Laura Black
Lecturer in Literacy on the BA (Hons) Language
Main Research Interests
My main area of interest focuses on classroom talk and learning and how teachers and pupils construct knowledge together. My doctoral research looked at pupil access to teacher-pupil interactions which are productive in terms of learning and concluded that children from non-privileged backgrounds are at a disadvantage in the classroom due to consistent involvement in interactions which are non-productive. Research interests stemming from this study include:
- The characteristics of productive and non-productive talk in terms of children's learning
- Pupil learning strategies and how they are developed through classroom talk
- The use of ethnography in observing and analysing classroom talk in its social context with a specific focus on discourse analysis
- Social exclusion with particular reference to social and cultural differences in thinking and speech comprehension
Main Teaching Interests
I am a Lecturer in Literacy on the BA (Hons) Language, Literacy and Communication in the School of Education and I currently teach units on:
- Aspects of literacy
- Literacy and social development
- Acquisition of literacy
- Effective Group Work
- Reading Processes
I am also third year tutor on the BA LLC and co-ordinate the dissertation unit. Prior to working at Manchester, I taught a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University.
Recent Publications & Conference Papers:
Black, L. (2004) Differential Participation in Whole Class Discussions and the
Construction of Marginalised Identities. Journal of Educational Enquiry 5 (1) p.34-54
Black, L. (2004) Teacher-Pupil Talk in Whole Class Discussions and
Processes of Social Positioning within the Primary School Classroom, Language and Education 18 (5) p.347- 414
Black, L. (2004) Girls' and Boys' Participation in Whole Class Discussions and the
Construction of Learner Identities in Classroom Learning Processes. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association conference, UMIST
Black, L. (2003) Constructing Learner and Exclusion Identities through Participation in Classroom Discourse, Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association conference, Heriot-Watt University
Black, L; Warburton, T; Corbin, B and Campbell, A. (2002) The Contribution of 'World View' to Pupils' Attitudes on Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Learning, Manchester Metropolitan University Business School Working Paper Series 03/05
Black, L (2002) 'She's not in my head or in my body': Constructing Pupil Identities of Exclusion and Full Participation in Classroom Learning Processes, presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference held at the University of Exeter
Black, L. and Yew, V. (2000) Narratives of Power within Educational Discourse: Constructing Identities of Participation and Non-participation, p resented at the 'Scaffolding Learning in Educational Contexts' Conference held at the University of Technology, Sydney
Black, L. (1999) Pupil participation in whole class discussions: Do some children have an advantage?, presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual conference held at the University of Sussex
Research Funding:
L. Black (2003/4) - ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (PTA-026-27-0242) £28,045.87