➡ Where: Online (Zoom)
➡ Date: Wednesday 29th January 2025
➡ Time: 4.00pm – 6.00pm (UK time)
We invite you to the next event from the Governance and Governing Research Interest Group (RIG), entitled ‘Educational Isolation: Can a School’s Place Limit Its Access to Resources?’
This session will focus on guest speaker, Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope’s most recent research in Governance and Governing.
Professor Ovenden-Hope will explore the concept of ‘educational isolation’ in relation to place-based inequity for schools. Educationally isolated schools are typically located in coastal and rural areas with high levels of deprivation, poor infrastructure and geographically remote from large employers and cultural opportunities.
Spatial equity in education is important as place-based challenges impact on school outcomes for pupils. Data demonstrates that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds in rural and coastal schools have poorer GCSE results than similarly disadvantaged pupils in urban schools. Place-based challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers and school leaders can in part explain this. Once the place-based challenges of a school’s place are fully understood, school leaders can consider strategies to support improved teacher recruitment and retention. Some solutions already being enacted by MATs to mitigate spatial inequity will be shared.
We hope you can join us.
Please note, this event is free to BELMAS members and £5.00 for non-members. To ensure you receive your free ticket, please log in on the BELMAS website before booking.
If you pay the non-member fee to attend and then become a BELMAS Member within a month of the event taking place, please let us know and we will refund the £5 fee.
Registration will close at midnight (UK) on Monday 27th January 2025.
Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope
Dean of Place and Social Purpose, Professor of Education | Plymouth Marjon University, Cornwall
As well as being Dean of Place and Social Purpose and Professor of Education at Plymouth Marjon University in Cornwall, Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope is also Visiting Professor at Canterbury Christ Church University.
Tanya is a committed and enthusiastic educationalist with over three decades experience in schools, colleges and universities in England as a teacher, teacher educator, educational leader and educational researcher. Tanya holds the highest professional status for teaching and learning in schools (Fellow Chartered College of Teaching), colleges (Fellow Society of Education and
Training) and Universities (Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy).
The author of numerous papers, reports, articles and books, Tanya is dedicated to exploring social inequity and educational disparity and has focused on the challenges for coastal, rural and small schools, specialising on issues of teacher recruitment and retention and professional development, since 2008.
Her two latest books are: ‘The Early Career Framework: origins, outcomes and opportunities (2022)’ and ‘Exploring Teacher Recruitment and Retention: contextual challenges from international perspectives (2020)’. Tanya’s most recent research report is: ‘Locality Matters: Understanding how to support the challenge of educationally isolated schools’.
Tanya is in her second terms as an elected BERA council member, Board Member for the International Council in Education for Teaching (ICET) and Advisory Board Member for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Teacher Development Fund. She also holds invited advisory and voluntary roles across a range of Education organisations and charities.
Professor Ovenden-Hope is also the Education Research lead for the University, leading UoA 23 in REF 2021 and is Director of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Group – Context Agency Place and Education (CAPE). She is an active PhD supervisor and Director of Studies. Tanya developed and leads Plymouth Marjon University Cornwall, and continues to extend Marjon’s contribution to place-based equity through transformational opportunities in higher education engagement for places that have been previously under-resourced.
Joining instructions will be sent out the day before the event, so please keep an eye on your inbox for these. We look forward to seeing you at the event!
We record our online events for sharing purposes on the BELMAS website and YouTube page. Please tick this box in your registration to acknowledge you are happy for us to record.
The Governance and Governing Research Interest Group (RIG) held an event on Wednesday 29th January 2025 entitled ‘Educational Isolation: Can a School’s Place Limit Its Access to Resources?’
The group was joined by guest speaker, Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope, who explored the concept of ‘educational isolation’ in relation to place-based inequity for schools.
If you missed this event or would like a recap, you can now watch it in full below.
A huge thank you to the Governance and Governing RIG Convenors for arranging the event, to Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope for her insightful presentation, and to everyone who joined us at the event. We hope to see you again at the next one.
