Robin Alexander

{{For|the German journalist and author|Robin Alexander (journalist)}}

Robin Alexander is a British educationist and academic known particularly for championing the cause of primary education,{{Cite web|url=http://cprtrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/06-Nov28_EducationGuardian_Primary_mover.pdf|title=Primary Mover – The Guardian – 2006}}{{Cite web|url=http://cprtrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/NUT_Fred_and_Anne_jarvis_award.pdf|title=NUT Fred and Anne Jarvis Award}} for his leadership of the Cambridge Primary Review,{{Cite web|url=http://cprtrust.org.uk/cpr/|title=About the Cambridge Primary Review|website=cprtrust.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}} and for his research and writing on education policy, culture, curriculum, pedagogy, dialogic teaching{{Cite web|url=http://www.robinalexander.org.uk/dialogic-teaching/|title=Dialogic Teaching – Robin Alexander|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-20}} and comparative and international education. He is currently Fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Education Emeritus at the University of Warwick.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U249406/ALEXANDER_Prof._Robin_John?index=1&results=AdvancedSearchResults&query=0|title=Who's Who|website=www.ukwhoswho.com|access-date=2016-07-20}} In 2011 he was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences and chaired its Education Section from 2018 to 2021.{{Cite web|url=http://www.britac.ac.uk/users/professor-robin-alexander|title=Professor Robin Alexander {{!}} British Academy|website=British Academy|access-date=2016-07-20}}

Career

The son of artist Isabel Alexander and documentary film-maker Donald Alexander, he was born in 1941 and educated at the Perse School and the universities of Cambridge (Downing College, MA, PhD, LittD), Durham (PGCE), London (Ac Dip Ed) and Manchester (MEd), and at Trinity College of Music (ATCL). He taught in schools and colleges before moving to the universities of Leeds (1977–95) and Warwick (1995–2001), at both of which he was Professor of Education. In 2001 he moved to Cambridge University, as Visiting Fellow of Hughes Hall (2001–2), Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow (2002–4), Fellow of Wolfson College (since 2004),{{Cite web|url=http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/fellows|title=Fellows {{!}} Wolfson College Cambridge|website=www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}} Professorial Director of Research in the Faculty of Education (2006–10){{Cite web|url=https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/|title=Faculty of Education|website=www.educ.cam.ac.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}} and Director of the Cambridge Primary Review (2006–12). From 2013 to 2017 he combined his Cambridge affiliation with an honorary chair at the University of York and leadership of the Cambridge Primary Review Trust (CPRT), a not-for-profit company dedicated to building on the work of the Cambridge Primary Review.{{Cite web|url=http://cprtrust.org.uk/|title=The Cambridge Primary Review Trust – ...children, their world, their education|website=cprtrust.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}} At the University of York he also co-directed the joint CPRT/IEE project on dialogic teaching and social disadvantage, funded 2014–17 and successfully subjected to randomised control trial by the Education Endowment Foundation.{{Cite web|url=http://cprtrust.org.uk/research/classroom-talk/|title=CPRT/IEE Dialogic Teaching Project|website=cprtrust.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}

