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Faculty of Education and Language Studies > People Profiles > Rosie Flewitt

Rosie Flewitt

Lecturer

The Open University Faculty of Education and Language Studies Centre for Language and Communication

+44 (0) 1908 654017
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Profile

Rosie is co-convenor of the Educational Dialogue Research Unit (EDRU) and member of the Centre for Language and Communication (CLAC). She is involved in teaching and research relating to multimodal communication, literacy and learning in home and educational settings, particularly in early years education and with new technologies. She is Reviews Editor for Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, a member of the editorial advisory group for Literacy and Visual Communication, and a founder member of two Special Interest Groups: British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) 'Multimodality' SIG  and European Early Childhood Research Association 'Children's Perspectives in Research' SIG.

Recent research projects include a study of the potential of iPads to enhance literacy learning in early, primary and special education and an ESRC-funded project investigating the range of literacy skills and practices that 3 and 4 year old children develop at home and in early education as they engage with printed and digital technologies: http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/multimodalliteracies. Rosie conducted two linked projects with colleagues at the University of Southampton and University of Winchester investigating parents' experiences of combining special education with mainstream education settings for their children with special educational needs (funded by Mencap City Foundation), followed by video case studies of the communicative experiences of young children with learning disabilities who attended a combination of special and inclusive early education settings (funded by Rix, Thompson, Rothenberg Foundation). Rosie has also contributed to evaluations of play provision in SureStart projects in the south of England.

Teaching Interests

Rosie is currently working on EK310/311, an undergraduate module on Research with Children and Young People , and U212 Childhood. Rosie contributed to E852, a new Masters course in Language, Literacy and Learning in the Contemporary World, and EA300, an undergraduate course in Children's Literature. Rosie has taught as an Associate Lecturer on E300, English Language and Literacy, and E123, Working with Children in the Early Years.

Research Interests

  • Early literacy practices with print and digital technologies
  • Young children's communication and meaning making at home and in early years education
  • Inclusive education
  • New technologies and learning
  • Multimodal ethnography
  • Case study research
  • Reflexivity and subjectivity in education research 

Current Research

Recent research projects

2011  The iPad: a new direction for early literacy in the digital age? Internally funded pilot project, with Professor David Messer and Natalia Kucirkova.

2007-2010 Multimodal Literacies in the Early Years. (Principal Investigator). Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (£86K, FeC)

2006-2007 The experiences of young children with learning disabilities attending both special and inclusive preschools. (Co-Investigator with Dr. Melanie Nind, University of Southampton). Funded by Rix, Thompson, Rothenberg Foundation (£6.6K).

2005-2006 Parents choosing to combine special and inclusive early years settings: the best of both worlds? (Co-Investigator with Dr. Melanie Nind, University of Southampton). Funded by Mencap City Foundation (£5K).

2005 Evaluation of play provision at Sure Start Central Southampton (Researcher on University of Southampton team, Director Professor Jill Bourne). Funded by Southampton Central Sure Start (£12.5K).

2004-2005 3-year-old children's multimodal communicative strategies ESRC Post- Doctoral Fellowship (£28K), University of Southampton.

2000-2003 Is every child’s voice heard? Longitudinal case studies of 3-year-old
children’s communicative strategies at home and in a preschool playgroup ESRC-funded PhD research (£35K).
 

Research student supervision
 2011-date: (EdD) Sally Yates, Factors influencing primary schools’ development of literacy policy and practice

2010-date (EdD) Adele Creer, Exploring everyday and college literacy practices of young people

2010-date: (PhD, part-time) Natalie Canning, Play and young chidren's personal empowerment

2005-date: (PhD, part-time) Elizabeth Dobson, Creative Collaborations in Higher Education

2007-2008 (MRes) Santosh Sapkota, Learning and Teaching in the Non-Formal Virtual World: A Multimodal Study of Learning-Teaching Interaction in the Virtual World of Schome Park

Other research information

  • Member of ESRC Peer Review College
  • Member of CREET UoA Panel for RAE 2008
  • Book Reviews Editor Journal Early Childhood Literacy
  • Member of Editorial Advisory Group Literacy and Visual Communication
  • Invited to present ESRC/TLRP/BERA Masterclass on Multimodal Analysis (http://www.bera.ac.uk/support/master_class.php)
  • Founder member of British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) Multimodality Special Interest Group
  • Founder member of European Early Childhood Research Association (EECERA) Children’s Perspectives Special Interest Group

Publications

Book Chapter
Lamy, Marie-Noëlle and Flewitt, Rosie (2011). Describing online conversations : insights from a multimodal approach. In: Develotte, Christine; Kern, Richard and Lamy, Marie-Noëlle eds. Décrire la Conversation en Ligne : Le Face à Face Distanciel. Lyon, France: ENS Éditions, pp. 71–94.
Flewitt, R. (2009). Reading transformations. In: Maybin, Janet and Watson, Nicola J. eds. Children’s Literature: Approaches and Territories. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 352–366.
Flewitt, R. S.; Hampel, R.; Hauck, M. and Lancaster, L. (2009). What are multimodal data and transcription? In: Jewitt, Carey ed. The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis. London: Routledge, pp. 40–53.
Flewitt, Rosie (2008). Multimodal literacies. In: Marsh, Jackie and Hallet, Elaine eds. Desirable Literacies: Approaches to Language and Literacy in the Early Years. London, UK: Sage, pp. 122–366.
Journal Article
Flewitt, Rosie (2011). Bringing ethnography to a multimodal investigation of early literacy in a digital age. Qualitative Research, 11(3), pp. 293–310.
Dicks, Bella; Flewitt, Rosie; Lancaster, Lesley and Pahl, Kate (2011). Multimodality and ethnography: working at the intersection. Qualitative Research, 11(3), pp. 227–237.
Nind, Melanie; Flewitt, Rosie and Payler, Jane (2010). The social experience of early childhood for children with learning disabilities: inclusion, competence and agency. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 31(6), pp. 653–670.
Nind, Melanie; Flewitt, Rosie and Payler, Jane (2010). Social constructions of young children in 'special', 'inclusive' and home environments. Children and Society, 25(5), pp. 359–370.
Wolfe, Sylvia and Flewitt, Rosie (2010). New technologies, new multimodal literacy practices and young children's metacognitive development. Cambridge Journal of Education, 40(4), pp. 387–399.
Flewitt, Rosie; Nind, Melanie and Payler, Jane (2009). "If she’s left with books she’ll just eat them": considering inclusive multimodal literacy practices. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 9(2), pp. 211–233.
Flewitt, Rosie and Nind, Melanie (2007). Parents choosing to combine special and inclusive early years settings: the best of both worlds? European Journal of Special Needs Education, 22(4), pp. 425–441.
Flewitt, Rosie (2006). Using video to investigate preschool classroom interaction: education research assumptions and methodological practices. Visual Communication, 5(1), pp. 25–50.
Flewitt, Rosie (2005). Is every child’s voice heard?: Researching the different ways 3-year-old children communicate and make meaning at home and in a preschool playgroup. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, 25(3), pp. 207–222.
Flewitt, Rosie (2005). Conducting research with young children: some ethical considerations. Early Child Development and Care, 175(6), pp. 553–565.
Flewitt, Rosie (2005). Using multimodal analysis to unravel a silent child’s learning. Early Childhood Practice: The Journal for Multi-Professional Partnerships, 7(2), pp. 5–16.