1.
Malta Review of Educational Research: The Impact of COVID-19 on Teaching and Learning. Online Research Symposium 3rd March 2021
What Can I do? Caring Relationships Among Teachers: Students and Families During COVID-19 Lockdown in Scotland
Carrie McLennan, Daniela Mercieca & Duncan P. Mercieca
2.
Institute for Social Sciences Research Pandemic Series COVID-19: One year on from lockdown. 2nd March 2021
Teaching and learning in lockdown in Scotland
Daniela Mercieca & Duncan P. Mercieca
3.
Educational and Life Transitions/TCELT: Research Seminar 13th January 2021
Primary school teachers’ thinking about transitions during COVID-19 lockdown in Scotland
Daniela Mercieca & Duncan P. Mercieca
This presentation is based on a study carried out by a group of researchers at the School of Education and Social Work in the University of Dundee. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the lived experiences of primary school educators in Scotland delivering the curriculum from home, and/or working in the hubs, and to explore the impact of such experiences on their identities as teachers and on their views of teaching, learning and curriculum, in response to the research question: What are educators’ experiences of teaching from home/in hub during the Covid-19 lockdown in Scotland?
This presentation focuses particularly on themes emerging from teachers’ responses when asked about the transitions which are part of life in a school year. Teachers referred to children in early years entering into formal schooling after the forthcoming summer, and to children in their last year of primary school and their preparation for high school. Reference was also made to children’s coping with the transitions caused by the pandemic and the school lockdown, particularly the experiences of children with additional support needs.
The presentation will also touch upon prospective plans that teachers and schools made to substitute formal celebrations of transitions to online ceremonies.
4.
Response to call from Scottish Parliament COVID-19 Committee (Nov 2020)
Topic 3 – Protecting those at risk
D. Mercieca and D. Mercieca
Description: This is a short summary of research carried out by a group of academics, coordinated by the authors of this document, from the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Dundee. It addresses this topic as it focuses on the education of children during lockdown, as perceived by primary school teachers. All children are seen as needing support during this time, yet this study has highlighted the efforts of primary schools and teachers towards more vulnerable children and families.
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/response-to-call-from-scottish-parliament-covid-19-committee-nov-
5.
Scottish Parliament, United Kingdom, 23 Jan 2021
Expert Witness: Scottish Parliament COVID-19 Committee: World Café on the Impact of Restrictions
Mercieca, D. (Speaker) Mercieca, D. (Speaker) Urch, J. (Advisor)
Description: We were invited by Scottish Parliament’s COVID-19 Committee to be expert witnesses at a public participation event to inform the work of the Committee. The event supported the Committee’s work to scrutinise the Scottish Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when the health protection measures put in place to respond to Covid-19 have had a considerable impact on all people in Scotland. The Committee decided to establish a randomly selected Citizens’ Panel to ensure scrutiny of measures are informed by the lived experience of people in Scotland. The focus of our input was to give expert witness to the Citizens’ Panel on Education.
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/activities/expert-witness-invitation-scottish-parliament-covid-19-committee-
6.
Keynote Speech PsychCon2021, University of Stirling, 21 April 2021
The impact of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Scotland on Primary School teachers and Head Teachers
Daniela Mercieca
Description: Keynote speech given at the annual PsychCon2021 conference for psychology students at the University of Stirling.
7.
ISSR Pandemic Series ‘COVID – One year on from lockdown’, 2 Mar 2021
Teaching and learning in lockdown in Scotland
D. Mercieca and D. Mercieca
Description: Our presentation within this panel was entitled Teaching and learning in lockdown in Scotland. This presentation concerns a research project starting from March 2020, inquiring about the lockdown experience of primary school teachers and Head Teachers in Scotland. In-depth interviews to 60 primary school educators were carried out by members of staff at the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Dundee. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the lived experiences of primary school educators in Scotland who are delivering the curriculum from home, and/or working in the hubs, and to explore the impact of such experiences on their views of teaching, learning and curriculum.
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/activities/issr-pandemic-series-covid-one-year-on-from-lockdown-teaching-and
8.
27 Jan 2021
Cross-party meeting – research with teachers during COVID-19 lockdown
Daniela Mercieca
Description: I was invited to talk about my research with primary school teachers during COVID-19 lockdown in Scotland with elected members of Midlothian.
9.
Saturday Series – Saturday Evening Lecture Series, University of Dundee, 17 Apr 2021
Escaping to a post Covid world
Murray, P. (Organiser) Wallace, L. (Organiser) Chalmers, J. (Presenter) Hothersall, E. (Presenter) Mercieca, D. (Presenter) Mercieca, D. (Presenter) Sen, R. (Presenter)
Description: In the online event ‘Escaping to a post-Covid world’, a group of University experts from clinical and respiratory medicine to public health, as well as education and social work, will explore the challenges brought by the pandemic and its restrictions and consider how these may shape the future. As vaccination rates increase, the world is beginning to think about what a post-Covid future might look like. The panel of professionals spanning medical and social sciences will consider what we might hope for as we emerge at the other side, discussing both negative and positive impacts of Covid-19 and lockdown. The School of Medicine’s Professor James Chalmers, one of the UK’s leading lung experts, will join University colleagues on the panel. Over the past year, he and his team have treated hundreds of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 and undertaken some major research initiatives, from finding treatments to conducting clinical trials. He said, “We will be dealing with the consequences of the pandemic long after the virus is controlled. Covid-19 has highlighted some of the major problems in our society, from obesity to smoking and health inequalities. “However, it has also highlighted some of our major strengths. There has been incredible innovation during the Covid-19 pandemic, with acceleration of digital technologies, better ways of delivering healthcare and developments in vaccines and treatments that could be applied to many common diseases. “We all have a stake in the post-Covid future and we all get to play a part in building it. That starts with a broad conversation about where we are going and what we want the future to look like. Hopefully that’s the conversation we will start at this event.” Professor Chalmers will be joined by the University’s Dr Ellie Hothersall, Dr Duncan Mercieca, Dr Daniela Mercieca and Dr Robin Sen on the panel. Brian Taylor, BBC Scotland’s former Political Correspondent, will chair the event. Dr Hothersall is a specialist in Public Health based within the School of Medicine. She is also the Programme Director for the MBChB degree. Drs Duncan and Daniela Mercieca are both lecturers within the School of Education & Social Work. They were part of a team who carried out research in relation to learning and teaching during lockdown in Scotland. Dr Sen is a lecturer within the School of Education & Social Work. His background is within child and family social work as well as community development.
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/activities/saturday-series-escaping-to-a-post-covid-world
10.
Times Educational Supplement, 24 Sept 2021
Why lockdown learning loss shouldn’t cloud the gains
Daniela Mercieca, Divya Jindal-Snape, Duncan Mercieca
Description: This article was written in response to Ofsted Chief Amanda Spielman’s remarks (https://www.tes.com/news/food-parcels-were-put-ahead-education-says-spielman)
https://www.tes.com/news/why-lockdown-learning-loss-shouldnt-cloud-gains