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Faculty of Education and Language Studies > People Profiles > Frank Banks

Frank Banks

Professor of Teacher Education

The Open University Faculty of Education and Language Studies Department of Education


Profile

I am Professor of Teacher Education and Director for International Development in Teacher Education at The Open University (OU). I am responsible for a number of teacher professional development projects in India, Bangladesh, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Before joining the OU I worked as a school teacher of science, engineering and technology in different secondary comprehensive schools in England and in Wales, including head of department, and as a primary school advisory teacher in Powys. I was a lecturer in education at Swansea University.

I have authored or edited 12 books/handbooks for teachers and over 100 academic papers; and acted as a consultant in the professional development of teachers to Egyptian, South African and Argentinean government agencies, UNESCO and the World Bank.

When not working for the OU, I enjoy amateur dramatics, particularly Gilbert & Sullivan and playing with my grandchildren.

Research Interests

My research interests are in the fields of teacher professional knowledge; teacher education and development; and technology and science education. I have published extensively in these areas.

Current Research

Currently I am involved in two major research and development projects:

TESS-India - a large professional development programme which will involve 7 states and many NGOs in producing Open Educational Resources for their Teachers.  See http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/TESSA-India/

English in Action (EIA) - This project is in the second three-year expansion phase on this nine-year project following a pilot phase which has included 6 baseline studies and the development of a framework to investigate the developing teaching strategies and language competence of teachers in Bangladesh. http://www.eiabd.com/eia/