Public roles

Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) (1975–84)
Chair, Association for the Study of Primary Education, 1987–89{{Cite web|url=http://www.aspe-uk.eu/About.asp|title=ASPE: About ASPE|website=www.aspe-uk.eu|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (CATE) (1989–94)
Department for Education and Science (DES) ‘three wise men’ enquiry into primary education (1991–2){{Cite web|url=http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/threewisemen/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611065011/http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/threewisemen/|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2010|title=Three Wise Men Report (1992) – full text online|last=Gillard|first=Derek|website=www.educationengland.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}
BFI/TES Warnock Commission on the Teaching of English (1992–3){{Cite book|url=http://capitadiscovery.co.uk/newman-ac/items/93504?query=film+and+literature&resultsUri=items%3Fquery%3Dfilm%2Band%2Bliterature|title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry into English: balancing literature, language and media in the National Curriculum|publisher=British Film Institute|year=1994}}
Government of India District Primary Education Programme{{Cite web|url=http://www.archive.india.gov.in/sectors/education/index.php?id=14|title=Elementary and Secondary Education: District Primary Education Programme – Education – Sectors: National Portal of India|website=www.archive.india.gov.in|access-date=2016-07-20}} and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,{{Cite web|url=http://mhrd.gov.in/sarva-shiksha-abhiyan|title=Elementary Education {{!}} Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development|website=mhrd.gov.in|access-date=2016-07-20}} technical support on behalf of the European Commission (EC) and the Department for International Development (DfID) (1995–2005)
Board of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) (1997–2002)
Adviser to Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation and University Grants Committee (Hong Kong) (1999–2005)
Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) enquiry into the Education of Six-Year Olds in England, Denmark and Finland (2002–03)
Director, Dialogos UK Ltd (2004–){{Cite web|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/05015798/officers|title=DIALOGOS UK LIMITED – Officers (free information from Companies House)|website=beta.companieshouse.gov.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Director, Cambridge Primary Review, 2006–2012{{Cite web|url=http://cprtrust.org.uk/cpr|title=About the Cambridge Primary Review|website=cprtrust.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}
President, British Association for International and Comparative Education, 2008–09{{Cite web|url=http://baice.ac.uk/2009/baice-at-the-2009-ukfiet-conference/|title=BAICE at the 2009 UKFIET Conference|last=Diaconescu|first=Adrian|date=2009-09-16|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Court, Bishop Grosseteste University (2011–)
International Steering Committee, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (2012–13){{Cite web|url=http://www.vanleer.org.il/en|title=Home {{!}} מכון ון ליר בירושלים|website=www.vanleer.org.il|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Chair, Director and Trustee, Cambridge Primary Review Trust (2012–17){{Cite web|url=http://www.cprtrust.org.uk|title=The Cambridge Primary Review Trust – ...children, their world, their education|website=www.cprtrust.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Strategic Committee, Expert Subject Advisory Groups (ESAG) (2013–16){{Cite web|url=http://expertsubjectgroups.co.uk/experts/|title=Expert Subject Advisory Groups {{!}} Experts|website=expertsubjectgroups.co.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Board of Governors, Bath Spa University (2013–18){{Cite web|url=http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/about-us/university-governance/board-of-governors|title=Bath Spa University Board of governors|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Vice-President, Early Education (2014–15){{Cite web|url=https://www.early-education.org.uk/|title=Welcome to Early Education {{!}} Early Education|website=www.early-education.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-28}}
Board of Trustees, Children and the Arts, formerly the Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts (2014–21).{{Cite web|url=http://www.childrenandarts.org.uk/about-us/our-people/trustees/|title=Trustees|last=Arts|first=The Prince's Foundation for Children & the|website=Children & the Arts|access-date=2016-07-20}}

Publications

Alexander's research has yielded more than 300 publications.{{Cite web|url=http://www.robinalexander.org.uk/publications/|title=Publications – Robin Alexander|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-20}} These deal mainly with pedagogy and classroom research, discourse analysis and classroom talk reform, curriculum, the educational policy process and its impact, and international, comparative and development education. Much of this work has focused on the primary phase of schooling. His books and monographs include:

Professional Studies for Teaching (1979)
Developments in PGCE Courses (1980)
Advanced Study for Teachers (1981)
The Self-Evaluating Institution (1982)
Primary Teaching (1984)
Change in Teacher Education (1984)
Changing Primary Practice (1989)
Policy and Practice in Primary Education (1992)
Curriculum Organisation and Classroom Practice in Primary Schools (1992)
Innocence and Experience: reconstructing primary education (1994)
Versions of Primary Education (1995)
Other Primary Schools and Ours: hazards of international comparison (1996)
Policy and Practice in Primary Education: local initiative, national agenda (1997)
Time for Change: curriculum managers at work (1998)
[http://www.symposium-books.co.uk/bookdetails/1/ Learning from Comparing: new directions in comparative educational research: Volume 1, Contexts, Classrooms and Outcomes] (1999)
[http://www.symposium-books.co.uk/bookdetails/2/ Learning from Comparing: new directions in comparative educational research: Volume 2, Policy, Professionals and development] (2000)
[http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631220518.html Culture and Pedagogy] (2001)
[http://www.robinalexander.org.uk/dialogic-teaching/ Towards Dialogic Teaching] (2004, 5th edition 2017)
[https://archive.org/details/americaspastneww0000patt Education as Dialogue: moral and pedagogical choices for a runaway world] (2006)
[https://www.routledge.com/Essays-on-Pedagogy/Alexander/p/book/9780415454834 Essays on Pedagogy] (2008)
[http://www.create-rpc.org/pdf_documents/PTA20.pdf Education for All, the Quality Imperative and the Problem of Pedagogy] (1998)
[https://www.routledge.com/Children-their-World-their-Education-Final-Report-and-Recommendations/Alexander-Armstrong-Flutter-Hargreaves-Harrison-Harlen-Hartley-Brewer-Kershner-MacBeath-Mayall-Northen-Pugh-Richards-Utting/p/book/9780415548717 Children, their World, their Education: final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review] (2010)
[https://www.routledge.com/The-Cambridge-Primary-Review-Research-Surveys/Alexander-Doddington-Gray-Hargreaves-Kershner/p/book/9780415548694 The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys] (2010).
[https://www.routledge.com/A-Dialogic-Teaching-Companion/Alexander/p/book/9781138570351?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsLWDBhCmARIsAPSL3_0HLE-Cnb3YCbTnlija2qF_Qh2PUPYMrLraEBL9GcLoi4x7OoGWwGIaAhsCEALw_wcB A Dialogic Teaching Companion] (2020)
[https://www.routledge.com/Education-in-Spite-of-Policy/Alexander/p/book/9781138049871 Education in Spite of Policy] (2022)
[https://greymarepress.bigcartel.com/product/rhondda-portraits-images-by-isabel-alexander-commentary-by-donald-alexander Rhondda Portraits] (2024)

