who remain at school when others in the peer group have left. I am also investigating the ways in which different literacies are utilised.
I intend to seek funding for international collaborative studies in the future, considering such issues in the context of different groups.
Research Project Websites
Books
- Levinson, M.P. & Silk, A. (2007). Dreams of the Road: Gypsy Life in the West Country. Edinburgh: Birlinn Books.
Journal Articles
Links will search Google Scholar for matching titles.
- Levinson, M.P. (In Press). Not Just Content but Style: Gypsy children Traversing Boundaries. Research in Comparative and International Education 3(3).
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Levinson, M.P. (2007). Literacy in English Gypsy communities: Cultural capital manifested as negative assets
. American Educational Research Journal 44(1), 5-39. -
Levinson, M.P. (2007). Gypsy Traveler Children in Schools. Into Teaching 19, 13-18.
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Levinson, M.P. & Sparkes, A.C. (2006). Conflicting value systems: gypsy females and the home-school interface. Research Papers in Education 21(1), 79-97.
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Levinson, M.P. (2005). The role of play in the formation and maintenance of cultural identity: Gypsy children in Home and School contexts. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 34(5), 499-532.
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Levinson, M.P. & Sparkes, A.C. (2005). Gypsy children, space, and the school environment. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 18(6), 751-772.
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Levinson, M.P. & Sparkes, A.C. (2004). Gypsy identity and orientations to space. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 33(6), 704-734.
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Levinson, M.P. & Sparkes, A.C. (2003). Gypsy Masculinities and the School-Home Interface: exploring contradictions and tensions. British Journal of Sociology of Education 24(5), 587-603.
Chapters in Books
- Levinson, M.P. (2004). Navigating without fixed points: the perils of open-ended research. In P.N.Coombes, M.J.M.Danaher & P.A.Danaher (eds) Strategic uncertainties: Ethics, politics and risk in contemporary educational research (pp. 130-142). Queensland: Flaxton Qld: Post Pressed.
Other publications
- Levinson, M.P. (In Press). Researching Groups that are hidden and / or marginalized in . BERA, Macclesfield: .
Teaching Interests
Representations of childhood/youth in literature and film.
Group identity: the formation and identity of groups.
Historical and anthropological considerations of childhood and education.
Alternative education.
Ethnography.
Grants & Awards
External Indicators of Esteem
- Member of international advisory board, International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
M.P.Levinson@exeter.ac.uk
Martin Levinson.vcf