Ruth Kershner
Position/Status
Lecturer in Psychology of Education and Primary Education
E-mail Address: rsk21@cam.ac.uk
Phone: 01223 767565
Qualifications
BA (Hons)
PGCE
MSc: Psychology and Education of Children with Special Needs
MSc: Child Development with Clinical Studies
Profile
Ruth Kershner joined the Faculty of Education after working as a child care worker, primary school teacher and learning support teacher, and training as a professional educational psychologist. She has a particular interest primary education, the teaching of children identified with learning difficulties and the development of inclusive pedagogy.
Her current research interests draw on sociocultural views about children's classroom learning. This includes recent work on the ways in which ICT, especially interactive whiteboards, can be used to mediate children's collaborative science learning in primary classrooms. It also relates to research on teachers' professional decision-making, their use of published research evidence, and their own school-based research. In the field of special educational needs and psychology a central concern is with how best to make use of the rapid growth of medical and biological information about factors which can affect children's social and intellectual development.
Academic Area/Links
Primary education; ICT and learning; learning difficulties; inclusive pedagogy; sociocultural theories in education; genetics and special educational needs.
Research Topics
ICT and primary classroom learning; teaching strategies for children with learning difficulties; teachers' understanding of genetic and other biological factors relating to children with SEN.
Current Research Projects
2008-9: Interactive Whiteboards and Collaborative Pupil Learning in Primary Science: Neil Mercer, Paul Warwick, Ruth Kershner (University of Cambridge) and Judith Kleine Staarman (University of Exeter).
2006-8: Associate Director of The Cambridge Primary Review, directed by Prof. Robin Alexander
Website: http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/
Course Involvement
BA teaching in psychology of inclusion; MEd in Primary Education; MEd/MPhil in Psychology and Education; MEd/MPhil in Inclusive and Special Education.
Publications
Alexander, R., with Doddington, C., Gray, J., Hargreaves, L. and Kershner, R. (eds) (2010) The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys. Abingdon: Routledge.
Alexander, R. (ed.) (2010) Children, their World, their Education: final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review. Abingdon: Routledge.
(14 contributing authors, including Kershner identified for chaps 8 and 9)
Florian, L. and Kershner, R. (2009) 'Inclusive pedagogy' in H. Daniels,
H. Lauder and J. Porter (eds) Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy: a critical perspective Abingdon: Routledge pp. 173-183
Hick, P, Kershner, R. and Farrell, P. (eds) (2009) Psychology for Inclusive Education: New directions in theory and practice Abingdon: Routledge
Kershner, R. (2009) 'Learning in inclusive classrooms' in P. Hick, R. Kershner and P. Farrell (eds) Psychology for Inclusive Education: New directions in theory and practice Abingdon: Routledge pp. 52-65
Warwick, P. and Kershner, R. (2008) Primary teachers' understanding of the interactive whiteboard as a tool for children's collaborative learning and knowledge-building Learning, Media and Technology, Volume 33 Issue 4, 269-287
Kershner, R. (2007) 'What do teachers need to know about meeting special educational needs?' in L. Florian (ed.) The SAGE Handbook of Special Education London: SAGE pp. 486-498
Kershner, R. and Florian, L. (2006) 'Teaching Strategies for Pupils with SEN: Specialist or Inclusive Pedagogy?' in R. Webb (ed.) Changing Learning and Teaching in the Primary School. Maidenhead, Berks: Open University Press pp. 115-128
Warwick, P. and Kershner, R. (2006) 'Is there a picture of beyond?' Mind mapping, ICT and collaborative learning in primary science' in P. Warwick, E. Wilson and M. Winterbottom (eds) Teaching and Learning Primary Science with ICT Maidenhead, Berks: Open University Press/McGraw Hill pp. 108-127
Kershner, R. (2003) 'Intelligence' chapter in J. Beck and M. Earl (eds) Key Issues in Secondary Education 2nd. ed. Continuum
Kershner, R. and Chaplain, R. (2001) 'Understanding Special Educational Needs: A teacher's guide to effective school-based research', London: Fulton
Kershner, R. (2000) 'Organising the physical environment of the classroom to support children's learning', 'Recognising and responding to children as individuals', 'Teaching children whose progress in learning is causing concern', chaps. 2, 12 and 14 in D. Whitebread (ed.) The Psychology of Teaching and Learning in the Primary School, London: RoutledgeFalmer
Kershner, R. and Pointon, P. (2000) 'Children's views of the primary classroom as an environment for working and learning', Research in Education, 64, 64-77
Pointon, P. and Kershner, R. (2000) 'Making decisions about organising the primary classroom as a context for learning: the views of three experienced teachers and their pupils', Teaching and Teacher Education, 16, 117-127 (reprinted in abridged version in J. Collins et al (eds) (2000) Developing Pedagogy: Researching practice London: Paul Chapman Publishing/Open University)
Kershner, R. (2000) 'Developing student teachers' understanding of strategies for teaching SEN children', Education Today, 50 (4), 31-39
Kershner, R. (1999) 'The role of school-based research in helping teachers to extend their understanding of children's learning and motivation', Journal of In-service Education, 25 (3), 423-445
Kershner, R., Flutter, J. and Rudduck, J. (1998) 'Teacher research as a basis for school improvement: but is it useful beyond the school in which it was carried out?', Improving Schools, 1 (2), 59-62
Flutter, J., Kershner, R. and Rudduck, J. (1998) Thinking about Learning, Talking about Learning: A report of the Effective Learning Project, Cambridge: Cambridgeshire County Council/Homerton College