Dr Ben Taylor
Senior Lecturer
Early Childhood Studies and Education Studies
Department of Early Childhood & Education , School of Education and Communities
Ben Taylor is a senior lecturer in the School of Education and Communities. He teaches on the Early
Ben's research interests include looked-after children, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and virtual schools.
Areas Of Interest
- Looked after children
- Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
- Virtual schools
- Pupil premium
- Primary pedagogy
- Wider school life
OVERVIEW
Ben Taylor has been working at UEL since November 2014. His career started though in teaching children and he worked for 10 years in various roles in three different primary schools in Kent, including one Pupil Referral Unit. During this time he completed his Masters degree with a particular focus on specialist teaching in Physical Education and research on the effectiveness of ability setting in Key Stage 2, and the role of competition and cooperation in PE.
From there he spent three years as a Study Support Manager as part of the now closed, Playing for Success initiative. This project saw study centres opening at sports grounds all around the country, offering an innovative curriculum of extended services for schools, children and families, all based around sport. Ben's centre at Kent County Cricket Club had a particular focus on engaging with vulnerable children and offering engaging activities to develop motivation, confidence and self-esteem.
His next role, and the one he held until he came to UEL, was as Assistant Head Teacher of Virtual School Kent. A virtual school is a multi-agency team supporting health and education outcomes for looked after children (so not a physical school). Ben's role, as AHT was to work with schools, foster carers and social workers to ensure that the children in East Kent had the necessary support and resources to do as well as they possibly could. He also had responsibility for the outcomes for unaccompanied asylum seeking children. These varied experiences have been important in his move to UEL as the Early Childhood and Education degrees cover such a wide range of topics.
CURRENT RESEARCH
Ben's doctoral thesis is entitled 'Pupil Premium for Looked After Children: Its Allocation, Use and Impact on Educational Outcomes for Children Aged 5-12'. It can be found in the UEL Research Repository: Pupil Premium for Looked after Children: Its Allocation, Use and Impact on Educational Outcomes for Children Aged 5-12.
The Pupil Premium is additional funding paid to schools to help close the attainment gap between children looked after by local authorities and their non-looked after peers. The research focused on how this funding is used, how effectively schools and local authorities use it, and how they know it has been successful. Ben's ongoing research continues to explore the themes of pupil premium and the achievement and wellbeing of looked after children.
PUBLICATIONS
- Levoguer, M., Taylor, B. and Crutchley, R. (2020) 'Seminar capital: an exploration of
the enduring social and pedagogical benefits of seminar engagement' in Research in Teacher Education. Vol 10 (1).
TEACHING
BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS
Train to teach the 3-7 age range. Study pedagogy and subject knowledge covering both the Early Years Foundation Stage and National Curriculum.
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BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies
Start a career working with and for children and their families, get an excellent foundation in early childhood studies.
Read moreMODULES
Ben is the module leader for ED4060 - Applied Pedagogy, Development and Classroom Management, ED6072 - Wider School Life, and ED6120 - Individual Negotiated Learning. He is also a Masters dissertation supervisor, and teaches seminars on undergraduate modules focussing on early years pedagogy and critical and global education.