Overview
I am the Programme Director for the Secondary PGCE course and lead the Secondary Mathematics PGCE. I also teach on the MSc and MA programmes as well as supervising dissertation and PhD students.
My research interests focus on resistant students in school, how they make use of space to make school the kind of place they want to be and how they make their voices heard. I am also interested in the effects of this on mathematics education.
Prior to working at Exeter, I spent 11 years teaching in various schools in London and Dorset. I also worked as a consultant at SMILE Maths developing educational software. Most recently I was a head of department in a school which specialised in Mathematics.
Qualifications
PhD Education, University of Exeter. 2016
MSc Educational Research, University of Exeter; Distinction. 2010
MEd Education, University of Exeter; Distinction. 2008
PGCE Secondary Mathematics, Kings College. 1998
BSc & ARCS Mathematics. Imperial College. 1997
Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy
National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics Accredited Professional Development Lead
Career
2019 - Present, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Exeter.
2014 - 2019, Lecturer in Education, University of Exeter.
2009 - 2014, Teacher Education Research Fellow, University of Exeter.
2006-2009, Head of Maths. Rossmore Community College.
1998-2006, Teacher of Maths in various schools in London and Dorset.
Research group links
Research
Research interests
My research interests focus on resistant students in school, how they make use of space to make school the kind of place they want to be and how they make their voices heard. My PhD research focussed on these matters and how they affected a specific group of disenfranchised pupils attending a sponsored academy which was in the process of being rebuilt.
I am also interested in the effects of these issues on mathematics education as well as maintaining an interest in initial teacher education.
Research grants
- 2016 European Union
PROTeach
- 2012 EPSRC
Empowering Partnerships, Enabling Engagement
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Key publications
Ralph T (In Press). Non-compliance as a substitute for voice.
Research Papers in EducationAbstract:
Non-compliance as a substitute for voice
This article considers the effect that student-teacher relationships have on engagement with school and how students go about making their voice heard. In order to do this, it draws upon data from a year long ethnography in an underperforming school in England. The site was particularly useful in addressing these questions as it offered different types of educational provision to vocational and mainstream pupils. This contrast highlighted, in particular, the effects of different types of student-teacher relationships. The works of Honneth, Cavarero and Couldry are used to theorise voice along with criticism of formal school voice procedures by writers such as Fielding. The failure of formal student voice processes were found to further disengage the participants from school. Effective voice depends on relationships based on mutual recognition and cannot be based on simple representation. For the participants in this study, non-compliance became a means by which to exercise voice.
Abstract.
Ralph T, Levinson M (2019). Conflicting Communication About the Ownership and Meaning of Places in a School in South West England. In Collins P, Igreja V, Danaher P (Eds.)
The Nexus among Place, Conflict and Communication in a Globalising World, Singapore: Springer, 79-98.
Abstract:
Conflicting Communication About the Ownership and Meaning of Places in a School in South West England
Abstract.
Ralph T (2019). Survival in the badlands: an exploration of disaffected students’ uses of space in a UK secondary school.
British Journal of Sociology of Education,
40(8), 1188-1203.
Abstract:
Survival in the badlands: an exploration of disaffected students’ uses of space in a UK secondary school
This article considers the understandings of space and place amongst a group of disaffected students within an institution that had been in a state of flux over a number of years. The article explores ways in which students are positioned by institutions into specific spaces, ways in which they use those spaces to challenge authority and ways in which they appropriate both space and place to assert new, and often playful, identities. The authors consider the meanings of the spatial behaviour of students through notions of space and place as developed by Doreen Massey, with reference to a Foucauldian understanding of power. In some ways, the students might be perceived as being marginalised, victims of a hierarchical environment in which their status is low. Yet they also emerge as active agents, forging new interpretations of their surroundings and robust group identities, and reinforcing in-group relationships through spatial behaviour.
Abstract.
