School of Education

Dr Clare Dowdall

Dr Clare Dowdall

Lecturer in Education

 C.Dowdall2@exeter.ac.uk

 4888

 +44 (0)1392 724888

 North Cloisters NC128

 

North Cloisters, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK

Overview

I joined the University of Exeter’s Graduate School/ School of Education as Lecturer in Education (Language and Literacy) in 2020. I am currently programme lead for the MA Education Online Programme, and most of my teaching is within this Programme. I also supervise doctoral candidates on the MPhil/ PhD and EdD Programmes. Prior to working in the School of Education, I was employed as a Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education at University of Plymouth. I have extensive experience of teaching, supervising and examining across the full range of educational programmes, including PhD, EdD, MA, and PGCE.

My current research focuses on children’s writing and text production in a variety of school-based and informal contexts. In March 2022 I was awarded a British Academy/ Leverhulme SR grant to investigate teaching narrative writing with digital resources and apps. 

I have an active interest in all aspects of literacy education and policy. I am a long-standing member of the United Kingdom Literacy Association. I currently sit on their Executive Council, with responsibility for convening the UKLA Research Sub-Committee. From 2015-2018 I co-edited the UKLA’s journal Literacy. 

I graduated from Exeter University with a BA(Ed) in English and Drama in 1997. I worked in Devon, as a teacher and literacy subject leader, and then completed an MA(Ed) in Language and Literacy with University of Plymouth. For this, I researched children’s text production in out of school contexts. In 2010 I was the recipient of the UKLA/Wiley Blackwell Research in Literacy Award for my paper: Impressions, improvisations and compositions: reframing children's text production in the digital age, Literacy, 43(2) pp 91-99.  

Qualifications

BA(Ed)(Hons) Primary English with Education and Drama (QTS), University of Exeter - Dissertation Special Award

MA(Ed) Language and Literacy, University of Plymouth

PhD, University of Plymouth

Research group links

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Research

Research interests

I completed my PhD in children's text production in online social networking sites in 2012, and have been researching in the area of literacies and literacy pedagogies ever since. 

My current research focuses on children’s writing and text production in a variety of school-based and informal contexts. In March 2022 I was awarded a British Academy/ Leverhulme research grant to investigate teaching narrative writing with digital resources and apps. In 2016 I was awarded a small research award from the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) to investigate teacher knowledge about writing.

From 2017 to 2020 I co-convened the UKLA Digital Literacies in Education SIG. As part of this work, I co-convened the UKLA Digital Literacies in Education Task Group with Professor Cathy Burnett, Sheffield Hallam University. This group was funded by UKLA to develop research-informed resources for teachers to promote critical and creative engagement with digital literacies. 

Research projects

Teaching narrative writing with digital resources and apps

Awarded to: Dr  Clare Dowdall

Co-investigators: Dr Judith Kleine-Staarman

Funding awarded to Exeter £ 8,497

Sponsor(s): British Academy/ Leverhulme Small Research Grant

About the project

This research will investigate the potential for digital resources and apps to promote children’s narrative writing, and contribute to children's engagement and enjoyment within a targeted unit of work, where the outcome is a written narrative that aligns with National Curriculum expectations for competence in transcription and composition. National school data indicates significant gaps between girls’ and boys’ attainment in writing, and marked under-attainment for those labelled ‘disadvantaged’. The most recent National Literacy Trust Survey records the lowest ever level of writing enjoyment amongst all learners, but particularly amongst boys with low socio-economic status. Using survey data and three participatory ‘telling case’ studies, this research will investigate how digital resources and apps can support the narrative writing process and promote enjoyment and engagement amongst all pupils, within national accountability measures. Based on this, recommendations for writing pedagogy involving digital resources and apps will be made.

In this study, we will investigate how digital resources are used by three teachers, to develop children’s narrative writing. Working collaboratively with teachers, we aim to identify and share best practice, and develop pedagogy for writing that involves digital resources. We also seek to investigate how the introduction of digital resources into units of work that align with the National Curriculum Programmes of Study (PoS) for writing contributes to children’s engagement with, and enjoyment of, narrative writing.

Research Objectives

1. To survey up to 100 primary school teachers to identify the principles informing their narrative writing pedagogy, and to identify the digital resources they are familiar with or use in their professional work to support children’s narrative writing. You can access the survey here. (December 2022 - January 2023).

2. To organise and lead a collaborative planning workshop with 3 primary school teachers and their Teaching Assistants to explore how children’s narrative writing development can be supported, using digital resources.

3. To construct 3 ‘Telling Case’ studies that describe how the introduction of digital resources impacts the participants’ pedagogy and their children’s narrative writing.

4. To develop and share best practice and pedagogic principles for developing children’s narrative writing using digital resources and apps within the Exeter Partner Research Community and Exeter ITE Partnership members.

