| Qualifications |
Duration |
Start dates |
Application period |
| PhD or Professional doctorate |
PhD:
Full-time: 3–4 years
Part-time: 6–8 years
Professional doctorate:
Part-time: 4–8 years |
October |
November to January |
Qualifications
PhD or Professional doctorate |
Duration
PhD:
Full-time: 3–4 years
Part-time: 6–8 years
Professional doctorate:
Part-time: 4–8 years |
Start dates
October |
Application period
November to January |
The Literacy and Social Justice research area at The Open University is in the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport. It focuses on various themes such as digital literacies, pedagogy, educational practice, broadening literacy, children’s experiences, and agency. Our research draws upon various qualitative and quantitative methods and diverse theoretical orientations.
Entry requirements
Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) and an MA or research methods training at MA level (or equivalent). If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.
Potential research projects
- Reading for pleasure
- The educational use technologies in education
- Understanding local and international literacy programmes and resources
- Children’s conceptions of play and learning
- Learner agency in urban primary schools in disadvantaged areas
- Literacy experiences, young children’s intentions, identities and affective relations with text
Current/recent research projects
- Tackling underperformance by school leaders
- The reading lives of Ghanaian children
- Exploring classroom talk in Ghanaian basic schools
- The inclusion of children with visual impairments and children with hearing impairments in mainstream primary schools in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya
- The inclusion of students with special educational needs in Jamaican public schools
- An ethnographic life history study of the reading lives of Ghanaian children
- Teaching reading pedagogy with and for antiracism and social justice
- Story and its place in creating the narrative history of the past and the society of the future
- Home and school literacy practices of children
- The role of mentoring developing adolescents
- Teaching assistant-teacher interaction in primary school
- The role of fun in learning across multiple cultures
- Exploring the use of picture books and primary school children’s spirituality
- Marginalisation and girls' valued capabilities through the lens of education
- Adolescent’s perceptions of dyslexia, school and learning
Potential supervisors
Fees and funding
PhD fees
| UK fee |
International fee |
| Full-time: £5,006 per year |
Full-time: £12,705 per year |
| Part-time: £2,503 per year |
Part-time: £6,353 per year |
Professional doctorate fees
| UK fee |
International fee |
| Part-time: £3,811 per year |
Part-time: £9,676 per year |
Some of our research students are funded via the Faculty or The Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.
For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.
To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, visit Current studentships.
Links