Publications by category
Journal articles
Ralph T (In Press). Non-compliance as a substitute for voice.
Research Papers in EducationAbstract:
Non-compliance as a substitute for voice
This article considers the effect that student-teacher relationships have on engagement with school and how students go about making their voice heard. In order to do this, it draws upon data from a year long ethnography in an underperforming school in England. The site was particularly useful in addressing these questions as it offered different types of educational provision to vocational and mainstream pupils. This contrast highlighted, in particular, the effects of different types of student-teacher relationships. The works of Honneth, Cavarero and Couldry are used to theorise voice along with criticism of formal school voice procedures by writers such as Fielding. The failure of formal student voice processes were found to further disengage the participants from school. Effective voice depends on relationships based on mutual recognition and cannot be based on simple representation. For the participants in this study, non-compliance became a means by which to exercise voice.
Abstract.
Ralph T (2019). Survival in the badlands: an exploration of disaffected students’ uses of space in a UK secondary school.
British Journal of Sociology of Education,
40(8), 1188-1203.
Abstract:
Survival in the badlands: an exploration of disaffected students’ uses of space in a UK secondary school
This article considers the understandings of space and place amongst a group of disaffected students within an institution that had been in a state of flux over a number of years. The article explores ways in which students are positioned by institutions into specific spaces, ways in which they use those spaces to challenge authority and ways in which they appropriate both space and place to assert new, and often playful, identities. The authors consider the meanings of the spatial behaviour of students through notions of space and place as developed by Doreen Massey, with reference to a Foucauldian understanding of power. In some ways, the students might be perceived as being marginalised, victims of a hierarchical environment in which their status is low. Yet they also emerge as active agents, forging new interpretations of their surroundings and robust group identities, and reinforcing in-group relationships through spatial behaviour.
Abstract.
Koutsouris G, Norwich B, Fujita T, Ralph T, Adlam A, Milton F (2017). Piloting a dispersed and inter-professional Lesson Study using technology to link team members at a distance.
Technology, Pedagogy and Education,
26(5), 587-599.
Abstract:
Piloting a dispersed and inter-professional Lesson Study using technology to link team members at a distance
This article presents an evaluation of distance technology used in a novel Lesson Study (LS) approach involving a dispersed LS team for inter-professional purposes. A typical LS model with only school teachers as team members was modified by including university-based lecturers with the school-based teachers, using video-conferencing and online video sharing. The aim was to examine the experiences of using video-conferencing and video transfer technology to support the use of LS procedures to connect team members between schools and university. The meetings from two LS teams (primary and secondary) were recorded and analysed using a discourse analysis framework, and team members were interviewed after the LS cycle. Despite some technical difficulties, the communication between the dispersed members of the teams was largely smooth and successful. Extending LS teams and practice to include non school teachers, using distance-linking technology, can more effectively support teachers, while reducing the practical constraints of bringing other professionals into the LS team.
Abstract.
Norwich B, Koutsouris G, Fujita T, Ralph T, Adlam A, Milton F (2016). Exploring knowledge bridging and translation in Lesson Study using an inter-professional team.
International Journal of Lesson and Learning Studies,
5(3), 180-195.
Abstract:
Exploring knowledge bridging and translation in Lesson Study using an inter-professional team
Purpose – it is argued that the issues of translating basic science, including knowledge from neuroscience, into relevant teaching are similar to those that have been experienced over a long period by educational psychology. This paper proposes that such a translation might be achieved through Lesson Study (LS), which is an increasingly used technique to stimulate teacher enquiry. To explore these issues, this paper presents the findings from a modified LS approach that involved psychologists and mathematics lecturers working together with school-based teachers to prepare a series of lessons on mathematics.
Design/methodology/approach – the LS team review and planning meetings and subsequent interviews were recorded and analysed for common themes, with reference to patterns of knowledge bridging. Particular attention was paid to translational issues and the kind of knowledge used.
