Lecture Title: The Child in the Midst: Childhood and Salvation Histories from George MacDonald to Philip Pullman

Bill is Reader in Literary History and Hermeneutics at the University of Chichester, where he teaches a popular third year Special Topic entitled "Other Worlds: Fantasy Literature For Children Of All Ages".

Bill studied literature, philosophy and theology at the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Princeton, and has published widely in these areas.

His publications include; "Fantasy, Myth and the Measure of Truth: Tales of Pullman, Lewis, Tolkien, MacDonald and Hoffmann" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), "Death and Fantasy: Essays on Philip Pullman, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald and R. L. Stevenson" (Cambridge Scholars Publishing), "Robert Louis Stevenson: A Literary Life" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), and "C. S. Lewis" (Writers and their Work series, Northcote House / British Council, 1998).

Rob Abbott

Lecture Title: Childhood and Depression

Rob teaches modules on psychology, philosophy, and cultural/social issues as part of both the BA in Childhood Studies: Early Years and the BA (QTS) Early Years. He has many years experience within education across all age ranges in both the state and independent sectors, teaching English, PSHE, Careers Education, Drama, Information and Communication Technology and Business Studies.

Rob has also worked in the commercial sector as a technical author and IT manager. He has written a number of books on English literature including titles about Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. He also edited a series of books for Hodder and Stoughton.

As well as lecturing at the University, Rob works in private practice as a psychodynamic counsellor. He works with clients who are experiencing a wide range of difficulties including eating disorders, breakdowns, depression, self harm and substance misuse. He specialises in working with depressive illnesses and also regularly lectures on treatments for depression. He is a BACP Senior Accredited Counsellor.

Rob is currently working on a PhD with the University of Brighton which takes an Academic Literacies approach to student academic reading.

Dr. Chris Jelley

Lecture Title: Pandora's Box - Children and the Internet

Chris is an IT practitioner with his own IT consultancy business and has a Doctorate in Applied Mathedmatics and Computing. He has been working within the computing field for over 20 years and has developed a successful business, exploiting the advantages offered by  the World Wide Web.

One  of Chris's interests lies in the use of the internet by children and how this has developed as they and the internet have grown up in the last 12 years. In this very practical session Chris will look at the historical development of the internet, the challenges we have faced  (and are facing) to protect our children and young people while they are on line and what practical steps can be taken at both micro (family) and macro (country / global ) level.

Touching on subjects such as the growth and influence of social networking, the changing nature of connectivity and cyber-bullying. Chris hopes that this session will provide at least some food for thought whilst providing some valuable sources of information for further study.

Revd. Mary Hawes M.A.

Lecture title: Childhood and the Past, Present and Future State of the Church of England

Mary Hawes has been the Church of England's National Children's Adviser since 2006. Prior to that, she spent 8 years as the Children's Adviser for the Diocese of London, and has also been a teacher, an editor with Scripture Union and a Cathedral Education Officer. In 2006, Mary completed a post-graduate diploma in Child Studies, which explored children's issues in education, health and law within a children's rights framework.

Mary was ordained in 2000 and serves as a non-stipendary minister in Streatham, where she is also Chair of Governors at the local church primary school. On home match Saturdays between August and May, she waves a scarf for Watford Football Club!

 

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At the conference, there will also be an exhibition of lecturers books and papers, publishers and organisations, drinks receptions and a gala dinner on Friday evening with a special guest speaker.

Research Poster Room

At the Changing Childhood Conference there will be an opportunity for delegates to display an A1 poster about their own current research in our Research Poster Room.  Poster sessions at conferences and university research presentations provide excellent opportunities for students to show their work and to discuss their research in an informal setting. It is also less daunting than presenting a complete research paper to a room full of strangers.

How Do You Prepare a Research Poster? The purpose of a research poster is to present information on your own piece of research that often is not totally complete. By presenting information on research during its infancy, problem areas can be discussed with peers and methods can be adjusted to give optimum results.

Poster and Font Size. Posters should be A1 in size and legible from a distance of about 3 to 4 feet. This is to prevent crowding around small print which can discourage others that are interested. A good rule of thumb is to use a 16 to 18 point for the text.

Colour and Background. Rather than just using white sheets straight from the printer, coloured paper may enhance your presentation by making the results more attractive to the casual eye. This, then, brings the observer in to the poster to look for more details in the text. To make the poster easier to manage, cut and mount the poster onto A1 card in separate pieces. These will fit more easily into a brief case or cardboard tube for transportation. Layout. To plan the layout of your poster, mark off the A1 space on a wall, table or floor. Use pieces of paper with your research outline to do an initial layout. Mark the pieces : "Title", "Intro," "Abstract," Results," "References," etc. Outline the text portion to help judge the amount of room and therefore the detail that you have room for. In the poster room be prepared with copies of the abstract, paper and pencil for notes.

Photos and Drawings.  These should be of sufficient size to be visible from a distance -- 3" x 3" photos are probably the smallest to use, and 4" x 5" photos are a good size. Drawings are best if at least 8" x 10". The advantage of using these sizes is that they are standard paper sizes and are compatible with many computer generated programs. Use standard procedure. Follow the pattern of : introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion and / or conclusions, and include references. Sometimes it can be helpful to think of each part of the poster as a slide that you would show an audience. Try to keep text to a minimum by using key words and phrases throughout the poster.

Title Abstract. The title should be clearly legible from at least 6' away from the poster. Label the back of each piece in the order it should be posted, 1-1 for first column, first row, 1-2 for first column, second row, etc. This will ensure the poster is mounted in the proper order. The abstract is usually a fairly complete description of the thesis.

Introduction. The introduction for a poster should be short and composed mostly of a hypothesis or reason for the research. Background information for posters is usually at a minimum since you are there to fill in details.

Materials and Methods. For basic research, this section can also be shortened by the use of references for much of the material except when the method is novel or critical to the results. Flow diagrams can work well rather than written text. In methods papers, this section will be more intense.

Results. For basic research papers, this will be the largest portion of the poster. Arrange your results in a logical order according to the point(s) you want to get across. Often the order of the research was not the same order as the conclusions, therefore, arrange your results to follow your conclusions.

Discussion/Conclusion. In a poster session, the last section is usually more a conclusion with discussion left for the publication. Recap the results by assigning importance to each result and how it fits the hypothesis. Use the same key phrases and make use of bullets and other clip art available on word processors, etc. to emphasize the major points. Many times, conclusions are very brief, as the poster is indicative of only a portion of the research. Don't try to fit all your research on one poster! References. References should be included if the technique is someone else's especially when it is the work that inspired your research.

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If you are interested in presenting a research poster in the Research Poster Room at the Changing Childhood Conference please contact Irene Smale at: irene.smale@diochi.org.uk by the 31 March 2009.

 
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