Browsing by Person "Craig, Linda"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6

Considering Social Justice: Lived Experiences of Education Students During the First Course Year.
(SAGE, 2022-12-23) Jones, Sian; Eady, Sandra; Craig, Linda
Increasing research focus is placed on how to embed social justice within Education degrees. This paper reports findings from the first two phases of a cohort study completed just before and at the start of the pandemic, which track Scottish Education students’ reflections on social justice at one university. We used three focus groups (n = 14) and surveys to analyse students’ (n = 45) definitions of social justice. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System’s Theory and Saldana’s Analytical Coding framework we found that themes around prejudice, culture, policy, and emerging professional identity captured participants’ reflections as both beginning teachers and students of educational studies. Key to our findings was that fewer reflections of social justice were cited to global than to local contexts. This paper highlights ways in which university educators may conceive of social justice such that it is considered by students in both their immediate and in global contexts.
Geopoetics: Expanding the Philosophy of Teacher Education
(ScholarWorks@BGSU, 2025) Craig, Linda
Amidst accelerating ecological crisis, this essay argues for a fundamental reimagining of teacher education through Kenneth White's theory of geopoetics. Drawing on complexity science and Whitehead's process philosophy, I trace a paradigm shift from mechanistic models of education - characterized by fixed knowledge transmission and neoliberal performativity - toward a relational, more-than-human orientation grounded in emergence and becoming. Geopoetics offers a transdisciplinary framework that dissolves boundaries between science, poetry, philosophy, and spirituality, positioning education not as content delivery but as participation in the creative unfolding of life. Through an exploration of Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain as geopoetic spiritual practice, I demonstrate how embodied, place-based engagement cultivates ecological awareness and relational consciousness. The essay concludes by proposing a framework for transitioning teacher education toward a geopoetic stance, one that cultivates planetary consciousness, ethical-ecological responsibility, and teachers as facilitators of poetic, embodied, and transformative learning. This reframing responds to UNESCO's call for a new social contract for education while addressing the philosophical and practical dimensions of preparing educators for our planetary emergency.
Improving the school placement: navigating and negotiating expectations in an ITE partnership
(2025-04-14) Grainger Clemson, Hannah; Craig, Linda; Easton, Eric; White, M L
This paper examines school placements (also known as the practicum and site-based learning) as a critical component of Initial Teacher Education, offering student teachers the opportunity to develop both their professional competence and identity in real-world school settings, alongside experienced educators. These placements involve a range of participants—mentors, university tutors, and others—who together form a supportive ecosystem for student teachers' development. Efforts to improve this phase of teacher preparation are ongoing within education systems around the world, driven by recruitment and retention concerns. Research suggests that the early years of teaching play a significant role in a teacher’s decision to remain in the profession. Scotland is currently reforming its school placement practices to address these issues. This study presents findings from a survey of school placement actors within a Scottish partnership, involving three universities and six local authorities. Drawing on theories of partnerships, ecosystems, and liminal spaces, the paper explores how school placements can be structured, monitored, and improved to better support student teachers. Survey responses highlight shared concerns among participants regarding certain practices and conditions that hinder the effectiveness of the placement ecosystem. The study suggests that the success of placements in fostering meaningful early professional development depends on how well actors negotiate the student teacher’s journey, prioritise well-being, and ensure clear communication of expectations.
(Re)viewing mentoring relations: Culture, contexts, cameras and the complexity of being persons-in-relation in mentoring
(Information Age Publishing, 2014-11-30) Craig, Linda; Kochan, Frances K.; Kent, Andrea M.; Green, André M.
Studies in mindfulness: Widening the field for all involved in pastoral care
(Taylor & Francis, 2016-08-03) Nixon, Graeme; McMurtry, David; Craig, Linda; Nevejan, Annick; Regan-Addis, Heather
Since 2010, the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK, has offered an MSc in studies in mindfulness degree programme within its School of Education. The programme has attracted over 200 students from multiple professional contexts, providing the authors with the opportunity to gather and analyse demographic data, as well as data regarding student motivations and expectations, both personal and professional. The paper initially creates a picture of the current UK ‘studies in mindfulness’ landscape by describing the established programmes at UK universities. Data from an entry questionnaire completed by three cohorts of students on the ‘Aberdeen’ programme and data collected from students throughout their studies is then presented, analysed and discussed. The authors argue that, in their professional roles, graduates from programmes and courses at Universities in the UK are introducing an ever-increasing number of people to mindfulness. They are implementing and integrating mindfulness into diverse social, business contexts as well as into all sectors of education. The University of Aberdeen’s programme, based in the School of Education, perhaps represents a move towards more holistic, pastoral and multi-professional applications of mindfulness. This contrasts with the clinical, pathological settings for mindfulness to date.
Teacher Agency: Real-world issues and Home Economics in Scotland
(2026) Craig, Linda