Graduate Teaching Assistant (The arts, psychological therapies and children faced with emotional difficulties in primary schools)

Fixed term for 3 years

University of the Year 2014/2015 – Times Higher Education Awards

Research proposals are invited in the areas below:

The arts, psychological therapies and children faced with emotional difficulties in primary schools

Children who come from deprived backgrounds, those exposed to difficult family situations or children struggling to integrate in new cultural contexts can be faced with several obstacles to their learning experience within a school environment (Ofsted 2013). Attending to the emotional needs of those children, offering support and establishing resilience can become essential steps before, and alongside, their full engagement with the learning process (DH, 2011).

Arts psychotherapies (art, music, drama and dance movement) as well as counsellors and psychotherapists who use creative means, provide a treatment option for children needing psychological support that can complement the work of teaching staff (Karkou 2010). However, the ways in which these interventions work and their potential outcomes require further attention. Recent NICE guidelines acknowledge their role with children faced with PTSD (NICE 2011), and psychosis or schizophrenia (NICE 2013), while Cochrane Reviews on depression for example, recognise the need for further research in the area (Meekums, Karkou and Nelson 2015).

This study aims:

• To explore the practice of creative psychological therapies with primary school children as understood by practitioners. 


• To evaluate selected applications of these interventions through the perspectives of children, parents and teachers and contribute towards identifying best practice.

It is expected that the study will employ a mixed methodology (Creswell 2013) involving quantitative, qualitative and arts-based data. Applications are encouraged from arts psychotherapists (art, music, drama and dance movement psychotherapists), psychologists, counsellors/psychotherapists or related disciplines. Experience of working in a school context and/or with CAMHs will be desirable.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Professor Vicky Karkou (Department of Performing Arts) at Karkouv@edgehill.ac.uk

How to apply

Applicants must complete the online application form, attaching one document containing:

• A ‘Research Proposal’ which should not exceed 2,000 words


• A full academic curriculum vitae

Applicants should normally have/be about to obtain, a Masters qualification in a relevant subject.

Selection Criteria:

Selection will be based on the following:

• Your curriculum vitae


• The synergy between your qualifications, research experience and declared research interest


• The quality of the research proposal


• Performance at interview


• Supervisory capacity in the declared area of research


• Previous tutoring/teaching experience and related subject based qualifications


• The strategic and developmental needs of the faculty

The Recruitment Process

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview and asked to give a presentation related to their proposal. Successful candidates at interview will be put forward to a final selection panel which will make the decision on the award of the studentships. Candidates will not have to attend the final panel.

The closing date for all studentships is Sunday 10 April 2016

Interviews will be held between Tuesday 3 May and Wednesday 11 May 2016