Publications

Book Chapter
Banks, Frank and Dheram, Prema (2012). India: committing to new communication technologies. In: Moon, Robert ed. Teacher Education and the Challenge of Development: A global analysis. Education, Poverty and International Development. Abingdon: Routledge , (In press).
Anamuah-Mensah, Jophus; Banks, Frank; Moon, Robert and Wolfenden, Freda (2012). New modes of teacher pre-service training and professional support. In: Moon, Robert ed. Teacher Education and the Challenge of Development: A global analysis. Abingdon: Routledge , (In press).
Banks, Frank (2011). What do 'good' teachers know? Investigating teacher professional knowledge. In: Subramaniam, K. ed. Research Trends in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. The episteme Reviews (3). New Delhi, India: Macmillan India, pp. 275–299.
Banks, Frank (2011). Technological literacy in a developing world context: the case of Bangladesh. In: de Vries, Marc J. ed. Positioning Technology Education in the Curriculum. International Technology Education Studies (8). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, pp. 219–226.
Banks, Frank (2009). Competency based training in the UK. In: Jones, Alister and de Vries, Marc eds. International Handbook of Research and Development in Technology Education. International technology Education Series (5). Rotterdam: Sense publishers, pp. 555–568.
Banks, Frank (2009). Research on teaching and learning in technology education. In: Jones, Alister and de Vries, Marc eds. International Handbook of Research and Development in Technology Education. Sense Publishers, pp. 373–390.
Banks, Frank (2008). Teaching design and technology. In: Owen-Jackson, Gwyneth ed. Learning to teach design and technology in the secondary school. Learning to teach subjects in the secondary school series, 2nd ed. London: Routledge/Falmer, pp. 174–193.
Banks, Frank and Owen-Jackson, Gwyneth (2007). The role of making in design and technology. In: Barlex, David ed. Design and technology for the next generation: A collection of provocative pieces, written by experts in their field to stimulate reflection and curriculum innovation. Whitchurch, UK: Cliffe & Company.
Banks, Frank (2007). International collaborative case studies: Developing professional thinking for technology teachers. In: Middleton, Howard ed. Researching technology education: Methods and techniques. International Technology Education Series. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers, pp. 28–45.
Banks, Frank (2007). Creating and Effective Learning Environment. In: Owen-Jackson, Gwyneth ed. A Practical Guide to Teaching Design and Technology in the Secondary School. Routledge Teaching Guides. London, UK: Routledge, pp. 85–94.
McCormick, R. and Banks, F. (2006). A case study of the inter-relationship between science and technology: England 1984-2004. In: de Vries, Marc and Motta, Ilja eds. International Handbook of Technology Education. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers, pp. 285–312.
Banks, Frank (2006). 'Technology, Design and Society' versus 'Science, Technology and Society (STS)': Learning Some Lessons. In: Dakers, John R. ed. Defining Technological Literacy: Towards an Epistemological Framework. New York, USA: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 197–217.
Banks, Frank and McCormick, Robert (2006). A case study of the inter-relationship between science and technology: England 1984-2004. In: De Vries, M. J. and Mottier, I. eds. International Handbook of Technology Education. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers, pp. 285–312.
Banks, Frank (2006). Technology Teacher Education in the UK. In: Williams, P.J. ed. International Technology Teacher Education. International Technology Teacher Education. USA: McGraw Hill-Glencoe, pp. 215–239.
Moon, Robert; Banks, Frank and Zenios, Maria (2004). Stimulating professional development through CMC - A case study of networked learning and initial teacher education. In: Goodyear, P.; Banks, S.; Hodgson, V. and McConnell, D. eds. Advances in Research on Networked Learning. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 4. Netherlands: Springer, pp. 123–151.
Banks, Frank (2001). Research in design and technology education. In: Owen-Jackson, Gwyneth ed. Teaching design and technology in secondary schools: a reader. London: Routledge/Falmer, pp. 299–317.
Conference Item
Banks, Frank (2010). Using a structured approach to authoring OER content: An evaluation of two cases. In: OER10, 22-14 March 2010, Cambridge.
Banks, Frank (2009). Technological literacy in a developing world context: the case of Bangladesh. In: PATT-22: 'Pupils Attitude Towards Technology' Conference, 24-28 August 2009, Delft, Netherlands.
Banks, Frank; Moon, Bob and Wolfenden, Freda (2009). New modes of communication technologies and the reform of open and distance learning programmes: A response to the global crisis in teacher education and training. In: 23rd ICDE World Conference on Open and Distance Learning, 8-10 June 2009, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Banks, F.; Moon, B. and Wolfenden, F. (2009). New modes of communication technologies and the reform of open and distance learning programmes: A response to the global crisis in teacher education and training. In: 23rd ICDE World Conference on Open and Distance Learning, 8-10 June 2009, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Banks, Frank (2008). Technology and English: A new paradigm for technology education? In: PATT 20: Pupils' attitude towards technology: International conference on design and technology educational research; Critical issues in technology education, 3-6 November 2008, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Marshall, Christine; Issroff, Kim; Scanlon, Eileen; Blake, Canan; Holliman, Richard; Smidt, Samantha; Clough, Gill; Banks, Frank; Jones, Ann; Roche, Nel and Waycott, Jenny (2007). Investigating mobile science learning in workplace settings. In: CAL07: Development, Disruption and Debate - D3, 26-28 March, Dublin, Ireland.
Scanlon, Eileen; Banks, Frank; Blake, Canan; Clough, Gill; Jones, Ann; Holliman, Richard; Issroff, Kim; Marshall, Christine; Roche, Nel; Smidt, Samantha and Waycott, Jenny (2007). PDAS as workplace tools for science teachers. In: IADIS International Conference - Mobile Learning 2007, 5-7 July, Lisbon, Portugal.
Banks, Frank and Gouda, Amal (2006). The Impact of Using a Distance Learning Network on Building Teachers' Communities of Practice in Egypt. In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Networked Learning 2006, 10-12th April 2006, Lancaster, UK.
Banks, F.; Barlex, D.; Jarvinen, E.M.; O'Sullivan, G.; Owen-Jackson, G.; Rutland, M. and Williams, J. (2006). Further Findings of an International D&T Teacher Education Research Study: the DEPTH2 Project. In: Design and Technology Association International Research Conference, 5-7 July 2006, Wolverhampton, UK.
Gouda, Amal and Banks, Frank (2005). The Role of Professional Development Networks in Reforming Mathematics Education in Egypt. In: The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project, 25 Nov - 1 Dec 2005, Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia.
Banks, Frank and Gouda, Amal (2005). Professional Dignity and Reforming Teachers’ Practice: A Case Study of a Distance Learning Network in Egypt. In: The 11th Cambridge International Conference on Open and Distance Learning, 23-25 Sept 2005, Cambride, UK.
Gouda, Amal and Banks, Frank (2005). Pedagogical Issues in Using Networks for Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development in Egypt. In: ED-MEDIA 2005--World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, June 27 2005, Montreal, Canada.
McCormick, Robert and Banks, Frank (2005). A case study of the inter-relationship between Science and Technology: England 1984-2004. In: PATT -15 Technology Education And Research: Twenty Years In Retrospect, 18-22 April, 2005, Harrlem, Netherlands.
Banks, Frank (2003). TeachandLearn.net: Using new technology to support D&T teachers. In: Proceedings of the PATT-13 Conference, 21 - 24 June 2003, Glasgow, UK.
Banks, Frank (2001). CPD for ICT in D&T: using LSP! In: New Media in Technology Education: Proceedings of PATT-11 Conference, 8-13 March 2001, Haalem, the Netherlands.
Journal Article
Shohel, M. Mahruf C. and Banks, Frank (2012). School-based teachers’ professional development through technology enhanced learning in Bangladesh. Teacher Development: An international journal of teachers' professional development, 16(1), pp. 25–42.
Shohel, M. Mahruf C. and Banks, Frank (2010). Teachers' professional development through the English in Action Secondary Teaching and Learning Programme in Bangladesh: experience from the UCEP schools. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), pp. 5843–5494.
Banks, Frank (2008). Learning in DEPTH: developing a graphical tool for professional thinking for technology teachers. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 18(3), pp. 221–229.
Banks, Frank; Barlex, David; Jarvinen, Esa-Matti; O'Sullivan, Gary; Owen-Jackson, Gwyneth and Rutland, Marion (2004). DEPTH – Developing professional thinking for technology teachers: An international study. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 14(2), 141 -157.
Other
Storey, Anne; Banks, Frank; Cooper, Deborah; Cunningham, Peter; Ebbutt, Dave; Fox, Alison; Morgan, Bethan; Pedder, David and Wolfenden, Freda (2008). Schools and continuing professional development(CPD) in England - State of the Nation research project (T34718): Qualitative Research Summary. Cambridge University/The Open University.