Contact
Biography
I have researched and published in the areas of language, literacy and cultural practices, with a particular focus on the way in which these relate to the agency and identities of individuals and communities. I have been awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (which will run between September 2021-August 22). I will be exploring the links between amateur fibre crafts, such as knitting and crochet, and everyday meaning-making.
My previous research includes a British Academy funded ethnographic study of the everyday lives and literacy practices of families living on a Midlands council estate. This research was the focus of an article which won the Wiley-Blackwell Research in Literacy Education Award 2015 and a monograph: Portraits of Everyday Literacy for Social Justice: Reframing the Debate for Families and Communities (Palgrave).
I also work with Dr Kevin Harvey (School of English) and Dr David Peplow (Sheffield Hallam University) in convening a local shared reading group, based in Lenton. Further details about the group can be found here.
I teach on the BA Education and support postgraduate research students working for Masters, EdD and PhD. Having previously worked as a teacher of English in secondary schools in Derby and as a tutor in Children's Literature for the Open University, I have taught on postgraduate initial teacher education courses in secondary English, including PGCE and Schools Direct, as well as on the Postgraduate Certificate in Education Studies.
Expertise Summary
- literacy education
- English education (11-18)
- everyday literacy practices
- informal and community arts practice
Teaching Summary
BA Education: Literacy Learning and Education; Research Methodology and Design in Education, Dissertation
MA Education: Dissertation supervision
EdD and PhD supervision
Research Summary
Crafting Literacy: amateur fibre craft and everyday meaning-making (Leverhulme Research Fellowship)
Amateur fibre crafts, such as knitting and crochet, have long established, yet often tacit, meanings in everyday life. As these crafts surge in popularity, these meanings are changing. This research aims to develop a conceptual underpinning for understanding amateur fibre craft as a communicative practice through which individuals across diverse communities experience everyday life. It does this by developing a conceptualisation of craft as an everyday literacy practice, making the case that this will support a broader understanding of literacy, craft and creativity in policy and practice.
Shared reading group, Lenton (with Dr Kevin Harvey, School of English).
This work explores the collaborative practice of shared reading and the role it can play in supporting inclusive, asset-based models of participatory arts practice within communities.
Recent Publications
JONES, S., AND HARVEY, K., 2020. Participation, Perplexity and Plurality: exploring the shared reading of a ‘difficult’ poem Changing English. 27(1), 34-49.
2018. Portraits of Everyday Literacy for Social Justice: Reframing the debate for families and communities Palgrave.
JONES, S. and HOOD, P., 2018. Learning from creative bilingual classrooms. In: HOOD, P., ed., Teaching Languages Creatively. Abingdon: Routledge Routledge.