Staff Profile
Dr Caroline Elbra-Ramsay
Deputy Head of School and Associate Professor
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As Deputy of the School of Education, Ofsted Lead and Associate Professor, I have a particular focus on interest in Initial Teacher Education. I work alongside Subject Directors, Associate Heads, Course Leads, lecturers, academics and school partners to ensure our student teachers are professional , reflective practitioners who are 'classroom ready.' I enjoy teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students as part of the English and professional subject teams and work on a range of modules including Philosophy for Children. I have completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice and am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. My research interests include assessment and feedback and my PhD thesis was titled: 'Navigating the Pedagogical, Relational and Moral Economies of Assessment: An Exploration of the development of Student Teachers' Understanding of Feedback.'
Before joining York St John University I was Deputy Headteacher at a local primary school. My teaching experience included Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 and I had additional responsibilities for assessment and English, as well as mentoring student teachers and Newly Qualified Teachers. I successfully completed my Masters during this time (focused on different approaches to the teaching of English) and also achieved the NPQH (National Professional Qualification in Headship).
- School – School of Education, Language and Psychology
- Email – c.elbraramsay@yorksj.ac.uk
- Phone – 01904 876 523
- Research - View my work in RaY
Teaching
I teach on both the undergraduate and postgraduate Initial Teacher Education programme and Education Studies programmes largely within Professional Studies, English and Philosophy for Children. I am module director for the undergraduate year 3 Professional Studies module ‘The Emerging Professional.’ I am also a Link Tutor and an Academic Tutor.
Research
My curriculum interests have fed into my research work; recent projects have included:
- the therapeutic benefits of interviews;
- developing formative feedback practice;
- using a partnership model for the development of subject knowledge;
- assessment and feedback practice;
- extending student teachers’ understanding of children’s literature.
My research interest in assessment and feedback informed my PhD study which was titled: 'Navigating the Pedagogical, Relational and Moral Economies of Assessment: An Exploration of the development of Student Teachers' Understanding of Feedback.'
Publications
Elbra-Ramsay, C., 2023. Assessment in HE Initial Teacher Education: Competing Contexts Discourses and the Unobtainable Pursuit for Fidelity. In The Palgrave Handbook of Teacher Education Research (pp. 1-25). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Elbra-Ramsay, Caroline and Clarke, Matthew (2022) Double Indemnity: Dualities, tensions and loss in the moral economies of feedback. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 50 (3). pp. 266-281.
Elbra-Ramsay, Caroline
(2021) Understanding feedback : a critical exploration for teacher educators. Critical Guides for Teacher Educators . Critical Publishing
Elbra-Ramsay, Caroline (2021)
Roles, relationships and emotions: Student teachers’ understanding of feedback as interpersonal. Research in Education.
Backhouse, A and Elbra-Ramsay, C ‘So, you want us to do the marking?!’ – peer review and feedback to promote assessment as learning’ Journal of Pedagogic Development (2015)
Backhouse, A and Elbra-Ramsay, C ‘Using a visualiser to support peer assessment and feedback in academic writing’ British Educational Research Association (BERA) University of Sussex, Brighton (2013)
Elbra-Ramsay, C Can "Quality Marking" be used to provide effective feedback within Higher Education? Journal of Pedagogic Development Volume 1, Issue 2 , 2011 p.16-30 (2011)
‘Developing Boys' Literacy at Key Stage One’ English 4-11 (2000)
‘Designing and Producing Non-Fiction Big Books for Key Stage One’ English 4-11 (1999)
Conferences and Presentations
Elbra-Ramsay, Caroline, Parker, Keither and Bloom, Katy (2021)
Understanding feedback : a critical exploration for teacher educators. In: UCET Annual Conference, 2-3 November 2021
Elbra-Ramsay, Caroline, (2021) Re-imagining
the assessment of school-based practice. In: UCET Annual Conference, 2-3 November 2021
Elbra-Ramsay, Caroline , Parker, Keither and Bloom, Katy (2021) Re-imagining
the assessment of work-based practice. In: Talk about Teaching for Social Justice, 06/07/2021-08/07/2021
Modifying the language of feedback to promote a continuous learning climate (York St John Up North Conference 2019) Joint presentation with Katy Bloom
Finding time to talk: the benefits of dialogic interviews in developing pedagogical understanding and resilience within ITE students (TEAN 2018)
Moving beyond the ‘Initial’ in Initial Teacher Education: The role of ITE in supporting and developing new teachers (TEAN 2018) Joint presentation with Louise Whitfield
Flexing verbal formative feedback to achieve different outcomes: lessons from school (York St John Teaching and Learning Conference 2018) Joint presentation with Katy Bloom
Student teachers’ conceptions of feedback TEAN (2016)
One Size Fits All? Applying a Partnership Model to Different Areas of Subject Knowledge UKLA (2016)
Using twitter to develop understanding of children's literature YSJ Higher York E Learning Conference (2014)
Using social media to enhance understanding of children's literature UKLA – Sussex (2014)
Using a visualiser to support peer assessment and feedback in academic writing BERA (2013)
Professional Activities
I am a member of the following:
- Level 1 SAPERE Philosophy for Children
- Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
- National Association for the Teaching of English
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
In addition, I have achieved Levels 1, 2a and 2b in Philosophy for Children (SAPERE).
