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Andrew Clapham

Andrew Clapham

Associate Professor

School of Social Sciences

Role

Dr Andrew Clapham is an Associate Professor of Education Policy and S3 Methods Hub Lead based in the Nottingham Institute of Education (NIoE). Andrew is  a policy sociologist and focuses upon how education policy is enacted in a range of education settings. Andrew is especially interested in determining what macro-level policy - and the ‘impact’ of policy makers attempts to ‘implement’ policy - means for stakeholders at the micro-level. Andrew works closely with policy-makers and practitioners, to develop empirical evidence that informs and critiques educational policy.

Andrew is a Higher Education Academy Senior Fellow and is a member of the Editorial Board of the  international journal Pedagogy, Culture and Society.

Career overview

After completing his BEd at Thames Polytechnic, Dr Clapham began teaching science, mathematics and physical education in schools in East Ham and North Westminster in London, and after moving to Nottingham, at Djanogly City Academy. After being awarded an MA in research methods and his PhD from the University of Nottingham Andrew has undertaken a wide variety of roles including teacher educator; research group lead; research centre Director; ethics committee Chair and Methods Hub Lead.

Research areas

Andrew’s research is focussed around questions of education policy and policy enactment. He employs qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore informal learning, education governance, mathematics education and assessment and teaching in the Further Education and Skills sector.

Andrew supervises Post Graduate research students at both Masters and Doctoral level and has successfully supervised candidates on both routes to completion.

Andrew is also an external examiner for Doctoral students.

External activity

Andrew is on the Editorial Board of Pedagogy Culture and Society.

Andrew has a successful track record of leading research and evaluation projects across education settings including - mathematics education; Further Education and skills sector; Informal science learning settings including botanical gardens and zoos; cultural education organisations.

Sponsors and collaborators

Dr Clapham has collaborated in research with a wide range of partners and funders including:

  • Education and Skills Group
  • Good Governance Institute
  • Governors for Schools
  • GovernorHub
  • Education and Training Foundation
  • Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência Lisbon, Portugal
  • MUSE - Museo delle Scienze, Trento Italy
Staff Group(s)
Undergraduate and Professional Education

Role

Dr Andrew Clapham is an Associate Professor of Education Policy based in the Nottingham Institute of Education (NIoE). Andrew is the S3 Methods Hub Lead, Education Research lead and a Higher Education Academy Senior Fellow. Andrew employs policy sociology to examine  how education policy is enacted in a range of education settings. Andrew is especially interested in determining how macro-level policy is enacted by stakeholders at the micro-level. Andrew works closely with policy-makers and practitioners, to develop empirical evidence that informs and critiques educational policy and has worked extensively with regional, national and international partners.

Career overview

After completing his BEd at the University of Greenwich, Dr Clapham began teaching science, mathematics and physical education in schools in inner city London (East Ham and North Westminster) and in Nottingham. After being awarded an MA in research methods and his PhD from the University of Nottingham, Andrew has led Education Studies, Master’s Degree in Education and PhD cohorts and has worked across various Initial Teacher Education routes.

Research areas

Andrew’s research is focused around questions of policy and policy enactment. He is particularly interested in the intersection between policy implementation and policy enactment - and what  that means for  learners; parents; teachers; funders; policy makers and governments. His work ranges from analysis of policy that has been borrowed cross nationally, to how small social enterprises evaluate their impact. He currently leads a number of projects including: developing a model for mapping the maturity of education sector governance; developing models of non-formal and informal learning evaluation (in conjunction with University of Lisbon) and mapping how cultural and arts organisations impact on student outcomes.

Andrew supervises Post Graduate Research candidates and is an external examiner for Doctoral students.

External activity

Andrew is on the Editorial Board of Pedagogy Culture and Society and is the Chair of the  British Educational Research Association, Audit and Risk Committee.

Andrew has a successful track record of leading research and evaluation projects across education settings including: mathematics education; Further Education and skills sector; Informal science learning settings including botanical gardens and zoos; cultural education organisations.

Sponsors and collaborators

Dr Clapham has collaborated in research with a wide range of partners and funders including:

  • Good Governance Institute
  • Governors for Schools
  • GovernorHub
  • Education and Skills Group
  • Freedom Foundation
  • Education and Training Foundation
  • Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência Lisbon, Portugal
  • MUSE - Museo delle Scienze, Trento Italy

Examples of Dr Clapham’s work as Principal Investigator:

  • LearnToEngage, is a suite of professional development modules for botanic garden staff and museum educators in Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom.  Andrew led the research element of the project to explore how educators in informal learning settings such as gardens and museums used evaluation and research to inform their practice.
  • The Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment programme, is an Education and Training Foundation programme which aims to promote and enhance the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in post-16 education and training. Andrew led a team of NIoE academics who undertook two phases of research exploring students, staff and employers’ experiences of designing, employing and completing innovative approaches to pedagogy and assessment.

Publications

Clapham, A. 2013. Performativity, Fabrication and Trust: Exploring Computer-Mediated Moderation. Ethnography and Education. 8(3), 371-387 DOI:10.1080/17457823.2013.792676

Clapham, A. 2015. “Answer Your Names Please”: A Small Scale Exploration of Teachers Technologically Mediated ‘New Lives’. Teachers and Teaching. Theory and Practice. 21(6), 366-378. DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2014.968893

Clapham, A. 2015. Producing the Docile Teacher: Analysing Local Area Under-Performance Inspection. Cambridge Journal of Education. 45(2), 265-280 DOI: 10.1080/0305764X.2014.955837

Clapham, A. 2015. Post-Fabrication and Putting on a Show: Examining the Impact of Short Notice Inspection. British Educational Research Journal. 41(2), 613-682 DOI: 10.1002/berj.3159

Clapham, A. 2016. Enacting Informal Science Learning: Exploring the Battle for Informal Science Learning. British Journal of Educational Studies. 64(4), 485-501 DOI: 10.1080/00071005.2016.1179716

Clapham, A, Eldridge J and R. Vickers. 2016. Legitimation, Performativity and the Tyranny of a “Hijacked” Word. Journal of Education Policy. 31(6), 757-772 DOI: 10.1080/02680939.2016.1181789

Clapham, A, and R. Vickers. 2017. Further Education Sector Governors as Ethnographers: Five Case Studies. Ethnography and Education. 13(1), 34-51 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2016.1253029

Clapham, A, and R. Vickers. 2017. Policy, Practice and Innovative Governance in the English Further Education and Skills sector. Research in Post Compulsory Education 22(3), 370-390 doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2017.1358518

Clapham, A, and R. Vickers. 2018. Neither a Lender nor a Borrower be? Exploring Mathematics ‘Mastery’ Policy Borrowing. Oxford Review of Education https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2018.1450745

See all of Andrew Clapham's publications...

Press expertise

  • Education policy
  • Education research
  • School and college governance
  • Cultural and arts education
  • School and college inspection