Mrs Katharine Clifford
Contact
- Email: katharine.clifford@kingston.ac.uk
- Location: Penrhyn Road
- Faculty: Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
- School: School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences
- Department: Department of Psychology
- Research group/centre: Social Psychology Research Group
Research project: An ecological approach to the process of resilience for children with a visible difference starting secondary school
Abstract
This thesis looks at how the process of resilience contemporaneously unfolds for children with a visible difference starting Year 7. The school transition has been identified as a normative ecological transition in which an individual is challenged to negotiate new roles and settings. Bronfenbrenner's Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model locates the child at the centre of this ecological transition providing for a longitudinal mixed-method qualitative approach, aiming to capture the experiences of these children during their first year at secondary school.
- Research degree: PhD
- Title of project: An ecological approach to the process of resilience for children with a visible difference starting secondary school
- Research supervisor: Dr Jess Prior
- Other research supervisor: Dr Chris Hewer
Biography
Over the course of my career, I have enjoyed working in a variety of roles. Amongst these are teaching, mentoring, and tutoring, mostly in education and in working with families. As a mature student, I developed a willingness to learn more about the field of social and developmental psychology during the completion of my Masters. I have always been interested in working with children of different ages and in particular creating opportunities for children's learning and development. In addition to this, I am fascinated with the context in which learning occurs and how the resilience processes in different contexts interact and change.
I know that I will always be a learner, even when my thesis is complete, and I am looking forward to the next part of my career, producing more opportunities for young people to develop their learning paths and for me, to continue mine!
Areas of research interest
- Children's learning and development
- Resilience processes
- School transitions
- Developmental and Social Psychology
- Qualitative methods
- Visible differences
- Education
Qualifications
- BA degree (Psychology), University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
- PGCE (primary education), University of Cape Town, South Africa
- MSc (Psychology), Kingston University, UK
- Associate Fellowship of HEA, Kingston University, UK
Funding or awards received
- KU completion bursary 2019