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Faculty of Education and Language Studies > People Profiles > Mary Kellett

Mary Kellett

Dean and Director of Studies

The Open University Faculty of Education and Language Studies



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Mary Kellett is Professor of Childhood and Youth in the Centre for Childhood Development and Learning. She gained experience as a social worker and primary school teacher before embarking on a post-doctoral academic career. She established the Children's Research Centre at the Open University, the first of its kind in the UK, which exists to support children to undertake their own research http://childrens-research-centre.open.ac.uk. She is also Director of the Childhood and Youth programme at the OU. She sits on the steering committee of the National Youth Agency's Young Researcher Network . She was appointed International Expert to a United Nations Development Programme bi-communal young researchers project in Cyprus and Consultant to a 7-European country child researchers project. She is a Visiting Professor at the Education Institute in Qatar and the Centre for Research in Childhood at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Teaching Interests

childhood and youth studies

learning disabilities

early and primary years

EK310 Research with children and young people; E807 Children and young people's worlds: frameworks for integrated practice; KE312 Working together for children; E215 Developing personal and professional practice; E243 Inclusive education:learning from each other; ED840 Child development in families, schools and society.

Programme Director, Childhood and Youth

 

Research Interests

Empowering children as active researchers;

children's participation and voice;

children's rights;

developing communication skills in children with severe learning difficulties;

disaffected learners;

self-esteem.

Current Research

2008 -10    Yvonne Perret Endowment - Children as researchers

2007- 09     WeCan2 - funded by Mencap. Empowering young people with learning disabilities to explore meaningful participation in youth decision-making forums.

2006-07       Education and Poverty - funded by Joseph Rowntree. 11-year-olds researching links between poverty and literacy opportunities

 