5. To disseminate findings nationally and internationally amongst literacy educators, researchers and policy makers, to contribute to the scholarship on writing pedagogy in evolving digital contexts.

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Publications

Books

Myhill D, Watson A, Newman R, Dowdall C (2022). Understanding Literacy and Disadvantage., SAGE. Abstract.
Dowdall C, Burnett C (eds)(2021). Digital Literacies in Education: Teaching, Learning and Assessment in 21st Century Classrooms. Leicester, United Kingdom Literacy Association.

Journal articles

McClay J, Dowdall C (2019). Editorial. Literacy, 53(1), 1-2.
Dowdall C (2018). Ben and his army scenes: a consideration of one child’s out-of-school text production. English in Education, 40(3), 39-54.
McClay J, Dowdall C (2018). Editorial. Literacy, 52(1), 1-2.
McClay J, Dowdall C (2018). Editorial. Literacy, 52(3), 115-116.
McClay J, Dowdall C (2017). Editorial. Literacy, 51(1), 1-2.
Dowdall C, McClay J (2017). Editorial. Literacy, 51(3), 121-122.
Reedy D, Dowdall C, McClay J (2017). Editorial. Literacy, 51(2), 53-55.
Reedy D, Dowdall C, McClay J (2016). Call for papers for a Special Themed Issue of Literacy: Assessment, Accountability and Policy – April 2017. Literacy, 50(2), 112-112.
Reedy D, Dowdall C, McClay J (2016). Call for papers for a Special Themed Issue of Literacy: Assessment, Accountability and Policy – April 2017. Literacy, 50(1), 52-52.
McClay J, Dowdall C (2016). Editorial. Literacy, 50(3), 113-115.
McClay J, Dowdall C (2016). Editorial. Literacy, 50(2), 53-54.
McClay J, Dowdall C (2015). Editorial. Literacy, 49(2), 57-59.
McClay J, Dowdall C (2015). Editorial. Literacy, 49(3), 113-114.
Dowdall C (2015). Working with multimodality: rethinking literacy in a digital age. JOURNAL OF EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY, 15(2), 281-284.  Author URL.
Dowdall C (2009). Impressions, improvisations and compositions: reframing children's text production in social network sites. Literacy, 43(2), 91-99. Abstract.
Dowdall C (2009). Reading, writing and thinking: the postformal basics. ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA, 44(1), 73-75.  Author URL.
Dowdall C (2006). Dissonance between the digitally created words of school and home. Literacy, 40(3), 153-163. Abstract.

Chapters

Dowdall C (2020). Teaching writing in digital times: Stories from the early years. In Chen H, Myhill D, Lewis H (Eds.) Developing Writers Across the Primary and Secondary Years, Oxon: Routledge, 78-93.
Dowdall C (2019). Young children's writing in the 21st century: the challenge of moving from paper to screen. In Erstad O, Flewitt R, Kummerling-Meibauer B, Pires Pereira IS (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Digital Literacies in Early Childhood, Oxon: Routledge, 257-269.
Dowdall C (2016). Children's Writing in the Twenty-First Century: Mastery, Crafting and Control. In Parry B, Burnett C, Merchant G (Eds.) Literacy, Media, Technology: Past, Present and Future, London: Bloomsbury, 163-182. Abstract.
Carrington V, Dowdall C (2016). Vernacular creativity in urban textual landscapes. In Jones RH (Ed) The Routledge Handbook of Language and Creativity, Oxon: Routledge, 415-430.
Carrington V, Dowdall C (2013). This is a job for Hazmat Guy! Global Media Cultures and Children's Everyday Lives. In Hall K, Cremin T, Comber B, Moll LC (Eds.) International Handbook of Research on Children's Literacy, Learning, and Culture, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 96-107.
Dowdall C (2009). Masters and critics: children as producers of online digital texts. In Carrington V, Robinson M (Eds.) Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices, London: Sage, 43-61.
Dowdall C (2009). The Texts of Me and the Texts of Us: Improvisation and polished performance in Social Networking Sites. In Willett R, Robinson M, Marsh J (Eds.) Play, Creativity and Digital Cultures, Oxon: Routledge, 73-91.

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Teaching

 

University of Exeter (2020 - present)

MA Education Online 

  • Programme Leader (September 2023)
  • Deputy Programme Leader (from September 2022)
  • Module leader and tutor - Dissertation Module (EFPM013)
  • Dissertation Supervisor (EFPM013)
  • Module leader and tutor - Language and Literacy 'Reading Rights' Module (EFPM009)
  • Module leader and tutor - Language and Literacy 'Writing Matters' Module (EFPM012)

Module tutor - Technology and Education Futures (EFPM294)

University of Plymouth (2001-2020)

  • PGCE Core subject lead
  • PGCE English lead and tutor
  • BAEd English tutor (Core)
  • BA Ed English (Specialist pathway)
  • PGCE Education Studies
  • PGCE personal Tutor

Modules

2023/24


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