30 November 2010

Supporting parents to engage in their children's learning - The 4th Bell Lecture

The ways in which high-quality parenting can enhance a child’s wellbeing and performance at school will be examined during a public lecture at the University of Dundee next week.

Dr Maria Evangelou, from the University of Oxford, will deliver the latest instalment in Dundee’s Bell Lectures in Education series with her talk, ‘Supporting parents to engage in their children’s learning: are we asking too much?’, on Wednesday, 8th December.

The lecture had originally been scheduled to take place in April, but had to be cancelled due to the chaos caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

The presentation will draw together findings from a number of studies conducted over the past 10 years in order to examine the importance of supporting parents as educators and the role of parental involvement in breaking the cycle of disadvantage and underachievement.

Professor Brian Hudson, Associate Dean (Research) in the School of Education, Social Work and Community Education at Dundee, said, 'Dr Evangelou’s work is based upon a strong evidence base which highlights the importance of parental involvement in the education process.'

'Her work should be of interest not only to teachers, other professionals and parents but also to policy makers.'

Dr Evangelou is a Research Lecturer in the Department of Education at Oxford, and a member of the Families Early Learning and Literacy (FELL) research group. Her research focuses on the evaluation of early childhood interventions; the language and literacy development of early years; parenting education and support, and the role of evidence-based practices in education.

This lecture is the fourth in a series commemorating the reintroduction of the Bell Chair in Education, first founded by the Reverend Dr Andrew Bell around 200 years ago.

Reverend Bell was chaplain to the army of the East India Company in Madras, India. In charge of educating the soldiers' children and finding a shortage of teachers, he used the older boys to instruct the younger pupils.

On return from India, Reverend Bell travelled the country encouraging schools to adopt 'the Madras system'. This method of peer learning became widely used in schools at home and abroad. He also founded Madras College in St Andrews in 1833 and what is now called Bell Baxter High School in Cupar.

To further promote the study of education he founded two Chairs in Education, one at Edinburgh (currently held) and the other at St Andrews, which transferred to Dundee while it was part of St Andrews University. The lectures are organised by the School of Education, Social Work and Community Education

Dr Evangelou’s lecture takes place at the Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill, at 6pm on Wednesday, 8th December.

Free tickets for this event are available from Tower Building Reception, OTI Reception, or by calling Tracy Pratt on 01382 381512 or emailing t.pratt@dundee.ac.uk, or at University's Online Store.

A drinks reception follows the event. Please note overflow theatres may be in use.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277