School of Education

ralf_st_clair

I grew up as an adult educator, starting in Community Development in Wester Hailes in 1981. Since that time I have worked in Scotland, England, Canada and the USA. My basic interest remains the social equity implications of adult and continuing education, though I have worked in adult literacy and numeracy, curriculum theory, and democratic schooling. As well as ongoing grant based work I also continue a strong interest in research methodology and the knowledge claims we make about education.

Research interests

Adult literacy and numeracy, adult and community education, educational aspirations, critical theory.

Jump to: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
Number of items: 31.

2011

St Clair, R., and Benjamin, A. (2011) Performing Desires: The dilemma of aspirations and educational attainment. British Educational Research Journal, 37 (3). pp. 501-517. ISSN 0141-1926 (doi:10.1080/01411926.2010.481358)

2010

St Clair, R. (2010) Why Literacy Matters: Understanding the Effects of Literacy Education for Adults. NIACE, Leicester. ISBN 978-1-86201-450-3

St Clair, R., and Belzer, A. (2010) Adult basic education. In: Kasworm, C.E., Rose, A.D. and Ross-Gordon, J.M. (eds.) The Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp. 189-199. ISBN 9781412960502

St Clair, Ralf, Tett, L, and MacLachlan, Kathleen (2010) Scottish survey of adult literacies 2009: Report of findings. Project Report. The Scottish Government, Glasgow.

2009

Belzer, A.A., and St Clair, R. (2009) The world in the classroom: understanding change in policy and practice through literacy practitioners' stories. In: American Educational Research Association Adult Literacy and Adult Education Annual Meeting, 13-17 April 2009, San Diego, CA, USA.

St Clair, R (2009) Beyond the barriers: Understanding participation decisions among under-represented groups. Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 56 (1). pp. 15-26.

St Clair, R, Tett, L, and Maclachlan, K (2009) Educational entrepreneurs: Practitioner-led action research and the formation of the professional adult literacy instructor. Studies in the Education of Adults, 41 (2). pp. 175-191. ISSN 0266-0830

St Clair, R. (2009) Latent competencies: learning from literacy about the limits of performance. In: 10th International Conference on Education Research, 29-30 Oct 2009, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.

St Clair, R., and Benjamin, A. (2009) Performing desires: the paradox of raising aspirations for urban deprived areas. In: American Educational Research Association Adult Literacy and Adult Education Annual Meeting, 13-17 April 2009, San Diego, CA, USA.

St Clair, R., and MacLachlan, K. (2009) Autonomy and autogenesis: pratcitioner research and the self-made literacy tutor. In: Adult Education Research Conference, 27-30 May 2009, Chicago, Mich, USA.

St Clair, R., and Tett, L. (2009) Tutors are doing it for themselves: practitioner-led action research as professional development in adult literacy. In: American Educational Research Association Adult Literacy and Adult Education Annual Meeting, 13-17 April 2009, San Diego, CA, USA.

Turok, I., Kintrea, K. , St Clair, R. , and Benjamin, A. (2009) Shaping educational attitudes and aspirations: the influence of parents, place and poverty: stage 1 report. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

2008

St Clair, R., and Phipps, A. (2008) Ludic literacies at the intersections of cultures: an interview with James Paul Gee. Language and Intercultural Communication, 8 (2). pp. 91-100. ISSN 1470-8477 (doi:10.1080/14708470802270950)

Appleby, Y., Barton, A., Hamilton, M., MacLachlan, K. , St Clair, R. , and Tracey, S. (2008) Critical Perspectives on Practitioner Research: Developing and Sustaining Critical Practitioner Research Through the Good Times and the Bad. In: 38th Annual SCUTREA Conference, 2-4 July, 2008, University of Edinburgh. (Unpublished)

Phipps, A, and St Clair, R (2008) Intercultural Literacies. Language and Intercultural Communication, 8 (2). pp. 69-71. (doi:10.1080/14708470802270786;Editorial)

St Clair, R (2008) Reading, writing and relationships: Human and social capital in family literacy programmes. Adult Basic Education and Literacy, 2 (2). pp. 84-93. ISSN 1934-2322

St Clair, R (2008) Terra incognita: How research can help to chart unexplored terrain in adult literacy. International Review of Education . ISSN 0020-8566

St Clair, R. (2008) Giving away the freedom of critique: reflections on the negotiation of power in educational research. In: British Educational Research Association (BERA) Annual Conference, 3-6 Sept 2008, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK.