He has been an occasional columnist for the Times Educational Supplement, The Guardian and other national newspapers{{Cite web|url=http://journalisted.com/robin-alexander|title=Prof Robin Alexander - journalisted.com|website=journalisted.com|access-date=2016-07-20}} and from 2014 to 2017 edited and contributed to the weekly CPRT Blog.{{Cite web|url=http://cprtrust.org.uk/cprt-blog/|title=CPRT Posts|website=cprtrust.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}

Honours and awards

American Educational Research Association (AERA) Outstanding Book Award (for [http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631220518.html Culture and Pedagogy]), 2001{{Cite web|url=http://www.aera.net/About-AERA/Awards/Outstanding-Book-Award|title=Outstanding Book Award|website=www.aera.net|access-date=2016-07-20}}{{Cite web|url=http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631220518.html|title=Culture and Pedagogy: International Comparisons in Primary Education}}
Society for Educational Studies Book Awards, First Prize (for [http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631220518.html Culture and Pedagogy]), 2002{{Cite web|url=http://www.soc-for-ed-studies.org.uk/|title=Home {{!}} The Society for Educational Studies|website=www.soc-for-ed-studies.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Sir Edward Youde Memorial Visiting Professor, Hong Kong Institute of Education, 2005–06{{Cite web|url=http://www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/sfo/pdf/common/Form/seym/20th_album.pdf|title=Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund 1987–2007, 20th Anniversary Commemorative Album}}
Honorary Fellow (FCollT), the College of Teachers, 2009{{Cite web|url=http://www.collegeofteachers.ac.uk/awards/professor-robin%20alexander|title=Robin Alexander, honorary fellow 2009}}
Honorary doctorates from Manchester Metropolitan University and Bishop Grosseteste University, 2010{{Cite web|url=http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/about/honorary-graduates/2010/;|title=Robin Alexander, honorary graduate 2010 – MMU}}
Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow, University of Melbourne, 2010{{Cite web|url=http://web.education.unimelb.edu.au/news/lectures/pdf/R_Alexander_DL.pdf|title=The Perils of Policy: success, amnesia and collateral damage in systemic educational reform Presented by Professor Robin Alexander}}
C.K.Koh Visiting Professor, National Institute of Education, Singapore, 2010{{Cite web|url=http://www.nie.edu.sg/nienews/jun10/04-01.html|title=CJ Koh Professorship 2010: A Perspective on Educational Reform {{!}} Corporate Development {{!}} NIE News June 2010|website=www.nie.edu.sg|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS), 2011{{Cite web|url=https://www.acss.org.uk/fellows/|title=Fellows – Academy of Social Sciences|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Association for Managers in Education (AMiE) Award for Services to Education, 2011
Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), 2011
National Union of Teachers, Fred and Anne Jarvis Award for Campaigning for Education, 2011
Society for Educational Studies Book Awards, First Prize (for [http://cprtrust.org.uk/cpr/cpr-publications/final-report/ Children, their World, their Education]), 2011{{Cite web|url=http://www.soc-for-ed-studies.org.uk/grants/|title=Grants, Prizes and Applications {{!}} The Society for Educational Studies|website=www.soc-for-ed-studies.org.uk|access-date=2016-07-20}}
Cambridge Journal of Education Best Paper Prize, 2011{{Cite web|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ccje20#.V49-lznDM5Q|title=Cambridge Journal of Education|website=www.tandfonline.com|access-date=2016-07-20}}
BERA/Sage Public Impact Award for initiation and leadership of the Cambridge Primary Review and Cambridge Primary Review Trust (2015).{{Cite web|url=http://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2015/quality/bera-public-impact-award/|title=York academic recognised for public impact in education – News and events, The University of York|website=www.york.ac.uk|access-date=2016-07-22}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bera.ac.uk/bera-in-the-news/bera-sage-public-impact-award|title=BERA SAGE Public Impact Award {{!}} BERA|website=www.bera.ac.uk|access-date=2016-07-22}}
Honorary doctorate from The Open University (2018).{{Cite web|last=Open University|date=2018|title=Cumulative list of honorary graduates|url=https://www.open.ac.uk/students/ceremonies/sites/www.open.ac.uk.students.ceremonies/files/files/Honorary%20graduate%20cumulative%20list(3).xlsx}}