Publications

Authored Book
Kellett, Mary (2011). Children's Perspectives on Integrated Services: Every child matters in policy and practice. Interagency working in health and social care. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kellett, Mary (2010). Rethinking Children and Research. London: Continuum.
Kellett, Mary (2005). How to Develop Children as Researchers: a step by step guide to teaching the research process. London, UK: Sage.
Kellett, Mary (2005). How to Develop Children as Researchers. London, UK: Paul Chapman Educational Publishing.
Kellett, Mary and Nind, Melanie (2003). Implementing intensive interaction in schools: guidance for practitioners, managers and coordinators. London: David Fulton.
Book Chapter
Kellett, Mary (2011). Accessing children's voices and experiences. In: Moyles, Janet; Georgeson, Jan and Payler, Jane eds. Beginning Teaching Beginning Learning In Early Years and Primary Education. Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 226–238.
Kellett, Mary (2010). Children's experiences of education. In: Littleton, Karen; Kleine Staarman, Judith and Wood, Clare eds. International Handbook of Psychology in Education. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 465–498.
Kellett, Mary (2009). Children and young people’s voices. In: Montgomery, Heather and Kellett, Mary eds. Children and Young People’s Worlds: Developing Frameworks for Integrated Practice. Bristol: Policy Press.
Kellett, Mary (2009). Children and young people's participation. In: Montgomery, Heather and Kellett, Mary eds. Children and young people's worlds: Developing frameworks for integrated practice. Bristol: Policy press, pp. 43–60.
Kellett, Mary (2009). Children and young people's voices. In: Montgomery, Heather and Kellett, Mary eds. Children and Young People's Worlds: Developing Frameworks For Integrated Practice. Bristol: Policy press, pp. 237–252.
Kellett, Mary and Ward, Ben (2008). Children as active researchers: participation and power sharing. In: Moore, Shannon A. and Mitchell, Richard C. eds. Power, pedagogy and praxis: social justice in the globalized classroom. Critical issues in the future of learning and teaching (1). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, pp. 91–104.
Kellett, Mary (2008). Special educational needs and inclusion in the classroom: an historical overview. In: Matheson, David ed. An Introduction to the Study of Education (3rd Edition). Abingdon, UK: David Fulton Publishers, pp. 156–170.
Kellett, Mary (2005). Inclusion in music in the primary classroom. In: Nind, Melanie; Rix, Jonathan; Sheehy, Kieron and Simmons, Katy eds. Curriculum and Pedagogy in Inclusive Education. London, UK: RoutledgeFalmer, pp. 191–198.
Kellett, Mary (2004). Special educational needs and inclusion in education. In: Matheson, David ed. An Introduction to the Study of Education. London, UK: David Fulton, pp. 148–162.
Kellett, Mary and Ding, Sharon (2004). Middle childhood. In: Fraser, Sandy; Lewis, Vicky; Ding, Sharon; Kellett, Mary and Robinson, Chris eds. Doing Research with Children and Young People. London, UK: Sage, pp. 161–175.
Kellett, Mary; Robinson, Chris and Burr, Rachel (2004). Images of childhood. In: Fraser, Sandy; Lewis, Vicky; Ding, Sharon; Kellett, Mary and Robinson, Chris eds. Doing Research with Children and Young People. London, UK: Sage, pp. 27–42.
Lewis, Vicky and Kellett, Mary (2004). Disability. In: Fraser, Sandy; Lewis, Vicky; Ding, Sharon; Kellett, Mary and Robinson, Chris eds. Doing Research with Children and Young People. London, UK: Sage, pp. 191–205.
Robinson, Chris and Kellett, Mary (2004). Power. In: Fraser, Sandy; Lewis, Vicky; Ding, Sharon; Kellett, Mary and Robinson, Chris eds. Doing Research with Children and Young People. London, UK: Sage, pp. 81–96.
Langston, Ann; Abbott, Lesley; Lewis, Vicky and Kellett, Mary (2004). Early childhood. In: Fraser, Sandy; Lewis, Vicky; Ding, Sharon; Kellett, Mary and Robinson, Chris eds. Doing Research with Children and Young People. London: Sage/Open University, pp. 147–160.
Kellett, Mary (2000). Motivating the musically disaffected. In: Upton, Graham and Clipson-Boyles, Suzi eds. Putting Research into Practice in Primary Teaching and Learning. David Fulton, pp. 141–153.
Conference Item
Kellett, Mary (2011). How was it for me? Reviewing the impact of Every Child Matters through the lens of the child. In: 3rd Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators, 27-29th July 2011, York, UK.
Kellett, Mary (2009). Children as researchers: issues, impact and contribution to knowledge. In: Counting Children In! 2nd International Conference of Child Indicators, 3-5 Nov 2009, Sydney, Australia.
Kellett, Mary (2006). Pupils as active researchers: Using engagement with research process to enhance creativity and thinking skills in 10-12 year-olds. In: British Educational Research Association Annual Conference 2006, 6-9 Sep 2006, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Kellett, Mary (2003). Empowering ten-year-olds as active researchers. In: British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, 11-13 September 2003, Edinburgh, U.K..
Journal Article
Kellett, Mary (2011). Empowering children and young people as researchers: overcoming barriers and building capacity. Child Indicators Research , 4(2), pp. 205–219.
Bradwell, J.; Crawfor, D.; Crawford, J.; Dent, L.; Finlinson, K.; Gibson, R.; Porter, E. and Kellett, M. (2011). How looked after children are involved in their review process. Child Indicators Research, 4(2), pp. 221–229.
Kellett, Mary (2010). Small shoes, big steps! Empowering children as active researchers. American Journal of Community Psychology, 46(1-2), pp. 195–203.
Kellett, Mary (2010). WeCan2: exploring the implications of young people with learning disabilities engaging in their own research. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 25(1), pp. 31–44.
Kellett, Mary (2009). Children as researchers: what can we learn from them about the impact of poverty on literacy opportunities? International Journal of Inclusive Education, 13(4), pp. 395–408.
Kellett, Mary (2008). Issues of empowerment and human rights for children and young people with severe learning disabilities through the development of participatory research strategies. SLD Experience, 52(1), pp. 3–9.
Kellett, Mary (2005). Catherine’s legacy: social communication development for individuals with profound learning difficulties and fragile life expectancies. British Journal of Special Education, 32(3), pp. 116–122.
Kellett, Mary; Forrest, Ruth (aged ten); Dent, Naomi (aged ten) and Ward, Simon (aged ten) (2004). ‘Just teach us the skills please, we’ll do the rest': empowering ten-year-olds as active researchers. Children and Society, 18(5), pp. 329–343.
Kellett, Mary (2004). Intensive Interaction in the inclusive classroom: using interactive pedagogy to connect with students who are hardest to reach. Westminster Studies in Education, 27(2), pp. 175–188.
Kellett, Mary (2003). Jacob's journey: developing sociability and communication in a young boy with severe and complex learning difficulties using the Intensive Interaction teaching approach. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 3(1), pp. 18–34.
Nind, Melanie and Kellett, Mary (2002). Response [to James Hogg, Juliet Goldbart & John Harris re 'Responding to individuals with severe learning difficulties and stereotyped behaviour: challenges for an inclusive era']. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17(3), pp. 299–300.
Nind, Melanie and Kellett, Mary (2002). Responding to individuals with severe learning difficulties and stereotyped behaviour: challenges for an inclusive era. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17(3), pp. 265–282.
Kellett, Mary and Nind, Melanie (2001). Ethics in quasi-experimental research on people with severe learning disabilities: dilemmas and compromises. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(2), pp. 51–55.
Nind, M.; Kellett, M. and Hopkins, V. (2001). Teachers' talk styles: communicating with learners with severe and complex learning difficulties. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 17(2), pp. 143–159.
Kellett, Mary (2000). Sam's story: evaluating Intensive Interaction in terms of its effect on the social and communicative ability of a young child with severe learning difficulties. Support for Learning, 15(4), pp. 165–171.
Kellett, Mary (2000). Raising musical self esteem in the primary classroom: an exploratory study of young children's listening skills. British Journal of Music Education, 17(2), pp. 157–181.
Other
Tarapdar, Saima and Kellett, Mary (2011). Young people's voices on cyber bullying: what can age comparisons tell us. Diana Award.
Kellett, Mary and Sahin, Ali (2009). Children as Researchers: Pedagogy and Praxis (an Introduction to a Special Issue of the Eurasian Journal of Educational Research). Ani Publishing (In Press).
Kellett, Mary and Dar, Aqsa (2007). Children researching links between poverty and literacy. Joseph Rowntree, York, UK.
Kellett, Mary (2005). Children as active researchers: a new research paradigm for the 21st century? ESRC, UK.