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Dr Kate Cowan
UCL Knowledge Lab
23-29 Emerald Street
London
WC1N 3QS
Appointment
- Honorary Senior Research Fellow
- IOE - Culture, Communication & Media
- UCL Institute of Education
Biography
Dr Kate Cowan is an early years specialist researching children’s play and communication. Her work adopts a multimodal perspective and spans areas including play, digital technologies, literacies and education. Kate’s work has a strong methodological focus and involves developing multimodal methods, video analysis and participatory approaches with young children. Kate was formerly a nursery teacher and she remains committed to connecting research and practice. In addition to academic publication in books and journals, Kate has written for early years teachers, students and the general public.
Kate currently holds an Honorary Senior Research Fellow position at UCL Knowledge Lab and is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Sheffield.
Research Groups
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See LessResearch Summary
Recent research projects include 'A National Observatory of Children's Play Experiences During Covid-19’ (funded by the ESRC), 'Playing the Archive: Memory, Community and Mixed Reality Play’ (funded by the EPSRC), 'Valuing Young Children’s Signs of Learning: Observation and Digital Documentation of Play in Early Years Classrooms’ (funded by the Froebel Trust), 'Encounters on the Shop Floor: Embodiment and the Knowledge of the Maker' (funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation), and a doctorate linked to the MODE Project (funded by the ESRC).
Kate is currently working on a research project involving the technology company ‘Tapestry’, exploring children’s agency in digital documentation systems used in early years classrooms (‘The ADD Project’).
Kate is also interested in the connections between the Reggio Emilia approach and multimodal perspectives on learning. She is a coordinator of London ReFocus, an organisation promoting reflective and creative practice in the UK influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education.
Teaching Summary
Kate guest lectures on MA modules including 'Multimodal Communication' and 'Understanding Research’, and on the Primary PGCE (English specialism). Kate previously led modules on the MA in Early Years Education (Online) and taught on the BEd and Foundation Degree in the areas of teacher-research, multimodality and digital technologies in education. Kate has also delivered research methods training as short courses, day seminars and summer school sessions specialising in multimodal methodologies, transcription, video-based methods and participatory research with children.
Academic Background
| 2018 | Doctor of Philosophy | University College London | |
| 2010 | Master of Education | University of Cambridge | |
| 2008 | Postgraduate Certificate in Education | University of Cambridge | |
| 2007 | Master of Philosophy | University of Cambridge | |
| 2006 | MA Cantab | University of Cambridge |
