About
Michael Grenfell is Emeritus Professor at the Southampton Education School having worked here full-time from 1989-2009. Since then he has been 1904 Chair of Education at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland and Head of School at Stirling University.
Research
Research interests
- Philosophy of Education: Bourdieu, Theory and Practice
- Arts/ Music Education: artistic biography, performance pedagogy
- Second Language Learning and Teaching: Communicative Language Teaching, Language Learner Strategies
- Language in Education: Literacy, Bilingualism, Language Teacher Education
- Teacher Education
Current research
Michael is an internationally recognised scholar and authority on the work of the French Social Theorist, Pierre Bourdieu. He has written several books and research articles on Bourdieu's ideas and was three times visiting scholar with him at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris. Whilst he has a special focus on the methodology and philosophy of Bourdieu, he has applied these perspectives to empiriacl studies in language in education, teacher education, language policy, politics/the state, cultural studies, media, fine arts, literature and music.
Michael has a special interest in arts education; in particular, teaching the arts and creativity. He has also written various biographies of artists and musicians: the folk singer Ralph McTell, the rock guitarist Robert Fripp, the surrealist painter Ithell Colquhoun, the leader os the yBas Damien Hirst, and the art movement of St Ives.
Michael is a musician and has undertaken research and published on 'Performance pedadogy' - the mechanics of performance involving over 4000 students wordwide.
Michael's background is in French Studies and Applied Linguistics. He is also a specialist in Language in Education; especially, Communicative Language Teaching, Language Learner Strategies, Second Language Acquistion, Bilingualism, Autonmous Language Learning/ CLIL (Content and Languagwe Integrated Lerarning) and Language Teacher Education.
Michael undertook two major funded research projects for the European Union in the 2000s; and was co-author of the European Profile for Teacher Education and the European Portfolio for Teacher Education which resulted from this work.
Michael welcomes applications from PhD candidates who share his research interests. Past and current PhD students include:
Mohammad Alfulnaie: Writing Strategies
Ozge Razi: Reading and Language Learning Strategies
Mei Chou-Chung: Metacognitive Strategies in Academic Reading
Tiwaporn Kingsom: Communication Strategies and Thai Students of English
Yaowaret Tharawoot: Teachers’ Verbal Feedback
Yuka Hirano: Language Teacher INSET in Japan
Weitung-Hei: EFL Students’ English Language Knowledge, Strategy Use and Multiple-choice Reading Test Performance: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach
Lu Rugang: The Effect of Globalisation on Chinese Language and Culture: A case Study
Andrew Pointet: Boys and Underachievement
Ingrid Wisnieiewska: Parallel Processing in Teacher Education
Ping Ping Liu: Native-Non-Native Language Speaker Interaction
Mary Kenny: Irish Further Education
Priscila Riffo: Language Teacher Education in Chile
Julio Carrillo: Teacher Professionalism in English Primary Schools
Publications
Teaching
Michael has a long involvment with classroom pedagogy. He was a member of the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, with special reference to language learning strategies, autonomous language learning/ CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Lerarning),
A lot of his work concerns the link between theory and practice, and its application to learning and teaching.
He has worked extensively within the paradigm of the 'reflective practitioner'.
He has also worked on 'performance pedagogy'at an international level - the mechanics of performance in the arts.
The implications of all this - in theory and practice - have been disseminated in conferences, symposia, seminars anhd working groups over an extebnded period of time.
Biography
Michael has a long association with educational research, as well as involvement in various policy fora, such as the Centre for Information and Research on Language Teaching and the Tomorrow Project. He chaired the Research Committee for UCET (Universities Council for the Education of Teachers). Michael was also contributor/ consultant to the DfES Key Stage 3 Strategy. He has authored in excess of 20 books and numerous research articles on such topics as second language learning and teaching, teacher education, and philosophy and research methodology; especially with respect to the applications of the theory of practice of the French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu.
Michael was originally a medical laboratory scientific officer before taking his undergraduate degree in the University of London - BA (1st Class Hons) in French Studies in 1981.
He did a Masters in Applied Linguistics in the University of London - MA (with Distinction) in 1985.
His PhD (1995 the University of Southampton) was in the Philosophy of Education and Teacher Education.
After working for 8 years as language teacher in a secondary school in London, Michael was appointed Lecturer in Education at the University of Southampton, where he was subsequently appointed Reader and then Chair of Education.
He was appointed 1904 Chair of Education at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland in 2009.
He returned to the University of Southampton as Emeritus Professor in 2016.
Prizes
- British Educational Research Association (2006)
- American Educational Research Association (2007)
- Art Biography as Field Theory (2023)