Alan Smithers - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Method of research and information dissemination

He is best known for his distinctive style of research, which leads to him often being called upon to comment on the issues of the day. His early experience in science led him to the view that educational researchers are wrong in aping the scientific paradigm. While science studies a relatively enduring reality, educational research often aims to capture a fast changing scene when accurate information needs to be got to policy-makers and practitioners as quickly as possible. Having published over a hundred papers he came to the view that peer-reviewed journals are not the most appropriate medium for disseminating findings since they are too slow and directed at the wrong audience. He has concentrated on getting out results as quickly as possible through reports and the media. He guards against the bias from prior value positions to which educational research is vulnerable by drawing financial support from a plurality of funders.

Early life

Smithers was born in the East End of London

East End of London

The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...

, the son of a Billingsgate

Billingsgate

Billingsgate is a small ward in the south-east of the City of London, lying on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge...

fish porter. His mother worked in a sweet factory, and he claims he lived on fish and Turkish Delight

Turkish Delight

Turkish delight or lokum is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; the cheapest are mostly gel, generally flavored with rosewater, mastic, or lemon...

during the war. He was educated at a grammar school

Grammar school

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

then King's College London

King's College London

King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...

, gaining a first class honours degree BSc

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

and then a PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

in Plant Physiology in 1966. From the University of Bradford

University of Bradford

The University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...

he gained a degree in the psychology and sociology of education MSc

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

and a PhD in Education in 1974. All professors at the University of Manchester

University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...

are required to be graduates of the University and in 1981 a master of education MEd

MED

-Medicine:* Medicine * Medication, often used in the plural "meds"* Title of Medic, the first Physician degree in Argentina* Medical Extrication Device, a device for extricating an injured patient from an accident site, such as the Kendrick Extrication Device* Minimal Erythemal Dose, the minimum...

was conferred. He became a Chartered Psychologist in 1988.

Plant Physiology

He was originally a research scientist in plant physiology

Plant physiology

Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology , plant ecology , phytochemistry , cell biology, and molecular biology.Fundamental processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition,...

. From 1962-4 he lectured in biology at the College of St Mark and St John in Chelsea

Chelsea, London

Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...

, then botany at Birkbeck College

Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...

from 1964-7.

Education

He became actively involved in education as a subject when in 1960s the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

, where he lectured, began introducing modular degrees. This led to a secondment at the newly-elevated University of Bradford

University of Bradford

. There he re-qualified as a psychologist and progressed rapidly to become Senior Lecturer in Education in 1969. He became a professor at the University of Manchester

University of Manchester

at the age of 37. He has successively occupied four chairs: Professor of Education at the University of Manchester

University of Manchester

(1976-96); Professor of Policy Research at Brunel University

Brunel University

Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....

(1996-8); Sydney Jones Professor of Education at the University of Liverpool

University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...

(1998-2004); and currently as Director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham

University of Buckingham

The University of Buckingham is an independent, non-sectarian, research and teaching university located in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Great Ouse. It was originally founded as Buckingham University College in the 1970s and received its Royal Charter from the...

(2004 to present).

Educational research

Smithers’ applied approach and funding base has meant he is regularly directed to the educational issues that are uppermost in people’s minds. Among the areas with which his team have been associated have been choice and selection in education, social variation between schools, qualifications and assessment, physics education, international comparisons of educational achievement, headship, teacher training, recruitment and retention, technical and further education, the independent/state divide, single-sex and coeducation, and higher education.

Publications

He has published many influential books and reports, often in collaboration with Dr Pamela Robinson, including:

Choice and Selection in Education: the experience of other countries (2010)
The Good Teacher Training Guide 2010 (2010)
Worlds Apart: social variation among schools (2010)
Physics Particpation and Policies: lessons from abroad (2009)
Specialist Science Schools (2009)
The Diploma: a disaster waiting to happen? (2008)
Blair's Education: an international perspective (2007)
Physics in Schools and Colleges (2007)
School Headship (2007)
The Paradox of Single Sex and Coeducational Schooling (2006)
England’s Education (2004)
Attracting Teachers (2000)
Further Education Reformed (2000)
The Impact of Double Science (1994)
General Studies (1993)
Graduates in the Police Service (1990)
Increasing Participation in Higher Education (1989)
The Growth of Mixed A-Levels (1988)
The Progress of Mature Students (1986)
Sandwich Courses: an Integrated Education? (1976).

Two of his reports were featured as Dispatches programmes on Channel 4, Every Child in Britain (1991) and All Our Futures: Britain’s Education Revolution (1993). He been a frequent commentator on the policies of successive governments. His reviews of Blair’s education have appeared in Anthony Seldon

Anthony Seldon

Dr. Anthony F. Seldon MA, PhD, FRSA, MBA, FRHistS is a political commentator best known as Tony Blair's biographer and the Master of Wellington College...

’s books, The Blair Effect: The Blair Government 1997-2001 (2001) and The Blair Effect 2001-2005 (2005).

Educational advisor at a national level

While mainly a hands-on researcher he has served in a number of national roles including advising all three political parties, and the Commons Education Select Committee since 1997. He is determinedly apolitical believing that close association with any one party compromises the objectivity of the research. Among others he has been a member of the National Curriculum Council, the Beaumont Review of National Vocational Qualifications and the Royal Society Committee on Teacher Supply.

External links

News items

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