Findings – Overall, there was some successful bridging between theory and practice, and evidence of translation of theoretical knowledge into relevant teaching practice. However, the analysis of the team’s interactions showed that relatively little involved a useful applied neuroscience/neuropsychology element, whereas other psychological knowledge from cognitive, developmental, educational and clinical psychology was considered more relevant to planning the LS.
Originality/value – This study illustrates how reference to brain functioning has currently little specific to contribute directly to school teaching, but it can arouse increased interest in psychological processes relevant to teaching and learning. This approach reaffirms the central role of teacher-led research in the relationship between theory and practice. The findings are also discussed in relation to the SECI model of knowledge creation.
Abstract.
Chapters
Ralph T, Levinson M (2019). Conflicting Communication About the Ownership and Meaning of Places in a School in South West England. In Collins P, Igreja V, Danaher P (Eds.)
The Nexus among Place, Conflict and Communication in a Globalising World, Singapore: Springer, 79-98.
Abstract:
Conflicting Communication About the Ownership and Meaning of Places in a School in South West England
Abstract.
Publications by year
In Press
Ralph T (In Press). Non-compliance as a substitute for voice.
Research Papers in EducationAbstract:
Non-compliance as a substitute for voice
This article considers the effect that student-teacher relationships have on engagement with school and how students go about making their voice heard. In order to do this, it draws upon data from a year long ethnography in an underperforming school in England. The site was particularly useful in addressing these questions as it offered different types of educational provision to vocational and mainstream pupils. This contrast highlighted, in particular, the effects of different types of student-teacher relationships. The works of Honneth, Cavarero and Couldry are used to theorise voice along with criticism of formal school voice procedures by writers such as Fielding. The failure of formal student voice processes were found to further disengage the participants from school. Effective voice depends on relationships based on mutual recognition and cannot be based on simple representation. For the participants in this study, non-compliance became a means by which to exercise voice.
Abstract.
2019
Ralph T, Levinson M (2019). Conflicting Communication About the Ownership and Meaning of Places in a School in South West England. In Collins P, Igreja V, Danaher P (Eds.)
The Nexus among Place, Conflict and Communication in a Globalising World, Singapore: Springer, 79-98.
Abstract:
Conflicting Communication About the Ownership and Meaning of Places in a School in South West England
Abstract.
Ralph T (2019). Survival in the badlands: an exploration of disaffected students’ uses of space in a UK secondary school.
British Journal of Sociology of Education,
40(8), 1188-1203.
Abstract:
Survival in the badlands: an exploration of disaffected students’ uses of space in a UK secondary school
This article considers the understandings of space and place amongst a group of disaffected students within an institution that had been in a state of flux over a number of years. The article explores ways in which students are positioned by institutions into specific spaces, ways in which they use those spaces to challenge authority and ways in which they appropriate both space and place to assert new, and often playful, identities. The authors consider the meanings of the spatial behaviour of students through notions of space and place as developed by Doreen Massey, with reference to a Foucauldian understanding of power. In some ways, the students might be perceived as being marginalised, victims of a hierarchical environment in which their status is low. Yet they also emerge as active agents, forging new interpretations of their surroundings and robust group identities, and reinforcing in-group relationships through spatial behaviour.
Abstract.
2017
Koutsouris G, Norwich B, Fujita T, Ralph T, Adlam A, Milton F (2017). Piloting a dispersed and inter-professional Lesson Study using technology to link team members at a distance.
Technology, Pedagogy and Education,
26(5), 587-599.