St Clair, R. (2008) The wolf and the poodle. In: 27th National Conference of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education, 31 May - 4 June 2008, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

St Clair, R., and Benjamin, A. (2008) Desire and determination: on the active construction of aspirations. In: British Educational Research Association (BERA) Annual Conference, 3-6 Sept 2008, Edinburgh, UK.

2005

Belzer, A., and St Clair, R. (2005) Back to the future: implications of the neopositivist research agenda for adult basic education. Teachers' College Record, 107 (6). pp. 1393-1411. ISSN 0161-4681

St Clair, R. (2005) Building Knowledge, Building Community: reflecting on the value of a national research programme in adult literacy. Literacy, 39 (2). pp. 68-73. ISSN 1741-4350 (doi:10.1111/j.1741-4350.2005.00402.x)

St Clair, R. (2005) Similarity and superunknowns: an essay on the challenges of educational research. Harvard Educational Review, 75 (4). pp. 435-453. ISSN 0017-8055

2004

St Clair, R. (2004) A beautiful friendship? The relationship of research to practice in adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 54 (3). pp. 224-241. ISSN 0741-7136 (doi:10.1177/0741713604263053)

Sandlin, J.A. and St Clair, R., eds. (2004) Promoting critical practice in adult education. Jossey-Bass, pp. 1-4. ISBN 9780787975906

Sandlin, J.A., and St Clair, R. (2004) Volunteers in adult literacy programs. In: Review of Adult Learning and Literacy. NCSALL, pp. 125-154.

St Clair, R. (2004) Success stories: aspirational myth in the education of adults. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 23 (1). pp. 81-94. ISSN 0260-1370 (doi:10.1080/0260137032000172079)

St Clair, R. (2004) Teaching with the enemy: Critical adult education in the academy. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education (102). pp. 35-43. ISSN 1052-2891 (doi:10.1002/ace.136)

St Clair, R., and Sandlin, J.A. (2004) Incompetence and intrusion: on the metaphorical use of illiteracy in US political discourse. Adult Basic Education, 14 (1).

2003

St Clair, R. (2003) Words for the world: creating critical environmental literacy for adults. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education (99). pp. 69-78. ISSN 1052-2891 (doi:10.1002/ace.111)

St Clair, R., Chen, C.Y., and Taylor, L. (2003) From abstract to action: how adult literacy and ESL educators make use of research. Perspectives: the New York Journal of Adult Learning, 2 (1). pp. 51-64. ISSN 1539-7874

This list was generated on Sat Feb 11 23:38:19 2012 GMT.

Grants

  • 2006: Shaping educational attitudes and aspirations: The Influence of parents, place and poverty, Joseph Rowntree Found. Joint Principal Investigator. £200,000
  • 2006: Social equalities in CLD, Glasgow Learning Strategy Partnership. Principal Investigator. £18,000
  • 2005: Mapping adult literacy training in Scotland, Learning Connections. 2005. Principal Investigator. £12,800
  • 2005-2006: Research Consultancy, British Educational Research Association. 2005-2006. Principal Investigator. £30,000
  • 2005: PT Participation in Adult Education, Scottish Executive. 2005. Principal Investigator. £14,000
  • 2004: Lone Parents in Further Education, Scottish Executive. £34,000
  • 2004: Virtual Scholar-in-Residence, National Literacy Secretariat. 2004. Principal Investigator. $60,000
  • 2003-2004: Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy Support Project. 2003-2004. Principal Investigator. $40,000
  • 2002-2003: Texas Adult Literacy Clearinghouse. 2002-2003. Principal Investigator. $1.9M

Consulting and advice

St.Clair, R. (2006) Researcher Roundtable, ABC Canada, Toronto, October.

St.Clair, R. (2006) International Experts Panel on Literacy Assessment and Accountability, National Literacy Secretariat, Ottawa, September.

St.Clair, R. & Whitty, G. (2006) Replacing the RAE: The story so far, British Educational Research Association, Warwick, September.

St.Clair, R. (2004) Evaluation and assessment. First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas grantees, Houston, TX, September.

St.Clair, R. (2004)   Building a career. Adult and Higher Education program, Western Washington University, February.

Academic and professional body membership

British Educational Research Association

Research and Practice in Adult Literacy