MA (Hons), PGCE, MEd, PhD
Senior Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- d.h.johnston@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 274646
- Office Address
Room 517 MacRobert Building School of Education King's College Aberdeen University AB24 5UA
- School/Department
- School of Education
Biography
I have been active in Initial Teacher Education since 1999, firstly as a Lecturer at Northern College and then in the School of Education at the University of Aberdeen. Prior to this, I was a secondary English teacher with 17 years' experience in Aberdeenshire.
My teaching focuses mainly on Literacy, where I work with both primary and secondary graduates and undergraduates. I am joint course leader for the PGDE Secondary English. More recently I have assumed responsibility for supporting Masters and PhD students and have recently finished a stint as PGR Co-ordinator, managing the PhD programme within the School of Education. I am SGSSS officer for the school and I supervise a number of both Masters and PhD students, with a particular focus on student teacher placement research.
I completed a PhD in 2016, entitled 'a sociocultural perspective on student teacher belonging as an achievement, in a school placement context'. I have published on student teachers' experiences on school placement and am interested in the implications of taking an ecological stance on practicum, exploring the situated nature of student teachers' experiences of teaching practice as part of their ITE programmes. I have also become interested in the emotional dimensions of micropolitical activity in schools, focusing on student teachers in particular.
Current research focuses on the following:
Student teachers' experiences of relational trust on teaching practice
Bodily knowing and student teachers' experiences of being observed on teaching practice
Student teachers' experiences of the interconnections between macro and micropolitics on teaching practice
Internal Memberships
Course member: Understanding Literacy Development (MA2)
Course member: Education PGDE P and S ED4018
Co-Leader: Education PGDE (S) FT English
Masters and PhD supervisor
SGSSS co-ordinator
Prizes and Awards
SERA Prize
The Estelle Brisard Award for Beginning Researchers. 2013
- Research
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Research Overview
Student Teachers' Field Experiences
Student Teachers' development of a 'Sense of Belonging' while on school placement
Workplace learning - specifically looking at beginning teachers' learning experiences in the school as a workplace
Socio-Cultural Theories of learning and development, with particular emphasis on the early development experiences of student teachers while on placement
Secondary School Departments as Communities of Practice
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Education.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Research Specialisms
- Education Studies
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
Student Teachers and Belongingness while on school placement - with Yvonne Dewhurst
Tensions in student teachers' experiences of learning on school placement
Knowledge Exchange
Please have a listen to the podcast below which focuses on a recent paper published in Education in the North on student teachers' experiences of micropolitics on teaching practice:
Johnston, D., (2020). Student teacher participation in school placement: a micropolitical analysis of students’ experiences of system tensions. Education in the North, 27(1) pp. 39-57. https://doi.org/10.26203/4ty5-dv08
This is the BIORadio Podcast which discusses the above article: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vzOK1zuA1pNPNwgh54BLL?si=yXru-gzDSK27T9C6t15_xg
Collaborations
With Aberdeen City Literacy Group
With Aberdeenshire Literacy Strategy Group
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Education.
I am currently supervising 6 PhD students:
Julie Bray
Anna Teitz
Nantia Chatzitheodorou
Beth McClure
Astrid Tonna
Sirui Gong
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Education MA - ED2555 Learning and Teaching In and Through the Curriculum
Education MA - ED 3004 and ED3005 MA 3 Literacy Tutor
Education MA - ED 4017 and ED4052 The Emerging Professional (Curriculum)
Education Chartered Teacher - MEd Work Based Practice: Course Co-ordinator and Dissertation Supervisor
Education PGDE (P) ED4018 and ED 4511: PGDE Primary Curriculum
Education PGDE (S) ED 4018 and ED 4511 FT English Tutor
Depute Director Postgraduate Studies and PhD Supervisor
- Publications
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Page 2 of 2 Results 11 to 19 of 19
Johnston, D (2008) The Novel, communities of practice and apprenticeship. Paper presented at conference, The Novel and its Borders, Aberdeen University, July 10th, 2008.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsLosing the Joy
Professional Development Today, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 27-31Contributions to Journals: Articles'You’re only the student!’ Issues of power in PGDE student teachers’ interactions with school colleagues while on placement
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsDeveloping a Literature Review for models of teacher education
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsJohnston, D. H. (2006) "You don't know how important staff relationships are until it's a bad situation you're in." PGDE Secondary English students' interactions with host teachers on school placement and the impact of these on learning to become a teacher.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsJohnston, D.H. (2006) Report on Analysis of Bed 1 student teachers’ perceptions of field experience. Paper presented as part of STNE symposium, SERA Conference, Perth, 2006
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsJohnston, D.H.(2005) ‘PGDE Secondary English Student Teachers’ Interactions with Colleagues on School Placement: a study of the emotional dimensions of learning to be a teacher.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsStudent Teachers' Thinking about Teaching and the Use of Reflective Logs in Supporting the Ownership of Conceptual Change
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsJohnston, D.H (2003) ‘A Study of PGCE English Students’ Personal Constructs of ‘Teaching’ and ‘Learning’: Paper presented at 2003 SERA Conference in Perth.
Contributions to Conferences: Other Contributions