Abstract:
Piloting a dispersed and inter-professional Lesson Study using technology to link team members at a distance
This article presents an evaluation of distance technology used in a novel Lesson Study (LS) approach involving a dispersed LS team for inter-professional purposes. A typical LS model with only school teachers as team members was modified by including university-based lecturers with the school-based teachers, using video-conferencing and online video sharing. The aim was to examine the experiences of using video-conferencing and video transfer technology to support the use of LS procedures to connect team members between schools and university. The meetings from two LS teams (primary and secondary) were recorded and analysed using a discourse analysis framework, and team members were interviewed after the LS cycle. Despite some technical difficulties, the communication between the dispersed members of the teams was largely smooth and successful. Extending LS teams and practice to include non school teachers, using distance-linking technology, can more effectively support teachers, while reducing the practical constraints of bringing other professionals into the LS team.
Abstract.
2016
Norwich B, Koutsouris G, Fujita T, Ralph T, Adlam A, Milton F (2016). Exploring knowledge bridging and translation in Lesson Study using an inter-professional team.
International Journal of Lesson and Learning Studies,
5(3), 180-195.
Abstract:
Exploring knowledge bridging and translation in Lesson Study using an inter-professional team
Purpose – it is argued that the issues of translating basic science, including knowledge from neuroscience, into relevant teaching are similar to those that have been experienced over a long period by educational psychology. This paper proposes that such a translation might be achieved through Lesson Study (LS), which is an increasingly used technique to stimulate teacher enquiry. To explore these issues, this paper presents the findings from a modified LS approach that involved psychologists and mathematics lecturers working together with school-based teachers to prepare a series of lessons on mathematics.
Design/methodology/approach – the LS team review and planning meetings and subsequent interviews were recorded and analysed for common themes, with reference to patterns of knowledge bridging. Particular attention was paid to translational issues and the kind of knowledge used.
Findings – Overall, there was some successful bridging between theory and practice, and evidence of translation of theoretical knowledge into relevant teaching practice. However, the analysis of the team’s interactions showed that relatively little involved a useful applied neuroscience/neuropsychology element, whereas other psychological knowledge from cognitive, developmental, educational and clinical psychology was considered more relevant to planning the LS.
Originality/value – This study illustrates how reference to brain functioning has currently little specific to contribute directly to school teaching, but it can arouse increased interest in psychological processes relevant to teaching and learning. This approach reaffirms the central role of teacher-led research in the relationship between theory and practice. The findings are also discussed in relation to the SECI model of knowledge creation.
Abstract.
thomas_ralph Details from cache as at 2023-06-04 18:07:34
Refresh publications
External Engagement and Impact
External Examiner Positions
External Examiner, Secondary Mathematics PGCE, London Metropolitan University, 2022 to date.
External Examiner, Secondary PGCE, University of Oxford, 2020 to date.
External Examiner, Secondary Mathematics PGCE, Reading University, 2017 to 2020.
Research-based contributions to practitioner and academic conferences
ECER Hamburg, 2019, ‘It’s Just a You Thing’: Movement and Resistance in School
Physmaths Conference, Exeter Mathematics School, 2019, Using Student Voice to Improve Teaching and Learning in Mathematics
ECER Bolzano, 2018, Disaffected Students’ Uses of Space in a UK Secondary School
ECER Bolzano, 2018, Disorientation as a Strategy for Endogenous Understanding
ECER Copenhagen, 2017, Resistance, Imagined Futures, Cruel Optimism and a Compartmentalised Experience of School
Physmaths Conference, Exeter Mathematics School, 2017 & 2018, Every Pupil Can Succeed at Maths
ECER, Dublin, 2016, Non-Compliance as a Substitute for Voice
Future Teaching Scholars Annual Conference, 2016 & 2017, Every Pupil Can Succeed at Maths
ECER, Budapest, 2015, Cultures of Resistance
ECER, Cadiz, 2012, Home Culture, School Ethos and Engagement
Teaching
I am currently the Programme Director for the Secondary PGCE course as well as being the module lead on the PGCE Secondary Mathematics course.
I also teach on the Scientific Methodologies module, part of the MSc Educational Research, as well as the Debating the Big Questions in Education and Independent Study modules, part of the MA Education. I supervise both masters dissertation and PhD students.
Modules
2022/23
